We have a talented group of volunteers coming to REBarCampRDU in 2023! Each person has real estate experience, and unique knowledge they are excited to share!
David Patterson
Coach and Trainer
David Patterson has become a nationally-recognized CERTIFIED coach with Business Made Simple University and with the John C. Maxwell Leadership Team. Based in Atlanta, David has built a proven 20-year track record in providing strategic consulting services, facilitating powerful seminars and executing impactful workshops for brands like Bank of America, Keller Williams Realty, Village Premiere Collection, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and Scalable RES, LLC. More
Valerie Garcia
Real Estate Consultant
Valerie is an international speaker and consultant who works with entrepreneurs and businesses to help them grow and improve. Using both creative storytelling and actual nuts-and-bolts content, she makes sure that her audiences truly enjoy the learning process. Focused on the importance of leading with joy, marketing like a human, and growth in the midst of change, Valerie is known for delivering encouragement and truth with her signature straightforward style and sense of humor. More
Zach Schabot
Director Industry Affairs Zillow Group
Experienced Founder with a demonstrated history of working in multiple areas of the real estate industry. Skilled in strategy, sales, marketing, real property, new home sales, and real estate technology. Strong entrepreneurship professional with experience in international public speaking, technology development, leadership training, and industry service.
Jeff Lobb
Founder & CEO Sparktank Media
Jeff is an International Speaker and Sales Coach, and he has been a REALTOR® for over 30 years. He has more than 10 years’ experience in the sales management fields, both with Fortune 500 companies and start-up ventures.
Jeff specializes in:
Driving sales strategies and production
Leveraging social media and video
Lead management and conversion
Getting the most and the best out of individuals
Creating new sales opportunities in changing markets
Jeff also has the unique ability to help agents, brokerages, teams and leaders grow through coaching and driving their activities, enhancing systems and getting the best out of the individual’s mindset and strengths.
Steve Richman
Speaker, Trainer, Consultant
Steve Richman has spoken in every state to more than 500,000 professionals at more than 1,000 companies. He draws on his experiences as a litigation attorney, business consultant, account executive, disc jockey, father, and husband to deliver a practical message. professionals at more than 1,000 companies.
He draws on his experiences as a litigation attorney, business consultant, account executive, disc jockey, father, and husband to deliver a practical message.
“The right mindset is the first step to find motivation, success, and happiness in your business and in yourself. Let’s learn practical skills to ensure business success, personal growth, avoidance of negative seduction, and the power of grace and gratitude.”
Bill Hobbs
NC Housing Finance Agency
Bill Hobbs, Lender Liaison, joined NCHFA in 2012 after a 35 year career with USDA/Rural Development, having held statewide responsibility for the single family housing programs, the multifamily housing programs, and the community programs as the Director of those divisions during the last 18 years of his career. His “claim to fame” was always using funds allocated to North Carolina and going after other states’ funds who had failed to use theirs in a timely manner as well as developing partnerships with lenders, Realtors, builders, funders, property management companies, professional engineering firms and local governments along the way.
A graduate of NC State, Bill is a volunteer and has served as a member of the Boards of Directors of the NC State Alumni Association and the NC State Club, and is an active member of the Lillington Rotary Club.
Alex Camelio
CEO, Agent Inner Circle
Throughout his career, Alex has personally helped over 15,000 agents and brokers, including some of the top REALTORS® in North America. His passion for marketing, technology and business development has translated into more than a decade of cutting edge technology and contributions to the real estate industry. As the CEO of the Agent Inner Circle®, a 40,000-member real estate agent community, Alex focuses on providing agents with education and actionable strategies to grow and optimize their business, ultimately building some of the most successful careers in real estate today. Alex is an internationally recognized educator who’s shared his thoughtful and energetic presentations with various national associations and industry organizations. As always, Alex is excited to share his expertise with everyone.
Sean Carpenter
Speaker, Realtor®, Consultant
Previously recognized by Inman News as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Leaders in Real Estate, Sean was named as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential People in Social Media for the real estate industry” by The Swanepoel Report for the third year in a row. Sean is a former recipient of the Joseph McKinnon Award from the Columbus Realtors, given annually to the Instructor of the Year.
Sean’s mission is to “teach with passion and enthusiasm instilling confidence and excitement in his students,” and he lives by his philosophy – build relationships, solve problems and have fun.
Brad Carroll
Founder Dakno Real Estate Marketing
As Founder and CEO of Dakno Real Estate Marketing, Brad couples his expertise in online marketing technology with a keen understanding of real estate. A consultant, innovator, and business leader, he currently heads an experienced team of marketers and developers while serving as a personal web & marketing consultant to many of the top speakers, coaches and REALTORS in the industry. Brad is also a nationally syndicated columnist for Mr Internet News, which recently dubbed him “one of the most innovative minds in real estate marketing.”
Brad’s most noteworthy recent work includes conceptualizing, developing and implementing DaknoAdmin, a comprehensive back-end system that sets the new standard for administrating leads, managing website content and maintaining property listings. His work has been featured on Realtor.com, national television and various other media outlets throughout the United States and Canada.
Meilani Hock
Investor, Trainer, Podcast Host
MeiLani left the 9-5 life and created Hock Homes, a real estate investment company. For years they focused on flipping houses and new construction along with building their long term rental portfolio.
They saw the future of hospitality and real estate merging and hopped on board and opened 4 Airbnbs in four months and were hooked! They have continued to add, evaluate, shut down Airbnbs ever since. MeiLani now coaches others on how to Start and Scale their Airbnb business using their property or others, to add a different stream of income to anyone’s lifestyle. In addition to real estate, MeiLani is passionate about living life intentionally so you have time for the things that matter most in your life. She is a strong advocate that in order to get the lifestyle you want, you have to be efficient with your time.
She travels around the world speaking to corporations, large groups, and entrepreneurs on how to explode their productivity by conquering time management. MeiLani also runs the podcast “Why NOT Me? Academy” that focuses on inspiring people to stop talking about their dreams, and actually take action to DO them.
Jim Allen
President Jim Allen Group
In Jim Allen’s world, his client is the most important person, and he has built this organization, The Jim Allen Group, on that premise.
The Jim Allen Group is leading the real estate industry and is currently recognized as:
- #1 Team in Homes Sold in North America | Coldwell Banker
- #1 Real Estate Team in the Triangle since 1996 | Triangle Business Journal
#1 Team in Homes Sold in North America | Coldwell Banker #1 Real Estate Team in the Triangle since 1996 | Triangle Business Journal A degree in engineering has been especially beneficial in his real estate success story. The first real estate position was with a firm very strong in new construction as well as resale homes. His trademark talent is finding solutions to clients’ concerns quickly.
In January 2009, Jim transitioned his business to Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston where he won numerous awards, including the International President’s Premier Award. This prestigious award is the highest honor a Coldwell Banker agent can receive and is presented to less than one percent of sales associates globally. Jim has also been honored with the following awards during his time with Coldwell Banker: Mega Listing Team of the Year, Mega Volume Leader Team of the Year, Mega Sales Team of the Year, and Mega Team of the Year.
Jim attributes his success to a continuing commitment to the marketing and selling of new construction and the dedication of his support team – all personally selected and trained by Jim.
Alaina Money-Garman
Founder & CEO at Garman Homes
Alaina Money-Garman, is a homebuilder, writer, speaker and mom to three rowdy feminists and 1 tiny misbehaving dog. Alaina is the Founder and CEO of Garman Homes. Known for her award winning blog, Build Like a Girl, Alaina is passionate about the role of women and other marginalized people in homebuilding.Alaina is an alum of Professional Builder Magazine’s list of 40 Under 40, she’s also been named Builder of the Year twice – in 2015 by the Home Builders Association of Durham Orange Chatham County and in 2017 as the first female recipient of the award by the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake. She is on the Executive Board of the HBA of Raleigh-Wake and will serve as President in 2024. She is also on the Board of Hope Renovations, which trains underemployed and underserved women to learn trade skills to enter the construction industry.
Alaina is a full member of ULI and Chair of the Residential Neighborhood Development Council – Blue Flight. Most recently, Alaina supervised construction on the Concept Home for the America at Home Study based on nearly 7,000 consumer responses around life from home during the pandemic. The Concept Home was built in 60 days and has since been featured in The Washington Post, Forbes, USA Today and broadcast on CNN Business and Fox Business.
Sam Iden
Attorney
Sam has practiced in Real Estate since 2010 and currently focuses his practice on residential closings. For more than a decade prior to joining Jackson Law his practice focused exclusively on distressed properties while successfully facilitating approximately 1,000 short sale transactions requiring negotiated settlements with banks, homeowner’s associations, judgment creditors and tax agencies. Sam grew up primarily in Wake Forest before attending East Carolina University for undergrad and Nova Southeastern for law school. He enjoys exercise, meat smoking and sports, having not missed a Dallas Cowboys game in almost two decades.
Chris Mann
Mann, McGibney, & Jordan, PLLC
Since opening his own law firm in September 2013, Chris has been devoted to practicing residential real estate law and giving tremendous customer service. He knows how to make agents look good. He is a workaholic, so it would be folly to claim he has interests outside of closings. But, he is married to an amazing magical thinker, and they have 2 daughters that keep life full of giggles and fun.
Leslie Williams
Managing Broker, Leslie Williams Realty Group
Leslie is the Managing Broker of Leslie Williams Realty Group, she has dedicated 14 years serving her local, state and national association, advocating for private property rights and homeownership for all. Leslie is a Major Investor, RPAC Golden R President Circle.
Leslie has a Masters in Business Administration, she has 25 years corporate experience in print and internet media. Leslie is a proud alumni of the Triangle Leadership Academy. Leslie has served the real estate industry in a variety of leadership roles. 2022 National Association of REALTORS Law and Policy Liaison, She has Chaired 13 committees local and state association, President of Raleigh Board of Realtors, President of REALTOR Giving Network. Leslie has been a Raleigh Board Member since 2015, NC REALTORS Board member since 2016, she served on NAR executive committee and NAR Director.
In 2021, Leslie was honored in the Congressional Record by Congress Women Debra Ross. In the same year Leslie led Raleigh in its first Triple Crown most dollars raised by a mega association and she was awarded NC REALTORS RPAC Chairman of the Year. Leslie has also received the following awards for exemplary service from NC REALTORS; Committee Member of the Year and Regional 10 Service Award. Leslie currently serves as RALEIGH Association of REALTORS Immediate past President, Executive committee and Board member. NC REALTORS Executive Committee, Board of Directors and Region 10 Vice President. NAR Board of Directors and NAR Legal Action Committee member.
Thom Tillier
The Tillier Team brokered by eXp Realty
Realtor Real Estate Marketing Expert Coach, Trainer
SE Michigan and SW Florida
Thom is an experienced Realtor, marketer and negotiator. Driven by family and community involvement, he takes pride in providing the best real estate experience possible to his clients.
As a top producing agent, his goals include great communication and extreme client satisfaction. In addition to his primary job functions, Thom has been recognized for his extraordinary commitment to helping local communities and charitable organizations.
Thom’s passion for real estate can be traced back to his high school years as a builder, and several years with sales at Pulte Homes, where he spent significant time working on his construction knowledge and being a world class sales professional.
As a marketing mastermind, he specializes in enhancing his clients home selling experience through extensive use of his digital marketing background and the use of bleeding edge technology.
Thom attributes his drive to be the best agent in the business to his wife Melissa and 5 wonderful children.
“The Tillier Team is more than just a catchy name and it includes more than just people a few people in my office”
Thom believes that everyone from his family, clients, professional photographers, graphic designers, inspectors, loan officers and many more partners, are all part of the experience and all part of the award winning Tillier Team, that’s what makes the experience so seamless.
As a Florida Native, turned Michigander, and now back as a Floridian, Thom understands the working family, whether buying, selling or both. “Between managing families and working full time, our clients need the the best possible communication and support when buying or selling a home, we hustle to remove the hassle”
Andrew Poon
Vice President of Business Development at Anewgo
Andrew is the Vice President of Business Development at Anewgo, a software company focused on creating the best online experience for new construction buyers. While Andrew’s background spans from aerospace engineering to enterprise software he has proven success in bringing innovation to large industries. He now works with realtors, builders, and other industry players to bring the most cohesive experience to Anewgo.com – The New Home Marketplace. Anewgo is the first marketplace that allows buyers to find, and design, new construction homes online.
Brooke Carroll
Chief Marketing Officer, Homes By Dickerson
Brooke started her career in nursing after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro; however, she soon found her passion to be in the real estate industry and has spent the last 16 years teaching and leading her colleagues and sales teams. Brooke brings her experience as a residential brokerage agent, a broker-in-charge, on-site new home sales agent, manager, and director to her current position as Chief Marketing Officer with Homes By Dickerson. Brooke has spoken on numerous panels in the industry over the years including the International Builder Show. Not only is she highly versed in sales coaching and negotiations, but she also leads and oversees the NAHB Nationals award-winning marketing department at Homes By Dickerson.
Dana Mayberry
VP of Sales & Marketing and Broker-in-Charge, Ashton Woods Homes
My name is Dana Mayberry and I am the VP of Sales & Marketing and Broker-in-Charge for Ashton Woods Homes. A Raleigh native and graduate of NC State with a BS in Environmental Science who started out as a Soil Scientist for an Engineering firm partnering with large developers in the region to design new construction communities. Transitioned to general brokerage in 2002 and then homebuilding in 2003, spending 16 years with publicly traded homebuilders and the last 4 with Ashton Woods. Sports Mom to two active boys, one in travel hockey and one in motocross.
Jonathan Richardson
Jonathan was raised in Burlington, NC and attended UNC-Chapel Hill. He graduated from The University of Dayton School of Law in 2003 and worked for Taft, Taft and Haigler in Greenville and for Brock & Scott in Raleigh. Jonathan opened his first office in 2004 in Cary where he practices in the areas of Real Estate Law, Estate Planning and Personal Injury. Jonathan cares about people and cherishes the relationships he has built with clients, agents and others in the community. He is known for being warm and personable and always armed with a “Dad Joke” (You have been warned). Jonathan is particularly adept at calmly navigating difficulties that may arise during a real estate transaction and enjoys making himself available to Real Estate Agents with legal questions. In his free time, Jonathan is an avid songwriter and has had a number of his songs recorded by several different artists. He is a frequent visitor to Nashville where he works with writers and artists. He also enjoys rooting for the Carolina Panthers. Jonathan is happily married to Singer/Songwriter Cindy Morgan.
Robert Konekemp
Aeriallook was founded by Robert in 2015 and has since become one of the most reputable and trusted mixed content creation companies in the country. The company has worked with numerous clients across various industries, including real estate, construction, and advertising, to help them market and sell their inventory online. Robert and his team at Aeriallook are dedicated to creating stunning mixed content that showcases their clients’ properties and products in the most visually appealing and effective way possible. Their expertise has helped them earn a reputation as a trusted partner for leading brokerages, builders, and developers. Robert’s commitment to delivering exceptional results and his marketing knowledge have made him a go-to expert in the industry. He is constantly exploring new technologies and techniques to help his clients stay ahead of the curve in their respective industries.
Kristen Spruill
Kristen Spruill is a dedicated real estate agent who has developed a reputation within new construction and custom homes. With her deep knowledge of the industry and passion for helping clients find their dream homes, Kristen has established herself as a go-to resource for buyers and sellers alike. In addition to her work as a real estate agent, Kristen has been actively growing her social media presence, leveraging the power of digital marketing to promote her personal brand and market new communities to a wider audience.
Brian Pate
Brian Pate has been a well-respected real estate professional for almost 30 years. During his time in the business, he has served as an agent, manager, instructor, coach and trainer for over 25,000 real estate students. In addition, the teams he has managed and coached have produced over $2 billion in real estate sales under his leadership.
Tom Holt
Pennsylvania native Thomas R. Holt headed south, first to West Virginia to acquire a bachelor’s degree in Sociology before moving to Chapel Hill in 1980. He spent several years in the field of social work before enrolling in law school at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law, earning his Juris Doctor and being admitted into the North Carolina State Bar in 1990.
A shareholder in the firm, Tom has been with Bagwell Holt Smith P.A. for over 30 years, and currently anchors the Southern Village office location. His primary focus is residential and commercial real estate transactions. His social work background and calming demeanor in closings has proved to be valuable in helping clients navigate important and at times stressful financial transactions.
Downtime is spent primarily with family, fishing when he can, but always fiercely following the Tar Heels. Tom devotes time to community service, having previously sat on the board of the Freedom House Recovery Center, inc., and currently serving on the board of the Chapel Hill Public Library Foundation. He volunteers with the North Carolina Lawyers Assistance Program of the North Carolina State Bar, and was the recipient of the 2013 Chief Justices LAP Award.
Peter Kima
When Peter is not helping one of his clients he can be found volunteering his time running a charity Lobster Bingo event, cooking burgers at the fire station to benefit children in the community, swinging a hammer for Habitat For Humanity, ringing the bell for The Salvation Army, collecting school supplies for the children in need, or delivering dictionaries to every 3rd grader in Wake county through the Kiwanis Club. His favorite pastime however, is spending time with his wife Jennifer, their two sons, Cole & Camden and his shadow, Ozzy the dog.
Peter has resided in Germany, California, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, and Vermont. Having lived in North Carolina for 25+ years, Peter refers to North Carolina as home. Don’t underestimate the value of Peter’s moving experience. He and his team understand the rigors involved in making a family move. Rely on his experience to help you.
Count on Peter Kima for all your real estate needs. He has A High Energy Approach to Real Estate that will make your move a rousing success.
Carrie Schlegel
Broker and owner of Core Realty Advisors affiliated with Real Broker LLC
Carrie Schlegel has been in real estate since 2014 and has been everything from an assistant, independent broker, traditional team leader and brokerage owner. She was raised in Pennsylvania, went to Penn State University where she and her husband both were Environmental Resource Management and Engineering majors and spent a few years after college living in Colorado before relocating to Raleigh in 2003. She stepped away from the corporate world to start and raise three daughters who are now 15,18, and 20. Being a working mother isn’t easy but Carrie was driven to be an example to her girls of having a successful career without sacrificing time at the big moments in their lives. Managing that schedule hasn’t always been easy but pulling from her engineering background has helped her build a scalable and successful real estate career. One of her sources of pride is that her business has been completely referral since the beginning and that speaks to her commitment to service with her clients. Her average year is $8-12M to maintain the level of service and in years past oversaw a production team volume of $70M. Carrie has a saying “Easy Gets Done” to help create systems and processes that help her and those she works with be efficient with their time (and not let any of those balls drop for her clients). Since 2014 Carrie has remained consistent on being her authentic self in front of the camera on social media with her Touch Base Tuesdays to offer tips, insight, and relevant information on the real estate market to her followers. Carrie doesn’t believe in presenting everything in a perfect frame or perfect wording because that would prevent her from ever putting herself out there at all. Instead she brings you the informal, somewhat unpolished information from the front seat of the car and invites the viewers into what’s going on with her that week.
Brandon Birkmeyer
Brandon is a former Coca-Cola and Apple advertising executive with over 21 years of experience at Madison Avenue advertising agencies advising top FORTUNE 100 companies on brand strategy. In 2018, he launched the Brands On Brands podcast, which is consistently ranked as a Top 5 Branding Podcast on Apple Podcasts. In 2022, Brandon founded the Podcast Branding Academy, an online school for podcasting.
Keith Bliss
Broker/Developer/Coach/Mentor/Influencer/Philanthropist
Matt Harmon
Matt Harmon with Harmon Property Solutions loves making listings look great. In his 16 years in the Real Estate world, he has found a way to take the hassle out of listing a home by providing accurate floor plans, beautiful photography, and many other services to the very best agents in the Triangle. Matt is considered a leading expert in the Triangle on square footage, and together with his team has measured well over 40,000 homes. Matt and the HPS Team can simplify your next listing by measuring and taking photographs in the same visit, while providing top-notch service to you and your seller. When you need to impress your client- use the most trusted name in measurements and photography!
Matt is a North Carolina native that moved to the Triangle 25 years ago to attend college. He enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife Lisa, four children, and two dogs. A lifelong musician, you can find Matt playing guitar or nerding out on a new playlist.
Kara Daniels Hand
Kara Daniels Hand has been practicing law for two decades focusing on residential and commercial real estate deals, business formations, and estate planning. Before opening her solo practice in 2011, Kara was a partner at Stevens & Hand, PLLC, and argued cases before
Kara is a Cary native and is proud to be in the heart of Downtown Cary on Academy Street. She has two beautiful daughters and is married to Cody Hand, also an attorney. Kara serves her community through the Girl Scouts, First United Methodist Church, the PTA, and as an alumna of the Chi Omega sorority.
Molly Galloway
Molly Galloway is a highly experienced professional in the real estate industry, with 19 years of experience in sales management and new home sales. She has worked for some of the most reputable companies in the industry, including Ryan Homes, Beazer Homes, HHHunt Homes, and currently as Sales Manager at Mattamy Homes.
When Molly is not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys. Together, they share a love of travel and have visited many exciting destinations around the world. They particularly enjoy hiking in the mountains and exploring nature together.
Michael Martin
Michael Martin is a Producing Branch Manager at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation in Raleigh, North Carolina. Michael originally grew up in Alexandria, VA but moved to Sunset Beach in 1990. He attended East Carolina University and graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business. Fast-forward to the present, Michael has over 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry working as a Loan Officer.
Michael has won several awards since beginning his career in the mortgage industry, beginning in 2002 when he won “Rookie of the Year.” The following three years he was fortunate to be named “Top Producer” before he began to learn more about his passion to lead people and got into Sales Management. Michael has been a President’s Club winner each year from 2008-2017 and Chairman’s Club winner from 2019-2022 during an unprecedented time in the industry.
In 2017, Michael took the step to open his own branch within Fairway Mortgage. Being a Branch Manager, Michael is able to follow both passions of working directly with clients and leading a sales team to the places that they desire to go by introducing the “Martin Mortgage Group.” Now a team of 6 individuals, Martin Mortgage Group strives for excellence in customer service in order to turn every client into a Raving Fan.
“We have taken the time to put systems in place to offer the best possible customer experience for our clients. We know that it takes a great experience from our current clients to deliver referrals from our past clients.”
Michael lives in Raleigh with his wife Tonya, and daughter Finley and their Boxers, Riggins “The Diesel” and Gibbs.
Michelle Simms-Reiter
CEO/Founder of Strive Leadership Development
“We improve the lives of managers through training, coaching, support, community and development, for the benefit of the company and its leaders.” -Michelle
Formerly a successful home building company owner and Real Estate Broker, Michelle Simms-Reiter has a solid foundation for what it takes to succeed. With plenty of determination, perseverance, and fortitude, she and her husband founded their own company, Terramor Homes, in the midst of a recession. And against all odds, it flourished. Just a decade later, their fledgling company grew into an $85 million enterprise that was acquired by the largest publicly traded company in the industry. She knows what it takes to not only succeed, but to soar.
Michelle’s success in the building industry garnered her notable awards:
– Women in Business Award, Triangle Business Journal 2014
– 40 Under 40 Award, Triangle Business Journal 2014
– Leadership Achievement Award, HBA and TSMC of Raleigh/Wake County
Today Michelle blends her real-world experience into a distinctive coaching style at Strive Leadership Development, where she supports Business Leaders in developing their Management Teams for successful strategy implementation, business plan achievement and to further their operational excellence.
Her mission is based on the tenet that the true leader lies within – and her role is to provide the knowledge, support and accountability needed to help her clients thrive. With her outgoing personality, unique background and industry expertise including corporate leadership together with entrepreneurial success, Michelle is confident that she can guide you – and your team – to achieve higher levels of excellence (and have fun doing it).
Michelle loves to call home, Raleigh, NC with her husband, Pablo, an almost empty nest of 3 kids and 2 rescue hounds- Gypsy and Fin. She and Pablo love to travel – mostly on water and boats!
Her work is committed to helping business professionals become Leaders of themselves. In her own words, “Give me your managers and I’ll return fierce Leaders!”
Matthew Griffith
Managing Director at MassMutual North Carolina
Matthew Griffith has over twenty seven years experience in the financial field. Originally from Red Bank, New Jersey, Matt attended Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree. After serving with the military for six years, leaving with the rank of Captain, Matt decided he wanted to continue to serve others in his community by providing financial services to families and business owners.