Jamie Magee has been a top producer for Athena for two years in a row. The secret to her success? Her belief in herself, in her faith, and in her clients.
Jamie was raised to appreciate horses from an early age. Her parents and other relatives drove carriages. She took up the occupation too, serving as a guide on French Quarter mule rides. The tours deepened her understanding of New Orleans, enhanced her people skills, and kept her near horses, but after more than a decade on the carriage line, there seemed little left to learn. She wanted a self-development challenge.
Conversations with other drivers inspired her to pursue a real estate license. She studied late at night, after her kids went to bed. In 2017, she earned her license, a major milestone on the new path she’d envisioned for herself.
Jamie had always been interested in different parishes and architectural styles, but she says working as a real estate agent “turned out to be a far more intense undertaking than it initially seemed.” She worked hard to bring herself up to speed. “I built my business watching what people did, how they worded emails, how they responded to offers,” she explains. The Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans certified her as a Historic House Specialist in 2019.
Now she’s been an agent for over five years, and she still loves meeting the challenges. “With real estate it’s a matter of yourself. You can be your own hindrance or your own success.” She’s lately found her edge by working smarter, not harder. That includes thinking through how to make the most of her existing relationships.
She steers her own success, but Athena helps as well. Jamie appreciates the collaboration among Athena’s highly motivated agents and the state-of-the-art emphasis on technology and marketing. “They do a ton for us,” she says, “and they have my back.”
Jamie also relies upon her belief in the Christian faith. It teaches her to serve her clients with compassion and integrity and to hold in high regard homebuyers’ desire to make a house their home, their refuge. She’s active in her church, where her husband is a Deacon and his father is a Bishop.
Her religious faith and self-improvement passion add up to an experienced, enthusiastic real estate agent who cheers her clients on. Jaime believes in her clients — even after the deal has closed. Several have invited her over after the purchase to demonstrate how they’ve customized their new home. “Clients have shown me their decorations and family photos,” she says. “It’s a pretty big honor to be invited.”
The effort Jamie puts in kindles benevolent feelings among her clients and herself for their homes. She’s turned a job into a faith-fueled calling. “For me,” Jamie concludes, “it’s about being a resource for people, what they want and need — as opposed to just working for a paycheck. Real estate is very much something you have to have your heart in.”
