It brings Jennifer Ames great joy to help other people, in real estate and in life. “I am passionate about getting to know people and helping in any way I can,” says Ames, president of Ames Group Chicago and license partner, Engel & Völkers Chicago.
Real estate is a career that runs in her family. “We settled in Chicago in the mid-1800s and have been involved in Chicago real estate for five generations,” she says. “Being a founding family dedicated to giving back to the city is a big part of our history.”
Ames and her husband opened Engel & Völkers Chicago in January 2019. “We wanted to curate a high-end boutique environment where everyone collaborates, is a lifelong learner and is grateful for the opportunity to be of service to others,” she says. “Engel & Völkers’ core values and elegant brand standards provide the perfect platform,” according to Ames. Now she splits her time between working with clients and mentoring the advisors in her company.
Ames enjoys encouraging other people, watching them progress and celebrating their achievements. “My legacy will be sharing all that I have learned with our advisors, helping them to fulfill their personal and professional goals.” Achieving work/life balance and practical solutions to real-time challenges are among her favorite topics in the mastermind meetings she leads.
Since opening in the city two years ago, Ames and her partners have established additional offices on Chicago’s North Shore and in Douglas, Michigan, which serves resort towns along the lake. Surrounded by like-minded professionals, Ames says she has never been happier. When they travel, Ames and her husband, Paul Lazarre, enjoy getting to know Engel & Völkers advisors in other parts of the world; Engel & Völkers has shops throughout the Americas and around the world.
While she loves her career, Ames is quick to point out that she “wears a lot of hats.” She gets a twinkle in her eye when she talks about being a wife, a daughter, the mother of three active high school boys, and her fly fishing adventures.
