Ellie Mayes was recently interviewed on the Design Time video podcast. Watch the video below or read the interview here.
Lindsay: Ellie is part of our RESA group. Remember I told you guys about the Real Estate Staging Association? Ellie is a part of that with Sherrie, who you've already met. And then Dorrie, who you're going to meet in March. So, Ellie's got a little like triple threat going on here. She is a stager, and a friend, and a REALTOR on top of that. What does that mean? What is your staging company and your real estate company called, Ellie?
Ellie: Well, I have a real estate company called UpMarket Realty, and I have a staging company called UpStaging Designs. They came about sort of at the same time in my mid-life reinvention of myself.
Lindsay: Oh, I like the reinvention. Not a crisis. A reinvention. So, what comes first, the stager or the REALTOR? The chicken or the egg?
Ellie: I live in two totally different worlds. And so, when I go out to do a staging consultation and work on behalf of another real estate agent, I am 100% their stager, part of their team. And then when I become a real estate agent, I'm somebody's REALTOR. But I don't want those things to cross over. I want real estate agents to feel confident that I'm going to walk in as part of their team and their staging expert.
Lindsay: What did you do first?
Ellie: I became an assistant when I had my first job, when I stopped being a stay-at-home mom. I was an assistant for a REALTOR, and I got my license while I was working for her. And I just did everything with her except for negotiate contracts and lead generate. I was doing all of it, and I went out on all the staging consultations, and that's where I fell in love with it. I loved that piece of it. I would be with the staging consultant who was telling sellers what to do, and I'm like, well, what about this?
Lindsay: And what about that?
Ellie: I learned a ton from her. And so, I learned how to be a stager while I was being an assistant. But then when I stopped being an assistant, I was also a licensed REALTOR. And so I started selling real estate because that was what I had a license to do. And I had people started asking to help with their staging. Other REALTORS did. And that piece of my business grew. And because I would never call anybody and say, “Hello, would you like to buy, sell or invest in real estate?” I—I [Laughter] didn't really actually succeed in that part. I'm not a good lead generator.
Lindsay: So, you were a REALTOR who turned into a stager?
Ellie: Sort of. I started selling real estate and I loved the staging piece of it, so I wanted to do it for everybody else. And I've never stopped selling real estate, plus I've been a real estate investor longer than I've been in the industry. So that's the other thing is that I'm an investor. And I— Oh, God, there's so much!
Lindsay: That's your triple threat.
Ellie: I'm a landlord, too.
Lindsay: Oh, my God. Four.
Ellie: And friend.
Lindsay: And five.
Ellie: I can do everything.
Lindsay: Oh, my God. You are so cool!
