Sharon Morrison took a leap of faith last year when she joined football legend Emmitt Smith and Transwestern colleague Brant Landry to launch E Smith Realty Partners (faith that total career rushing yards correlates to total career deal volume). But, she’s always been a catalyst for starting and growing business. Please join us tonight as we honor Sharon (and others) at DFW's Power Women with a cocktail reception (6-8pm) at the Aboretum.
Here’s E Smith’s Brant, Tamela Thornton, Sharon, and Emmitt. Sharon says she started out in commercial real estate with an internship at Henry S Miller. It was a fluke, she says, as she needed some money while majoring in government and Spanish in college at UT and her friend was interning there and suggested she give it a try. She thought about going to law school or be a flight attendant because she loved the travel that she did with her pilot dad. Luckily for us, Delta didn’t want her and law school didn't pay enough. (Delta finally did something right... accidentally, but we'll take what we can get.)
After graduation, she worked in Houston for a few years before returning to Dallas, where she landed at The Staubach Co when her former Ursaline Academy basketball coach (Tom McCarthy, who worked at Staubach and is still with JLL) hired her to help start the industrial division. (Handshakes make the world go 'round, they also make the flu go 'round so please wash regularly.) Sharon credits relationships and networking with every opportunity she’s had. She worked there for 14 years until the company was sold in 2008 to JLL and then she moved on to Transwestern, where she helped grow the industrial platform. That was a turning point for her, Sharon tells us. “It got me out of my comfort zone and bolstered by entrepreneurial spirit,” she says.
Her latest venture appealed to Sharon because it’s a team environment with an endless variety of ways to grow in a full-service environment. “We like to create opportunities for other people; when you do that, good things will come whether it’s for the customer or the employees,” she says. E Smith hosted its first corporate retreat this spring; here’s Brad Struck, Sharon, Barrett Jones, Maggie Rowe, and Brant. Sharon says day-to-day, real estate is fun and challenging with a blend of skill sets from sales to negotiator, construction to legal; you touch so many things through the process.
Sharon tells us being a mom comes first. Here she is with her husband, Kevin, who works at JLL, and three daughters, Kate (16), Paige (14), and Mary Jane (9). Being at their games and events is a priority and her career gives her the flexibility to do that. Advice to up-and-comers: if you have an idea that you believe in, don't be afraid to pursue it, work hard, take business classes, and learn how to play golf. “You don’t have to be really good, just know the rules and contribute a little bit,” she says. Please come help us celebrate tonight at the Aboretum, 6-8pm.
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