Woman Finds Her Passion in Real Estate, Giving Back
Pamela Bell, Realtor of Pinellas County
Pamela Bell was one of those people who never knew what they wanted to do after they graduated. While all of her high school classmates were going to college and had dreams of being a doctor, lawyer or business professional, Bell knew whatever she decided on just needed to have certain elements. “I wanted a career where I could help people, be happy at what I was doing, and that it would be lucrative,” she said.
Little did she know that years later, while standing in church one Sunday after moving to Florida from the Hamptons and working as a private chef to wealthy clients, that career would find her. While talking with a friend about what she was going to do next, a woman overheard their conversation and said, “Why don’t you become a buyer’s agent?”
“I had no idea what a buyer’s agent was,” Bell said. “So she explained it to me and I said that I would give it a shot. The next day I went to sign up for real estate school to get my license and my journey began!”
After a couple of years of learning the trade, Bell now owns her own Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) and holds her license under Coastal Christies Property Group, LLC. Bell’s team focuses on residential, investment, and commercial properties, including luxury. While learning the trade, she enlisted the help of the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Pinellas County Economic Development (PCED), and business consultant Kurt Forster.
“I met Kurt at Florida SBDC at Pinellas County Economic Development through the chamber of commerce in Safety Harbor,” she said. “I became a member there, volunteered in the community, and was looking for ways of marketing to further my business. They said that I should get together with Kurt and that he helps people just like me with their businesses.”
While skeptical at first, Bell was pleasantly surprised after meeting Forster. “After making the appointment I thought to myself, well we’ll see if he can actually do that because I had made many attempts at seeking out help and no one was truly able to do it up to this point.”
She added, “Kurt really made good on his word. I was looking for direction and support with my business and that is exactly what Kurt gave to me. We met several times a year. He helped me design a brand for my business, worked with me to develop a yearly marketing plan and continued to tweak and support me in my business.”
As a result Bell has seen consistent growth in her business. “I will tell you that the first year that I was in the real estate business I think I made $60,000 and that equates to about $3.5 million in sales. Not bad for 6 months of hard work. Every year after that I just kept working and surpassing the sales from the year before. I have been blessed and fortunate enough to have between two to five people working for me to help me with my marketing.”
While business is good, the amount of money is not what comes to mind when she talks about her biggest success. “If I have to think about what my biggest success would be, in my heart it would be that I am able to do charity events now,” she said. “Every year I think about what I am doing to do to give back to the community and this year I did what I entitled, Pamela’s Pumpkin Patch.” Bell provides all the pumpkins to attendees, who gain entry into the event by bringing paper or canned goods and get to pick out a pumpkin of their choice for free. All of the donations then go to a charity chosen by Bell. This year’s event was so successful that she was able to donate items to The Neighborhood Family Service Center in Safety Harbor as well as St. Vincent de Paul at Espiritu Santo, where she is a lector.
Moving forward, Bell plans on keeping Forster and the Florida SBDC at PCED involved in her business management. She currently meets with Forster on a quarterly basis to review revenues and the marketing plan. “We tweak everything we work on every year and whatever is going on in my community I want to be on top of. I’d like to keep adding people to my lists and businesses and I need help with that. He’s really been my guru there.”
While she says she will continue to rely on Forster and his expertise to grow her business, she recommends other entrepreneurs do the same. “Run, don’t walk” she said. “Call Kurt at the Florida SBDC for Pinellas County Economic Development. I am telling you the SBDC was a godsend to me. I never would have known how to put everything together the way that it has. I have confidence in him. He’s knowledgeable, kind, and caring and he takes the time to break everything down to help you figure out what you need to do next and he just adds to that.”
She added, “I really am a success story! I was $57,000 in debt when I first got started in real estate, with medical bills, student loans, and credit card debt. Never giving up is key. I prayed a lot and stayed the course. I started out behind the eight ball and I am now a multi-million dollar producer. I really know that I am blessed and I feel very grateful to God, my family, Kurt at the SBDC in Pinellas County, and Coastal Christies, all for truly being there for me.”
Expressing her gratitude for all of the help even further, Bell added, “Through my journey I’ve met a lot of wonderful people and one of them is Kurt Forster at the SBDC. I’m able to help people, give back to the community and further my career. If you are wondering where you can go to get some business direction look no further and call Kurt. I’m sure you will be glad that you did.”
