by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
The new president of the St. Augustine Chapter of the Women’s Council of Realtors wants what every president before her wanted - increased membership. The chapter has been around for five years and has struggled a bit with membership, but Julie Knowles, a Realtor with Premier Properties Realty Group, wants that to change.
She feels that structure and organization is the key to making this chapter thrive.
“I’d like to see us get to where we have a real strong committee,” said Knowles. “We’ve never had a strong committee where the program person is set up for the whole year. We’ve never had that. I don’t like that, because I like to know what is going on.
“I think we need more structure. The board this year is just awesome. People can expect a lot of new things this year.”
Knowles took over as the president of the St. Augustine Chapter of the Women’s Council of Realtors in September 2004 when the president at the time, Inez Tankesly, was relocated. She officially starts her year as president this month.
“I want to increase the membership,” she said. “I also want the Realtors to reap the full benefits of what the WCR can offer them. There is a huge referral network within WCR and it offers many education opportunities. We help agents get designations. I don’t think a lot of Realtors understand that. I think Realtors should come to meet other Realtors and affiliates. You feel more comfortable working with someone you know. I also believe that they will be able to outsell and make more money than the average agent who doesn’t come.”
Knowles said they are striving to become more like other established WCR chapters.
“We did increase membership last year,” she said. “What we did was to attend the orientation at the St. Johns County/St. Augustine Board of Realtors to let the new agents know about us. We also contacted former members of WCR to find out why they left and what we could do to get them back.”
Knowles would like to improve the quality of speakers so that the attendees get something from the meeting other than networking.
“If you don’t get anything from coming to a meeting, then why come?” she said. “That why we are trying to change things and also offer the agents the education information that other agents who aren’t members won’t have.”
Knowles said she would like to see a lot more Realtor participation in the group and more information brought back to the members from national and state conventions.
“If WCR sent them to the convention, I think it is their responsibility to bring back a report so that agents can learn something from it,” she said.
Knowles said attendance is up to about 32, a good number for a town the size of St. Augustine.
“It’s better and I can only see it getting better,” she said. “People want good speakers and good information. They can go to lunch anywhere. It’s not about lunch, it’s about learning things that will help them make more money. I don’t want any fluff. If I want fluff I can go open a book and read fluff. I want more for the day-to-day operations within real estate.”
Knowles has several charity events planned for next year including the annual Holiday High Tea and Silent Auction to benefit the Empty Stocking Fund.
“It is an organization that I would like to be part of and help form,” said Knowles. “I like the fact that they do things for charity. I have good leadership skills and wanted to be in a position where I could utilize them. I wanted to change the direction and get a little more energy going in there.”
Knowles has been involved in the Parent Teachers Association at Hartley Elementary and was assistant manager at US Travel for 13 years. She is also a Senior Ambassador for St. Johns County.
Before real estate, she worked at US Travel and then sold insurance at Guardian Life of New York because she wanted a job with more flexibility.
Eventually, she found her way to real estate.
She started her real estate career with Sunstate Realty before joining Coldwell Banker Palazzo Realty. She joined Premier Properties in March 2004, where she sells mainly at the St. Augustine beaches.
She was born in Wisconsin, but was raised in Chicago. She moved to Florida in 1981 because she didn’t want to stay in the cold weather anymore.
She worked with her family at their restaurant, Trader Jack’s, before joining the travel agency. She has been married to Dean for 19 years. She has two children Alexandra, 14 and Justin, 11. When she is not working, she enjoys cooking, doing creative projects and spent time with family.