We both felt strongly about supporting our community and looked for as many ways possible to be involved and ‘pay it forward’. This led to us creating a publication devoted to the positive stories about people and events in our city. When we had to step away from our cherished magazine, we discovered a new way to give back.
Jim - When I was young, I would have thought the idea of living in South Florida when I grew up was a pipe dream. My childhood home had two bedrooms and one bathroom split between my parents, my three brothers and me. While my parents worked hard to take care of us, I developed a self-sufficient attitude. I was fortunate to earn a full scholarship to the University of Miami as the manager of the football team where I developed my entrepreneurial spirit. Though I worked at Fortune 500 companies in the corporate world, my ultimate dream was to run my own business.
When I came to Florida, I was struck by the sense of community here. It was something I immediately wanted to be a part of. It inspired me - and I wanted to serve and make a difference.
I had experience in publications and had started my advertising career with Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing and Community Newspapers Group where I quickly rose to become Publisher and President. After, the natural thing was to start my own publication for the local community. With my wife Candy by my side, I started the ‘Lifestyle Magazine’ group- Weston Lifestyle Magazine being our first. It promoted community events, individuals and organizations who deserved special recognition, and it is one of our proudest achievements. The magazine was filled with feel-good stories which promoted charity events and provided inspirational pieces that uplifted our readers.
Unfortunately, the financial crisis in 2008 hit us hard. We ran the magazine through ad revenue, and companies were cutting back on advertising. In the end, we had to sell the magazine. It really hurt at the time.
On the bright side, I had the opportunity to reinvent myself and to find a new project to work on.I soon came to realize that I was just waiting to find the right industry… and real estate was the perfect fit as it allowed us to stay connected to our community! I could use my business acumen to help others achieve the American Dream, and we would love to do that for you too.
Candy – I have been lucky to work with Jim many times in our relationship. We first met while working at Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing, and it was my job to train him for the sales team.
I understood his passion for the community. I am a South Florida native, and this is the only place I want to call home. Unfortunately, I had experienced the devasting loss of a young person in my family…someone close to me. This fueled my own desire to give back to the community even more, especially with groups who supported young people such as Kids in Distress and Make-a-Wish Foundation, the latter with which I have been involved for the past 28 years.
Like Jim, I thought the magazine was the ultimate way to give back so losing it was a gut punch for multiple reasons. Not only did we lose a connection to the community, but we lost our livelihood. We had no income, and we could not live off our savings forever.
When Jim started working in real estate we were filled with both excitement and trepidation about entering a new endeavor. This was not quite like anything we had taken on before. I knew we had a challenging road ahead, and I was eager to help him in any way I could. For a while I was working behind the scenes providing much-needed support. But behind-the-scenes support still was not enough- he needed a fully licensed agent to help him shoulder the volume of business. I was immediately intrigued by the real estate industry when Jim became involved, and I was excited to become an agent myself… so I joined him!
It was better than I ever expected! We were able to reconnect with people from all of our previous ventures, knitting our community together tighter than it had ever been before. We welcome the opportunity to bring you into our community as well- Where Dreams Come Home!
Our number one goal is to create a connection with people. That may not always lead to a transaction, but since that is not our number one priority, it has never gotten in our way.
We both come from sales backgrounds, and our experiences in corporate settings have guided us to use a high degree of professionalism with our buyers and sellers. However, we both enjoy cultivating friendships with our clients, and we are grateful that our roles allow us to do just that. We recognize we are being entrusted with a huge responsibility. Buying or selling real estate may be the biggest financial decision our clients make in their lives. For that reason, we put our hearts into the work we do for them.
With gratitude,
Jim Norton Candy Norton
REALTOR® REALTOR®
