Miwa Kouri and Carole Cantrell have been partners at Watson Realty for three months.
HOW DID THEY BECOME PARTNERS?
They started out as friends and started hanging out together. “We had come up with a bunch of ideas and projects that we wanted to work on to encourage each other,” said Kouri. “It was a small group of us at first and then it just ended up being the two of us in the end and we decided that was great so we decided to partner up.”
WOMEN IN BLACK?
Both women have black hair, tend to wear black all the time and both drive black vehicles. One morning they just started talking and said they could be the “Women in Black.” They weren’t sure if they were going to use it or not until people in the office started calling them the “Women in Black.” “We had already thought of it and then the office started calling us that, so we thought, OK it works,” said Kouri. “It was kind of coincidental.”
HOW DO THEY MARKET THE IDEA?
Both women are artists, so Cantrell took it upon herself to draw a cartoon of the two of them and put it on their marketing material. They both love to walk, so they tend to walk a neighborhood and put their marketing materials with the cartoon of the “Women in Black” on people’s doors to let them know they are there and ready to help them.
THEIR REAL ESTATE HISTORY?
Kouri has been in real estate for a year with Watson Realty. Cantrell has been with Watson for four years. She worked for Suncastle Property Management in Ponte Vedra before jumping into general real estate. “I was scared to go into general real estate, so I wanted to see how I felt and I liked it,” said Cantrell. “So, I decided to go into it full-time at Watson Realty.”
WHY DID THEY DECIDE TO PARTNER UP?
Cantrell had been searching for a partner since she got into real estate and never found the right person. Kouri is new to real estate and was happy to have someone to help her. “It’s all new to me,” said Kouri. “I needed someone to kind of push me in the right direction and give me a little guidance. Since real estate is such a competitive business, Carole was nice enough to give me guidance to start and then I said this is great. This way we can support each other.”
DIFFERENT GENERATIONS?
Kouri is 23 and Cantrell is 45. But, this allows them to cover a whole spectrum of customers. “The people that Carole would attract as a clientele base are typically different than me,” said Kouri. “We all get along, but it is just surprising to see what a big difference it is.”
STRENGTHS
EACH BRING?
Kouri said she is strong on the investment side. “I like to do the property searches and I grew up at the beach so I know the area very well,” said Kouri. Cantrell is better at the marketing side. Cantrell said Kouri’s investment knowledge is helpful in transactions because she makes the customers more comfortable by letting them know their purchase is a good investment. “Carole is good at doing comparative marketing analysis [CMA’S],” said Kouri.
CREATIVE MINDS THINK ALIKE?
Both Kouri and Cantrell love to paint and are very creative with their marketing strategies. “We are always planning what the next creative thing will be,” said Kouri.
“We have so many ideas,” said Cantrell. “We love real estate, but we are also artists.”
NEW IDEA?
An idea the ladies have come up with is to do a staging of their paintings at a vacant open house. “It was Carole’s idea,” said Kouri. “We want to do an open house/gallery event so people could come through see the house and our paintings. We both have been painting for years. We laugh when we go over to each other’s house because we have so many canvases stacked back to back.”
AREA THEY CONCENTRATE ON?
“We try to concentrate on the Beaches because we are realizing that if you go too far it’s not good,” said Cantrell. Cantrell includes Ponte Vedra Beach, the Beaches, Southside and Arlington in her market area. Kouri’s area has mainly been Jacksonville Beach since she grew up there.
DIFFERENT ABOUT SELLING AS A TEAM?
“It helps with staying motivated,” said Cantrell. “Sometimes you get in a slump and it’s hard to go out there by yourself. It takes a lot of courage to go to someone’s house. Having someone there gives me more encouragement. We sort of push each other. Sometimes I just don’t feel like doing anything, and she pushes me to go on and when she is in a slump I do the same for her.”
BEFORE REAL ESTATE?
Kouri lived in New York City for two years after high school working for boutiques and as a designer’s assistant. She also was a bartender. “When I got back to the beach, I was still bartending and wanted to go back to school. I decided I wanted to buy a house, so that’s how I got into real estate. I saw that there was a class you could take and six weeks later get your real estate license. I thought that was great. I really enjoyed the real estate class. I’ve always had wanderlust and liked to travel. So I’ve always wanted to be in a business where you can take time off if you want to and you can do what you want to.”
Cantrell owned a collision repair shop. “I took some time off after I sold the business and later decided I needed employment that took less time and was more flexible,” said Cantrell. “I thought real estate would be it and it was. But, now I work as much as I did when I owned my own business.”
HOW HAS YOUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE HELPED YOU NOW?
Kouri was a bartender for two years. “Just talking to people teaches you to just get out there and do it,” said Kouri. “It also teaches you to know your boundaries with people and for them to know your boundaries. It helped me learn how to socialize better and make the most out of my connections.”
Cantrell’s previous experience owning a business helps her to run her current business more effectively. “She does things structured as a business that since I haven’t owned my own business I don’t think she realizes it,” said Kouri.
“I’m careful with my money because I always had to be because I had a business,” said Cantrell. “Just because I made a lot money one month, I’m not one who would go out and spend it all. I structure it and handle the money well.”
WHAT HAS HELPED YOU MOST
TO GET YOU WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?
“My dad,” said Kouri. “He has been the biggest influence on me.”
“My daughter,” said Cantrell. “She’s changed me a lot and made me realize a lot of things.”
LESSONS LEARNED?
“A lot of stuff,” said Kouri. “In real estate you learn who you can trust and who you can’t really quickly. That’s been the saddest lesson so far. It is kind of a cut throat business.”
“The same thing,” said Cantrell. “It’s hard being deceived by people. That was a hard lesson for me too. I’m the kind of person who just tells all and I learned to retreat because others will go there before me or take my ideas.”
WHAT DO THEY LIKE TO DO WHEN NOT WORKING?
Cantrell enjoys painting, rollerblading, going to the gym, riding her bike, going to the beach and spending time with her boyfriend, Bud Meixel, and her children, Michelle and Harry.
Kouri enjoys hanging out with her boyfriend, Nathan Hayes; going to the gym, painting, walking, fishing, playing golf and tennis riding her bike and going to the beach.
They are planning on getting “Women in Black” t-shirts made up to wear when they go to the gym to further market themselves.
RESIDES
Kouri lives in Atlantic Beach and Cantrell lives in Neptune Beach.
FAVORITES
Kouri cites “It’s a Beautiful Life,” as her favorite movie. Though she doesn’t watch a lot of television, Kouri cites “Seinfeld” as her all-time favorite show. A book Kouri would recommend is “The Art of Happiness” by the Dalai Lama. When traveling, she likes Israel. Eating is an art for these ladies, they both agree that they love to eat and they eat a lot. Kouri loves to go out to eat at Pom’s Thai Bistro.
Cantrell cites “A River Runs Through It” as her favorite movie. “I love that movie.” When relaxing at home she really enjoys tuning into any forensic television shows including “C.S.I.” Even though she really doesn’t like to read, Cantrell remembers “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck as a book she really enjoyed reading. When dining out, she likes any restaurant that serves sushi.
-by Michele Newbern Gillis