She has been a real estate agent with Prudential Network Realty on San Jose Boulevard for a year.
WHAT’S HER BACKGROUND?
Marketing and sales. She was in store management with Banana Republic and Victoria’s Secret at the Jacksonville Landing before heading to Folio Weekly where she started in sales and worked her way up to sales manager during her eight and a half years there.
HOW DID SHE GET INTO REAL ESTATE?
After she had her son, she decided to be a stay-at-home mom for about a year and a half. “I’m not really a good stay-at-home mom. I need to work. Someone from Prudential’s Avondale office had been trying to get me to get into real estate for a while and when I was at home with the baby, I started thinking about what I should do with my life. Somehow things fell into place. I thought that now would be a good time to take the real estate course and at least get a license and see what I could do with it.”
HOW DID YOUR RETAIL AND SALES EXPERIENCE HELP YOU IN REAL ESTATE?
“I’ve always been in sales. Sales is my thing. I’ve always been fortunate to work for people who really put training first. What I learned at Banana Republic is that it’s not about the features, it’s really about the benefit to the consumer. It’s about how will this product benefit this particular individual. I think that is what real estate is all about. We have to learn how to put our thoughts and feelings second because I may not like a certain community, but for someone else it is the right choice.”
COMING TO AMERICA?
Lancelle came to America — specifically California — from Germany in 1984 as a nanny (the fancy term is “Au Pair.”) In 1986, she moved to Florida.
CROSSING THE LANGUAGE BARRIER
She said her German accent comes and goes. “I don’t think it will ever go away though. Russian people gravitate to me for some reason, but really my clients are from across the board. Americans like the accent, they like the European thing. They just seem fascinated with it.”
HOW IS AMERICA DIFFERENT?
“If you look at the big picture, it’s basically the same. But, then you look at little tiny nuances and they are different. It’s a different attitude toward life and values. For example, they don’t have school sports in Germany. They have physical education, but no school or college sports. You can’t get into college simply because you can throw a ball. It’s all academic. Also, schools for the most part are free. If you want to go to the university you get in on your intellectual merit and then you go for free.”
FAVORITE THING ABOUT REAL ESTATE?
“When you are out with buyers looking at houses all day and you walk into that one house and you see their eyes light up, that is cool.”
AREAS SHE WORKS?
“Everywhere. I’ve sold in Eagle Harbor, Orange Park, Mandarin, Westside and Arlington.”
ADVICE TO NEW AGENTS?
“If it’s someone who doesn’t have sales experience, sales is hard. It’s not technically difficult, but you have to be very multi-faceted, switch gears quickly, wear many different hats at the same time and when someone says no, you have to just keep on going. Also, there is no one that tells you what you need to do, so you have to motivate yourself.”
WHAT IS CHALLENGING ABOUT BEING A REAL ESTATE AGENT?
“In real estate, more so than other sales jobs, you really have to put your own feelings on the back burner. You really have to listen and no matter how goofy someone else’s hopes and desires may seem, your job is to fulfill those hopes and desires for them.”
HOWS THE AIR UP THERE?
One of the first things you notice about Lancelle is her stature. Standing 6-foot-2, she towers most women [and men] in her vicinity. “It gets me a different level of respect, I think. I don’t ever feel like I am being treated like the little woman. I think that actually does help. Call it what you want, but if you are tall, people think you are competent, even if you are not.”
BIRTHPLACE
Germany.
FAMILY
She is married to Chris Page. They have a son, Dylan, 3.
RESIDES
Mandarin.
HOBBIES
Yard work, traveling, cooking and visiting with friends.
FAVORITES
Her favorite book is “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco. Her favorite movie is “Jurassic Park”. She and her husband met at Mossfire Grill, so she cites that as her favorite restaurant. When relaxing at home she enjoys tuning into “Law and Order,” “Frasier” and “Will and Grace.”
— by Michele Newbern Gillis