Sometimes the best opportunities come disguised as setbacks. In 2008, when the stock market crashed, Marissa Stapleton lost her job in online advertising with a Chicago firm. A client and broker-owner who had long encouraged her to get a real estate license finally convinced her to make the leap. With no salary and no health insurance, Stapleton agreed it was time for something different. She learned the business from the ground up, starting with distressed properties, cold calls and educating families on the edge of losing their homes.

“Next thing I know, I had a successful business plan,” she recalls. “It was the perfect timing, because the market had taken a big tank, and I was able to capture that market. I also did a ton of rentals, and eventually those clients turned into buyers.”

Stapleton’s entry into real estate came at a turbulent time, but it gave her the foundation for a successful career that now spans luxury lake homes, second residences and investment properties across Michigan City, Sheridan Beach, Long Beach and Duneland Beach.

What started as a work-related connection to the area eventually became personal. Her husband, a former professional hockey player, had been playing overseas in Russia when the couple returned to the U.S. and decided to explore the New Buffalo area. “We had ‘heard’ of the area called New Buffalo but never been,” she shares. “I remember coming home from Russia, going to see about six places … fell in love, and we purchased a townhome in the marina.”

Today, with 16 years’ experience, Stapleton leads a team that meets weekly to sharpen its strategy. Clients appreciate her deep local knowledge and communication style. She also owns a boutique in Michigan City that blends lifestyle and business.