When I was only 20 years old, I bought the hair salon I'd been working at since finishing hairdressing school a couple of years earlier. I changed the name to Pretty Woman and personalized the branding to include — perhaps not surprisingly — a lot of pink.
After 11 years of sheer hard work and an unwavering commitment to making sure the ladies who left my chair felt great about their new hairstyle, I decided it was time to sell the salon and spend more time focusing on being a Mom to a soon-to-be teenager Shai and her little brother Cayne. But I didn't give up being the boss completely. The tiny home salon we built allowed me to continue serving some of my loyal clients and cherished friends while still being able to be there for my kids.
A few years later we were looking to buy a house near Shai's university for her and a few friends to live in. We found the perfect home for the situation but the experience of working with the Realtor was very frustrating. It was clear that she was more focused on just getting a deal done — and cashing her cheque — instead of working on our behalf.
On the way home from the inspection my husband, Geoff, suggested that I should become a Realtor. Given the experience we had just gone through it seemed that there had to be a better way.
I pushed back with every reason under the sun why I thought this was a horrible idea, not the least of which was the terrifying prospect of going back to school. But with lots of persuasion and encouragement from others, I turned my attention to completing the necessary courses.
Then in August of 2007, after lots of studying and hard work, I officially became a Real Estate Sales Representative. And two years later, after the required time frame and some more courses, I became a Registered Broker.
Over the next several years I worked with a handful of large brand-name traditional brokerages who relied on outdated and mismanaged processes. It became clear that the only way I could provide a first-class experience to my clients is to, once again, be the Boss.
Therefore in September 2018, I opened Lander Realty so that I could be in total control of every single aspect of the client experience from start to finish.
However since then, the industry has seen the emergence of new brokerage platforms that prioritize the use of ever-evolving technology to continually improve their agents' ability to do their jobs. So in late 2025 I made the decision to form the Lander Group and partner with Real Broker in order to hand off the routine brokerage administration to a company with the ability to perform such tasks with efficiency using scale and technological power. I also earned my A.I. Certified Agent credential through the KREM Institute — training in how to leverage artificial intelligence for smarter marketing, better data analysis, and a more efficient real estate experience for my clients.
This allows me to free up my time to focus solely on doing what I do — and like — best: making the buying and selling process as smooth and stress-free, and hopefully fun, as possible for my clients.
