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building a legacy
robin smith salzman | lake norman chrysler dodge jeep ram
Debi Gallo, owner of Debi Gallo and Associates in Cornelius, knows a thing or two about change. She knows that change can be good, and she knows how to make savvy decisions that are good for herself, good for her family and friends and especially, good for her real estate clients.
Last October, Debi’s mother and step-father moved to the Lake Norman area to be closer to the family. Debi can’t say enough great things about her mom, Jean. “She really is a clone of me,” Debi says. “She’s essentially our sales manager; she’s freed me up to be able to do other things. She even will call me in the morning to say, ‘You won’t believe what I thought of overnight!’ With a background in owning her own business, she looks forward to every day bringing something different.”
Her mother just may be the inspiration behind Debi’s motherly support and can-do attitude for her own children. After eight years with Coldwell Banker, Debi and her family moved from Connecticut to the university area 18 years ago, for the employment opportunities, the cost of living, and the weather when her sons were 9 and 7. Now, Joey, an entrepreneur, is starting his own luxury RV rental business, and Danny is a structural engineer. Debi is a proud mom, who helps in any way she can, including designing marketing materials for Joey’s new venture and supporting Danny as he earns his master’s degree.
Debi was drawn to real estate as a young girl: she recalls enjoying listening to her uncle on his commercial real estate calls in his office. As a business major in Glastonbury, Connecticut, Debi took a business law course taught by Attorney Shapiro. “He was so dreamy that I was taking whatever he was teaching the next semester,” Debi laughs. “It was Real Estate 101.” Her successful career was born.
“In Charlotte, I spent six years at Allen Tate Realty. I won numerous awards while I was there; and I call it ‘the university’ because I really learned so much during that experience.”
Ready to branch out on her own, Debi moved to Lake Norman and formed Debi Gallo Realty, leasing office space in Kenton Place. When the recession hit in 2008, Debi regrouped. She focused on selling waterfront condos and townhomes. “I discovered a bit earlier that I needed to find a niche,” she says. “If you focus on one or two aspects of the industry, you can hone your craft and be an expert in that market. I focused on Lake Norman; and to me, ‘far’ was Davidson Landing.”
Debi says the economy’s recovery is a welcome sight for more than one reason. “all the realtors that survived the recession…we are buddies. We are competitors and we are friends. And we are happy to refer business or work with someone else to sell a property.” Her motto is evidence, emblazoned on her website: “Friends become my clients, and my clients become my friends.”
This attitude of resolve and strength helped Debi weather the economic storm. At 10 a.m., on the Saturday before the 2012 Super Bowl, Debi was the on-call agent when what would be a very important call—one that ultimately led to the sale of the Chateau Lyon estate in Mooresville—came through. Not only was this sale a boon for Debi personally, it set the bar for future real estate appraisals and comps in the area.
Now affiliated with Southern Homes of the Carolinas, Debi Gallo and Associates includes business partner and fiancé Barry Fulton and two additional agents.
As soon as she met Barry, Debi knew he was a special guy. Just 12 days after meeting him, she visited him in Los Angeles; and within seven months, Barry sold his successful Segway business—during a recession, no less—moved here, and attained a broker’s license.
Jean says she can just look at Barry and see “he’s totally in love with Debi.” With a mother’s pride, she declares that Barry is “truly remarkable.”
“Remarkable” may be an understatement. This power couple has overcome personal challenges. Debi contends that Barry’s continual positivity and selflessness caused him to endure—and beat—cancer twice.
“When I grow up, I want to be just like Barry,” Debi teases. She adds, seriously, “He lives every day to the fullest, never putting himself first. He is thoughtful and caring and thrives on giving back to help others in need.” Debi looks forward to having grandchildren with Barry someday playing in her “beautiful Lake Norman backyard paradise.” For now, she, Barry, and their 6.2-pound Yorkie named Buffett (named for Warren Buffett), enjoy boating and the lake life.
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right at home
sommer holcombe | optimized dezign
Sommer Holcombe comes from a long line of Lake Normaners—a rare trait in a community in which you’re much more likely to meet a transplant than a local. Sommer spent her early childhood in Mooresville, then moved to Huntersville when her dad, a successful architect and contractor, built the family’s home, where she attended North Mecklenburg High. “My entire family—grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins are all within 30 minutes of the Lake Norman area!” Sommer says.
While some might find the proximity of so many relatives a little too close for comfort, Sommer views their closeness as ideal. “I have never valued family as much as this year since my dad passed away. My dad was my best friend. We did so much together, so losing him greatly enhanced my view on family—being with them makes me smile! I would give anything to have one more night with him in hospice, just to talk to him and hold him.”
Knowing her years of hard work and careful planning to fulfill her dream of owning her own business is now paying off makes Sommer smile, too. After attending college at UNC Charlotte where she earned a degree in graphic design, Sommer put her skills to work first at Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and then at Christy Walker & Associates at Keller Williams in Cornelius. However, she found she was spending her nights and weekends doing side jobs for her coworkers, such as creating logos, building websites, designing flyers and home brochures, and constructing social media business pages. Realizing that she had quite a client base already, Sommer developed a business plan, researched and read as much as she could about starting a business and, after nearly a year, she took the plunge—and Optimized Dezign was born.
It wasn’t easy, though. Sommer’s day began at 4:30 a.m. with voracious reading on how to develop and grow her new venture, followed by a day at the Keller Williams office, some exercise, and then late-night hours at home, building her own business. And even though her work can still require long and sometimes crazy hours—she often works late into the night and on weekends—the best part of it all is that Sommer doesn’t even feel like she’s working: “I absolutely love what I do!”
But Sommer also knows that all work and no play is not only no fun, it can do some harm in the productivity department as well. She recognizes the need to recharge her batteries, which she accomplishes by going for a run, hanging out with her friends, indulging every now and again in a glass of wine and peanuts and brochette, or spending an afternoon on the lake. She also enjoys spending quality time in her house, which her dad remodeled, with her dad’s dog, Woodrow, whom she adopted after he passed away.
And though the lake is home, Sommer has her eye on expanding her business beyond the area. She’ll continue to spend her time, talents, and resources fulfilling that dream; but when it comes to downtime and family, she’ll continue to live her dream right here on the lake.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”grey”][vc_column_text]
hit the ground running
Grace McMillan | the charlotte radiology vein and vascular center
Whether she is running up and down the aisles at 30,000 feet, making your flight more comfortable or training for her next marathon, Grace McMillan of Huntersville does not have time for leg pain. But leg pain did plague Grace for years, affecting her job as a flight attendant and her passion for running. Not being able to enjoy life with her usual high enthusiasm and gusto—Grace has been an avid runner for nearly 30 years!—she decided it was time to take action.
“I experienced constant leg pain and fatigue for probably close to 20 years,” Grace says. “I even wore compression stockings, tried massage, and elevated my legs when possible, but nothing worked. Finally, my doctor* recommended The Charlotte Radiology Vein and Vascular Center, and I’m so glad he did!”
After a consultation and an ultrasound, Grace was found to be a candidate for EVLT (Endovenous Laser Treatment) because of incompetent veins in both legs. After three sessions of EVLT and two sessions of sclerotherapy, she says her legs have never felt better. “Charlotte Radiology made it so easy,” Grace says. “The procedure was simple and painless, the staff was incredible, and the results are liberating.”
Originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, Grace earned an early childhood education degree from James Madison University in 1978. She taught for five years, and although she loved teaching, Grace longed to travel. A close friend encouraged her to find an outlet for her love of adventure, which Grace did in 1983, when she joined Piedmont Airlines (now American Airlines). Not only did she meet people from all walks of life, she met and fell in love with a handsome pilot with the airline in January 1998. Grace and Don married in September 2000.
“We have flown together on many occasions,” she recounts. “The best day of my life was when we married. We are soulmates; he totally gets me. Even though we travel for a living, we love our adventures outside of work. We especially like to visit lighthouses and have seen most of those on the East Coast, a few on the Great Lakes, and even a few on the West Coast. We look forward to adding more to our list.”
Grace has always been one to count her blessings and fully immerse herself in the everyday joys of life, and she credits Charlotte Radiology for much of her recent health and good fortune. “They gave me my life back,” she smiles. “I am especially pleased with my running now; my mileage has almost doubled since I had the leg treatment. I run at least five miles a day, sometimes more; and although I’m not officially training for a marathon, there is definitely one in my future. Thanks to Charlotte Radiology, I hit the ground running every morning with a smile on my face and a skip in my step!”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_single_image image=”329″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”full”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]
{August 2014}
Carpe diem. Seems like beneficial, practical advice, doesn’t it? After all, who doesn’t want to enjoy every precious minute of life, to make each day count, to act on every moment, to live in an extraordinary way, and to experience life fully?
Whew … I’m tired just writing about it. In the reality of life, or at least in mine, sometimes seizing the day is a bit tricky. I don’t have as much trouble carpe-ing my diem when it’s a day at the beach or a sunny day spent cruising through the mountains with the top down. On those diems, I can carpe right along with the best. No, it’s the routine diems that cause me trouble. I find it much more difficult to carpe in the school carpool, at my semiweekly forage in the grocery store, or while folding the laundry, making dinner (or calling it in and picking it up), meeting a deadline, or paying bills.
Sometimes on those not-so-perfect days I’m tired and cranky and just ready for the day to be over. In fact, the only thing I want to seize on those days is the remote control as I sink into the sofa to watch some quality TV, like “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.”
It’s not that I think seizing the day is bad advice on those days, just somewhat impractical. So I’ve decided to lower the bar a bit. When I don’t feel like carpe-ing the entire diem, I’m going to find at least part of the day to make the most of. After all, there are magical moments in every day, even the ones in which I forget to set the alarm, run out the door with bad hair and two different shoes on, the candy machine from which I’m getting my breakfast eats my money, I drop my cell phone in my ice tea (it happens, trust me), and “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” is preempted for the world championship dominoes tournament.
Yes, even those days contain moments of happiness, moments of comfort, moments of pleasure, or moments of tenderness. Like when I’m gazing at our beautiful garden with the lightning bugs twinkling in the dusk, or when my husband surprises me with a kiss on the back of my neck, or one of my sons lets out an unexpected, robust laugh. So I’m going to work on carpe-ing those precious moments—to seize them, hold on to them, appreciate them, and most importantly live them. Who knows? Maybe before too long, a whole carpe diem won’t be out of the question.
What about you? How will you seize your day? Compliment a stranger? Sing out loud? Call your mom and tell her you love her? Turn off your phone for the day? (I know, now I’m just being silly.) I hope you will carpe your diem—even if, like me, it’s only a bit of it—because one thing I know for sure is that we never get today back. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring; it’s a mystery. But we have today, and what a wonderful, beautiful gift it is. Let’s seize it!
Dana Nieters
Publisher
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