by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Linda Sherrer didn’t become one of the more successful businesswomen in Northeast Florida by accident. And, it didn’t happen by marrying Jacksonville Port Authority Executive Director Rick Ferrin two years ago, making them arguably the most powerful couple in Jacksonville.
Success has come from nearly 30 years of selling houses and cultivating a business.
Sherrer is the president and CEO of Prudential Network Realty, but her imprint on local real estate started shortly after she moved from Japan to Jacksonville in 1979.
She became a Watson Realty agent and within five years was the company’s relocation manager – a position that certainly fit her experience. As the wife of a Navy pilot, Sherrer was on a first-name basis with the folks at U-Haul and Ryder.
“We made 17 moves in 14 years. That’s why I know a lot about relocation,” said Sherrer, who’s originally from North Carolina, but grew up in Coral Gables.
After five years, Sherrer got one of those offers you simply don’t refuse. Gate Petroleum’s Herb Peyton had just purchased the former duPont estate in Jacksonville’s San Jose area from financier Raymond Mason and turned it into a private club known today as Epping Forest Yacht Club. He hired Sherrer to to be the marketing director.
“The mansion was not renovated yet, it was empty. There were trees and an empty mansion and yacht basin,” she said. “Herb said, ‘Linda, if you can’t market a 15,000 square-foot mansion and 3,200 feet of yacht basin, you should get out of real estate.’ It was the smartest move I ever made. I met such wonderful people.”
Over the next three-plus years, Sherrer sold over 200 homes and condominiums and oversaw the renovations to the mansion. Today, Epping Forest is one of the area’s most prestigious clubs and addresses.
It didn’t take long for another break to come along. Sherrer found out Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Prudential was looking to expand all over the country, especially in high-growth areas. At the time, Prudential had a presence in Jacksonville, but only through its health insurance and securities companies.
“They did have 6,000 employees in Jacksonville,” said Sherrer, explaining that company executives went quietly to area attorneys, CPAs and the Chamber looking for names of experienced real estate agents or brokers to own the local Prudential franchise.
Sherrer’s name came up more than a few times. “That made me feel really good.”
She got the offer but needed to raise $2 million. In stepped Zurich Insurance CEO Tom Petway, who invested and brought in others.
“I wanted all of Northeast Florida, not just one office,” Sherrer said. “We opened four or five that first year. I had landed the franchise and I wanted to be taken seriously.”
Today, Sherrer has 79 employees, 328 agents and seven offices. She also owns a mortgage and a title company. And, that $2 million investment is now worth …
“Let’s just say it’s a lot,” she said.