Frank Trimble finds an electric lifestyle in real estate. After 22 years in insurance, Trimble heads Trimble Homes at Keller Williams alongside his wife, Cheryl, and his diligent team.
Trimble earned his insurance license and began working for the Trimble family agency while still in college at age 19. His parents, “granddad,” two of his brothers and Trimble’s now-wife Cheryl also worked at the agency when it later merged with Huffaker and was eventually purchased by BB&T. After the buyout, Trimble says he didn’t enjoy the bank atmosphere and decided to pursue a career he had been eyeing for years.
“I was obsessed with the real estate pages in the newspaper, and I would comb them all the time. They would put them in the boxes on the streets – in the plastic bags – and I thought it was so cool.” Trimble says he felt drawn to the Realtor’s lifestyle, the houses and properties. In fact, Trimble once tried to convince his father to start a real estate agency in tandem with insurance. To no avail, he says.
So Frank Trimble set out into real estate amid the 2008 recession, “which was probably not a great thing to do.” He sold one home in his first year as a Realtor.
His struggle led him to general real estate, where he found his professional home in Chattanooga:
“I walked into the Keller Williams office on Georgia Avenue, and it was like a party. The team leader said, ‘Are you going to go somewhere else?’ And I said, ‘No, sign me up.’ It was an electric atmosphere, even back then.”
Since he joined in 2008, Trimble says Keller Williams has grown from 50 agents to 460 in the downtown Chattanooga office alone. “KW has undoubtedly the best training in the real estate industry – and it’s mostly free.”
Trimble’s wife, Cheryl, followed him from insurance to real estate, tackling his books. Now the director of operations and chief financial officer of Trimble Homes, Trimble says Cheryl is “really good at numbers – that’s her thing. I kid her, ‘All you see is lines and zeros.’ Spreadsheets are her love language.” Trimble says that his wife has been pivotal to his success: “If it wasn’t for her, I would be alone, penniless, in a gutter. There’s no question.”
After years of vacations spent scrambling for help, Trimble and Cheryl decided to start a team around 2016.
Trimble raves about their first member, Aubrey LaRue, who was sent to him by a friend. When she approached Trimble, LaRue had already been mentioned in “Real Producers” and in the “30 under 30” list in the National Association of Realtors. Trimble calls her an “absolute rock star” and laughs that after one meeting with her, “she pretty much hired herself.” Trimble says that LaRue helped launch Trimble Homes.
Working on his team at Keller Williams has taught Trimble that “you have to be the calmest person in the room” and that he is more analytical, empathetic and patient than he thought. Trimble assures that he never escalates situations or brings drama or ego to a sale.
Insurance agents, Trimble says, are considered people’s third most-trusted advisers, but real estate agents “don’t even make the list.” Trimble says his team prioritizes trustworthiness and care for their clients. He names every member of Trimble Homes multiple times, including Adam, who he calls exceptionally reliable, Arica with the “huge heart” and more.
To ensure every agent on their team embodies these values, Trimble and Cheryl are “extremely slow to hire.” Agents must first take an intense personality and aptitude test, which accounts for 30% of Frank and Cheryl Trimble’s decision-making. From there, the Trimbles conduct several interviews to find agents’ motivations.
“We want somebody that’s caring, has a big heart, wants to help people and is motivated to succeed,” he says.
Trimble’s says is favorite part about being a Realtor is building relationships and making people happy. He enjoys celebratory closings at which people laugh, joke and tell stories. His team’s ability to make that happen, Trimble says, is why most Trimble Homes clients are direct referrals from former clients or friends.
Trimble’s wife compensates for his least favorite part about real estate: “I hate the paperwork. That’s my wife’s jam.”
Trimble finds his wife is his perfect counterpart in the industry. He finishes sentences with “thanks to Cheryl” and answers questions with “I don’t know. Cheryl could tell you.”
Trimble not only works with his wife full-time – they also go to the gym together (“every day, nonnegotiable, at 11:00/11:30”), travel together and walk and hike together. “We play off each other really well,” Trimble says. “We used to go to Sanibel Island, and we would rent a boat and I would hand her the chart – my wife again, lines and zeros – and she would tell me where to go. It was great. We turn everything into some sort of adventure.”
Trimble’s schedule is a finely tuned machine. Along with his consistent exercise, Trimble blocks time for different work, conducts team meetings every Tuesday, has date night every Wednesday and practices client role-play with his team every Friday.
“But it doesn’t always happen,” he says. “There’s always some wrench that gets thrown in your way.”
Despite the wrenches, the Trimble Homes team is thriving. They continue to reach top percentiles in Chattanooga sales and, Trimble says, every agent on his team exceeded Keller Williams’ commission cap in 2023. He says the team’s goal going forward is “to not go backward. That looks like about $60 million in total gross sales.”
Outside of work, Trimble’s team includes his father, who just celebrated his 96th birthday, and his two sons, Jay and Chase. Trimble says proudly that both of his boys are very musical, not unlike himself. Through high school and college, Trimble played drums in concert and marching bands and joined a musical fraternity.
His younger son, Chase, now applies his creative mind to design and manufacturing, and his older son, Jay, shoots music videos for artists on tour.
“He’s living the dream,” Trimble says. “Jay works with mostly country artists and is with Kenny Chesney right now. He got us tickets to the Denver show, so we’re gonna fly in, see Chesney, then probably go on intense hikes and see some waterfalls.”
Trimble says, “I could talk about them all day.”
On the weekends, Trimble can be found mountain biking, running, hiking or paddleboarding. Trimble grew up boating and now has a bowrider on which he and Cheryl often relax and decompress. Their favorite spot is at Mullins Cove.
Trimble, an admitted Nat Geo documentary addict, hopes to travel more in the future. His top spots are Italy, the Mediterranean and Chile. “I want to go down to Chile so bad. I want to see Machu Picchu.”
But snow skiing is Frank Trimble’s true passion. “I think if I ever did a tattoo, it would have something to do with skiing.” Whenever they’re able, Trimble and his wife Cheryl fly to Steamboat Springs in Colorado to “go and ski our hearts out for three to five days.”
He says he dreams to eventually own a second home in Steamboat where he can stay and ski as long as he likes.
When asked where he wants to be in five years, Trimble plainly said, “skiing.” And when asked what he hopes to do upon retirement, Trimble again said, laughing, “ski.”