Sarah Leonard

Carie Cox

Ruta Baran

While her friends were away at college, Sarah Leonard was building a real estate business. Leonard, founder of The Sarah Leonard Team, has been in the industry since she was 15. Before earning her license, Leonard first worked with a loan officer and then as a marketing coordinator. “I knew from the beginning this is what I wanted to do,” says Leonard, a recent RE/MAX Circle of Legends inductee who closed more than $100 million in real estate last year. “I built my team with all this past knowledge of different areas of the industry.”

Leonard purposefully chose two other listing agents who excel at what they do to join her as team members, and combined, the group holds more than a dozen licenses and certifications. Carie Cox learned from a career assessment in college that real estate and interior design were both good options for her. But it wasn’t until after she and her husband built a home and the sales rep suggested she consider a career in real estate, that she made the leap from licensed esthetician to agent. “Helping others look and feel their best was very rewarding,” Cox says. “As clients opened up about some of the stress they were trying to escape, I got to hear all about their real estate challenges. This gave me a unique perspective on how they felt their experience could have been better.”

Ruta Baran’s entrance into the industry was similar. After building several spec homes with her husband, she discovered her passion for real estate and decided to apply her 18 years of experience with Citigroup to a new career. “The relationship management skills I learned in corporate America have been instrumental in my success as a broker,” she says. “Real estate is a people business, and developing relationships, attention to detail and communication are all key.”

Leonard attributes the team’s success to excellent communication, transparency and hard work. “It’s not just a transaction for clients,” Leonard says. “This is a life-changing moment, and through that, we become close friends.”