by Michele Gillis
Staff writer
Sometimes change is good. Donna Sadowski says it was for her.
Sadowski recently made a big move from Mercedes Homes to Richmond American Homes. After 13 years, she said it was one of the hardest things she has ever done.
“I grew up there,” said Sadowski, the new director of sales at Richmond American. “I think with any person, when you have that type of longevity with a company, it was time for me to change. It was time for me to re-energize my professional career. It was a new challenge for me and it also impacted my personal life.
“I have more energy again. I’m the type of person that needs to have a challenge in front of me. There were challenges at Mercedes for me, but it was just time. It was just time for me to grow in a different type of atmosphere.”
Moving to a national company was something Sadowski always wanted to do.
“I wanted to prove to myself that I was good no matter where I was going,” she said. “I love it here. Every single day has been challenging and rewarding. I’ve grown every single day I’ve been here and I’ve learned something new, maybe a different way of doing things and a different culture.
“It’s very corporate here. There are processes and program in place. My assignment is to take our sales team to a new level and to grow the sales team. We have 19 sales consultants. My goal is to have 40 agents by August. We are growing. Richmond American Homes is a growing company in Jacksonville and all across the United States.”
Working in a corporate environment can be taxing but Sadowski likes the new challenge.
“We are still entrepreneurs in a way,” said Sadowski. “They still charge us with being good stewards of the financial resources available to us and to know our market. So, it still is a very localized business. The biggest transition for me was not getting used to the corporate culture, it was leaving my friends and associates after 13 years. I just took it one day at a time.”
Sadowski made the decision to leave in February and she says Mercedes is in good hands; she was replaced by Melissa Matthews.
“She is phenomenal and it is a great growth opportunity for her,” she said. “It gave someone else a chance to grow within that company.”
Sadowski’s experience with Mercedes Homes has helped her immensely as she took on her new role at Richmond American Homes.
“Since Richmond American already has programs in place, it was good for me to be able and come in and do what I do best, which is motivate and lead a sales team,” said Sadowski. “I have a more defined goal here. At Mercedes I was fortunate because I learned about land acquisition, purchasing and estimating and basically learned every aspect of the business. I brought that with me and I think it helps me as a leader because I understand every aspect of the business.”
Though her goal is more defined, she didn’t come to Richmond American to take a break.
“There is a lot of growth activity here,” said Sadowski. “I didn’t come here to take a break I cam here to get even more challenged. I start seeing emails at 4 a.m. and am still conversing back and forth until 8 or 9 p.m. That is a choice I make. I made it at Mercedes and I made it here. I totally immerse myself in the company.”
Richmond American builds over 450 homes a year in Duval, Clay, St. Johns and Nassau counties. Price ranges are from $140,000 to $400,000’s.
“We are doing great,” said the mother of three. “Something we do different here is that on our speculation homes, we build them up to drywall and then we hold them. It allows our customers to come in and personalize the home. They get the opportunity to come to our home gallery and pick out exactly what they want for the home. It’s about having the customer create a home that’s really theirs.”