Jan. 7, 2009
When Pauline Sweezey's husband decided to retire for the second time, she had to make a decision about her own career.
He was a salesman with her real estate company Nordic Sun and she had to decide if she wanted to grow the company or look at other opportunities for herself.
Around the middle of December she decided to close up shop after 14 years and work with a different company because she said she enjoyed the sales more than the management aspect of the business.
"I'm very people oriented."
The desire to work with people lead Sweezey and her 30 years of experience in real estate to Remax where she joined the company with the biggest share of real estate sales in the Miramichi.
"Here on the Miramichi it is the leader," she said.
Annette Comeau is the owner of Miramichi's Remax franchise and said she has known Sweezey for over a decade.
"She's extremely committed to the real estate industry."
That commitment shows in Sweezey's past roles as president of the Northern New Brunswick Real Estate Board and the New Brunswick Real Estate Association, along with being a member of the Canadian Real Estate Board.
Comeau said the other Remax salespeople are excited about Sweezey joining the team.
"It feels great."
The goal for Remax is to grow, but Comeau said she wants to grow the quality of her salespeople instead of just the number of them.
"She's a good compliment to our team."
Sweezey's move comes at a time when the real estate market is good in the Miramichi and Comeau said they had more sales in 2008 than 2007, although the total value was down.
"When that happens we're thinking big."
For Sweezey, she said she didn't want people to think she closed her business because of financial problems or the current economic turmoil.
"It was just a good, sound business decision."
Remax offers tools she wouldn't have access to on her own, she said.
"In order to compete in a global society you have to have a brand name."
Sweezey's first day at her new job was Jan. 5 and she said she was looking forward to working with Comeau and her staff.
"We haven't had too many days of work yet."
Because she ran her business out of a home office, it was the first time in 14 years she had to go into an office to work instead of staying at home, she said.
"It's exciting."
As she talked about her new job, she told the story of someone she knew who closed his home-based consulting business because he found it lonely working at home.
"You won't be lonely here," Comeau said.
Before Sweezey started her first day, Comeau went around the office and asked her staff what they thought of their new co-worker. The staff wrote their thoughts down.
Comeau brought them in and as Sweezey flipped through the pages of compliments, she said they were nice.
"I wouldn't have expected anything less from them."
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