In Good Company: The People of MSRE – Lisa Combs

By Mark Spain Real Estate

Lisa Combs was born and raised in Gwinnett County. She attended Brookwood High School and went on to college at the University of Georgia. Lisa graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Resources with an emphasis in Wildlife Management. Following graduation, Lisa worked with Zoo Atlanta at the Wildlife Preserve at Stone Mountain Park. She began her career in real estate in 1999 and joined MSRE in 2016 now serving as our Director of Sales for our Buford team.

Why Mark Spain Real Estate, Lisa Combs?

I’ve known Mark since I was selling for Pulte. I have always admired and respected him as well as his ambition. When I heard he was starting Mark Spain Real Estate, I became interested in the direction and mission and knew I wanted to be a part of it.

Cindy Krampetz was a close friend and past colleague who joined MSRE prior to me and shared the vision, culture and overall excitement about the team and people. I wanted to be a part of something exciting with big with opportunities and with a great culture and people. I joined MSRE in November of 2016 and can honestly say I made the best decision of my life! MSRE has been everything I expected and more! Especially the people. I enjoy coming to work daily and working alongside the most amazing team of people!

How long have you been involved in real estate Lisa?

I began my career in real estate in August of 1999 as a hostess for a new home builder. I then went on to pursue sales for about nine years. I’ve really enjoyed being able to help people with their home purchase. It is so fulfilling knowing that I was a part of building communities and helping people achieve one of their biggest goals!

I was promoted into a General Sales Manager role for about 4 ½ years where I worked with a team of sales agents and helped them and the company achieve their goals. This is where I developed my passion for training and coaching others which led me to my next role, as a National Sales Trainer for 3 years. There I had the enjoyment of training sales agents on the every level to become experts in sales, management and as mentor to new hires.

What are your proudest contributions to MSRE this far?

My top two proudest contributions would have to be creating the Training Manual for new agents and opening the Buford office. Creating the Training Manual brought me back to my passion for training and coaching others. I loved having the opportunity to develop a tool to help bring new agents up to speed quickly. I was very honored with the responsibility and privilege of opening the new Buford office location. Being native to Gwinnett, I was super excited about building something with MSRE in my home county! We started with 9 agents and have since grown to 30 agents, who most are all local in Gwinnett, by the end of May.

Why do you lead?

I enjoy working with and through people. I have a passion for helping others through training and coaching opportunities. This is where I thrive and feel is one of my biggest strengths. I just enjoy watching their success and growth happen and knowing that I played a small part in it!

Every morning at Buford, we kick off with a huddle that is either something motivational, setting weekly goals/targets, or training/script practice. I enjoy being a part of this team and watching them continue to personally grow and challenge themselves daily!

What types of individuals and characteristics do you look for when hiring for your team?

The first thing I look for is someone who really portrays our values here at MSRE: they have an attitude of excellence, lead with a servant’s heart, provide an exceptional client experience, continue to learn and grow and will promote a fun culture. In addition to our values, they also have to have a passion for wanting to help people achieve their goals and be self-motivated and really driven. It is also important for me to look for individuals who work well on a team, like to collaborate, are open to feedback and improvement and are problem solvers. For me, it is more about who the person is versus what is on their resume.

What is your favorite part about the people you work with?

Oh my gosh! They are just awesome! Whether it’s the team in the Buford office or other team members out of our headquarters, everyone is amazing! We have a great team environment in our office. It is our “safe” space to learn, help each other grow and ask questions. I love getting to know them more and more as time goes on and understanding their big WHY. We enjoy having fun and laughing together while also working hard and accomplishing big things together!

What are you most looking forward to this year?

I am looking forward to the growth of our team in the Buford office and just all crushing our goals. We have big goals to accomplish and we cannot do it without the right people and working together! We are still a fairly new team so I look forward to helping our team continue to grow, learn and lean in.

What are your passions in life outside of work?

I run a 5 or 10K race monthly and am training for a half marathon in October, which will be my first. I belong to a book club where we challenge ourselves monthly with the books we read. I’m happy to share that I just started a weekly yoga class, so I am learning to center myself! I also just recently joined a women’s small group that meets weekly, so I enjoy spending some time with them and expanding my mind and knowledge about my faith.

Other than those things, my priorities are my hubby, three rescue dogs (Riley, Murray, and Charley), friends and family. I met my husband on a blind date while in high school and we’ve now been married for over 17 years. I always enjoy spending time with family and friends whether it be a puppy play date or going to the dog park, playing cards on a Friday night, watching football or sports together or going to church. We are big UGA and Falcons fans!

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

Somewhere in a small town where it is quiet, low key, there is no traffic and where everyone knows everyone else. Where you can walk or ride a bike easily to places. St. Simons Island or Savannah have always been places I have dreamed of living. I enjoy the small town charm and feel. Gotta stay true to my GA roots!

Favorite quote:

“No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, show up, and never give up.” – Regina Brett

Life can throw you some curveballs but it’s all about how you catch those balls!

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you travel?

I am not one that enjoys long plane rides, but I would absolutely love to go somewhere like Fiji. A tiny island in the middle of nowhere, where the water is a brilliant aquamarine and so crystal clear that you can see down to the bottom. I would love to stay in one of the “cabin” type resorts that hover over the water where you wake up in the morning and can jump off your porch to just float in the beautiful water. Soaking up a lot of Vitamin D from the sun is also a must!

Favorite food:

I am a sucker for some delicious, authentic Mexican food. Homemade chips and fresh salsa are my go to! I can eat an entire basket by myself. Throw in some homemade guacamole with a margarita and I’m set!

From the team:

“What struck me most about Lisa Combs during our interview was her servant heart. I immediately wanted to be part of her team. In just a short amount of time Lisa has created an incredible group of highly driven professionals who genuinely want to help their teammates succeed! That is rare.” – Bryan Cherrie, Exclusive Buyer Agent

Lisa Combs is always super encouraging! She is very approachable and understanding! I love working with her! – John Boyzo, Exclusive Listing Agent

Lisa Combs encompasses so many qualities of a great leader. She is knowledgeable, compassionate and genuinely cares about each of us. Her constant encouragement and uplifting personality continues to push me to strive to be the best. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to work with and learn from her each day. – Kristen Wilson, Exclusive Buyer Agent

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Mark Spain Real Estate is grateful to serve all of Metro Atlanta and Athens in Georgia, Charlotte and Raleigh in North Carolina, Orlando and Tampa in Florida, and Nashville in Tennessee!