When Realtor Pamela Mabee says she went to the School of Hard Knocks, she isn’t kidding. Fortunately, she graduated with flying colors.
Mabee tells her story with a staccato flair: “I’m a Chattanooga girl. Born and raised. Graduated from Red Bank High School. I did not have a silver spoon in my mouth, so college was not an option. I went to the School of Hard Knocks. I had to scratch out what I wanted to do and figure out how to be successful at it.”
After high school, Mabee found work in the medical field. Then she grew sick. When it became apparent she would not be able to return to a clock-in, clock-out routine, she looked for something flexible. Through personal connections, she entered the real estate business in 1998.
“I initially had no desire to be in real estate. It didn’t appeal to me. It wasn’t my passion. I didn’t think I would like it,” she says. “But it was the best thing I could have done. I had a lot of success for an affiliate. I had a knack for it I didn’t even know I had.”
In 2003, circumstances conspired to force another change on Mabee: leaving the brokerage where she’d been successful. She’ll never forget being told she “would have to work at another big box company.” She said she was going to go into business for herself instead. “You’ll never make it,” came the reply.
Starting her own real estate concern was Mabee’s senior thesis. She was a woman, her naysayer said, and the market was too competitive. It would eat her alive.
Mabee took a bite out of the market instead.
Motivated not to prove someone wrong but to be a success in her own right, Mabee devised the perfect formula for success: work hard.
“I was driven. I wanted to sell ‘x’ number of houses each year, I wanted to be on the Million Dollar Round Table, and I always wanted to beat my numbers for the previous year,” she says. “It was exhausting.”
Then came the last hard knock before graduation: the real estate market dipped. Fortunately, Mabee had done her homework.
“Because I grew up poor, I’m a saver,” she says. “So, when the money was rolling in, I was saving it. That sustained me.
“You have to save for the rainy days. I just didn’t know I was saving up for a monsoon.”
Mabee weathered the storm and emerged from the torrent with a different approach to doing business: instead of working hard, she would work smart.
“I decided to no longer list houses that are not sellable. I don’t take just anything,” she says. “My focus has changed. It’s no longer about chasing numbers, but about enjoying what I do. It’s no longer about how much money I make, but about allowing myself to have a life outside of real estate.”
Although in the beginning Mabee doubted she would like real estate, she can now say she enjoys it. Selling houses and working with customers has become her passion, and providing excellent service has become her top priority. “My customers might get an email from me at three in the morning,” she says. “If they call me at midnight, I’m going to answer the phone.”
Mabee sees herself as a champion for small companies. She might not have a staff, the latest technology, or a big advertising budget, but when her customers call her phone, they get her, not an assistant or her voice mail. “That’s my edge. Team members and fancy websites are wonderful, but at the end of the day, a client wants to talk with his broker. Providing that personal service has sustained me.”
So has the interior design add-on Mabee provides for free. One glimpse of Mabee’s large and lushly furnished Mediterranean-style home in Ooltewah, which she and her husband designed and built in 2008, reveals her gift for picking out eye-pleasing décor. Ornately framed paintings overlook plush chairs and couches laden with cozy pillows in the central living space, while the solid wood furniture in the dining room has a richly classical look. The kitchen, also visible from the front door due to the open layout, is more modern, but fits perfectly with the rest of the rooms.
“I don’t charge for it. It’s a bonus for my clients,” she says. “This afternoon, I’m helping a client choose paint colors and furniture.” Mabee also stages her sellers’ homes for free.
When it comes to enjoying life after real estate, Mabee gets an A+. She and her husband own a 52-foot Blue Water Yacht, and spend as much time on the water as possible. “If I’m not working, I’d rather be–well, actually, no matter what I’m doing, I’d rather be on my boat,” she says, laughing. “It’s our home away from home. We entertain on the boat, we go to UT games on the boat, and we have stayed on the boat for 14 days at a time.”
Mabee’s gift for decorating sometimes fills her free time, as she’s often called upon to manage events for the Yacht Club–something she loves to do. As a result of her all-out, over-the-top approach to event planning, her friends have nicknamed her “Foo Foo.”
“My parties feature an abundance of flowers and crystal and china,” she says. “They’re foo foo.”
Mabee also spends time caring for her two dogs: a Yorkshire and a white Maltese – both of which can be heard barking in another part of her spacious house. “They’re my children,” she says.
Mabee might have graduated from the School of Hard Knocks with flying colors, but she knows each day brings new challenges, so she remains humble, thankful, and focused on sustaining her success. For her, that involves more than providing good customer service; it’s also about spreading her love for the Scenic City.
“I love my hometown, and I love selling my hometown,” she says. “It’s easy for me to promote Chattanooga, not because this is where I’ve always lived, but because I wouldn’t live anywhere else.”