The Way We Were

Lissa Moon Lacroix

The year was 2008. The housing market was about to crash, hard. The first iPhone was released, Bitcoin introduced. Barack Obama was elected as the first Black President of the United States and American royal Beyonce tied the knot in one of the best kept secrets since Area 51… or Roman Concrete. It was also a big year for me! After completing my design degree in San Francisco, I had more recently found myself splitting my time between the Bay, New York and Los Angeles, while working in the apparel industry. 

Although I didn’t want to admit it at the time, spending the bulk of my day strapped to a desk creating tech packs wasn't quite the glamorous existence I had once dreamt of as a small town contractor’s daughter from the gorgeous Central Coast of California. I would beg my directors for more creative control, elbow my way into meetings I need not be in and demand contributions to tradeshows, factories and inspiration trips I was likely to be left out of otherwise. I realized quite quickly that without an inquisitive, assertive and sociable team member to advocate for the introverted creatives, that not only did the design suffer, but the execution as well. This wasn’t lost on me nor my colleagues and directors. Often, there would be a point where they became exhausted by interactions with production and advertising, unable to finesse challenging budgets, timelines and clients. I, on the other hand, found myself invigorated and ready to negotiate. I had always been collaborative and intuitive in nature, but it was in this role that I was able to refine my skill set and cement my place in the industry. It was not long after that I opened my own agency, as well as a trade show in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. But that’s a whole different story for another day.

I am forever grateful for this time in my life. It has informed how I work as a Realtor, delicately balancing design, function, facts and fun. It has also weighed heavily on my sense of self and how I see the world and our beautiful Bay that I love so much.

(Pictured here in Hong Kong while on a factory visit. Apparently wrestling belts were a thing?)

Bhima Sheridan

I graduated from UC Berkeley’'s College of Chemistry in the late 1990s and quickly realized my job prospects with a bachelor’s degree in the field were likely limited to filling glass bottles with gasoline. Instead, I dabbled in bicycle advocacy and delivered goods by cargo bike for Pedal Express well before it was cool (and before electric assist!). I jumped at the chance to spend 6 months in a UNESCO World Heritage site in Suriname building an eco-tourism resort in the jungle.The photo (circa 2004) is of me helping to commission an early generation, off-grid, solar electric system so we didn’t have to run a generator to keep the beer cold.

Returning to the states, I leveraged my experience in the field to land my first job as a solar engineer.I was lucky to be recruited by Solarcity (now Tesla) as employee No. 37 and had the privilege to build out their commercial solar engineering team to about 20 designers across multiple states. My years in the solar industry imbued me with invaluable insights into the inner workings of both houses and humans, which I’m honored to humbly apply to help my clients achieve their real estate goals!

Anna Bellomo

In the 1990s, I handled corporate affairs in Amsterdam for an Italian telecommunication company. At that time, telecom was it! I had my own office in a skyscraper by the Amstel river. Apparently, I also had a lot of work, judging from all those files you see in the photo next to that large computer!

Working in corporate affairs allowed me to use my law degree while I communicated with our shareholders all around the world. It was a very international job, one that allowed me to travel quite a bit. Most days I biked to work, even during heavy rains. That’s just what you did in the Netherlands!

My previous experiences have informed the way I practice real estate and run my company, always learning from the cultures and the ways of life of the people around me, with grit, compassion and humility. 

Jessica Waggoner

I returned from a Peace Corps assignment in Nicaragua in 2004 and after graduating with an MBA focused on Sustainability, the City of Chicago brought me on to implement their newly-minted Climate Action Plan. Fortuitously, this was 2009, and Obama had just launched the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act in response to the financial and real estate meltdown - local governments like Chicago were flooded with allocations for "boots on the ground" climate-friendly projects and I was in the right place at the right time.

- local governments like Chicago were flooded with allocations for "boots on the ground" climate-friendly projects and I was in the right place at the right time.

We decided to come home to the East Bay in 2010 and PG&E recruited me for a position running energy efficiency programs for local governments (see video). My interest was in clean energy policy and I pivoted my role from programs to policy in time to draft the long-term Energy Efficiency plan to allocate funding to achieve the State's climate goals. This was meaningful work, and I found myself surrounded by brilliant and caring folks who were just as dedicated to sustainability as I was, I loved this chapter of my life and stayed at PG&E for 8 years.

In 2017 I started to dabble in home renovation and interior design, and this side hustle quickly ramped into a small practice called "Hello Minnow". I loved the creativity and bringing clients joy. It absolutely informed my transition into real estate.

I met Alissa Custer and Maggie Resnick in 2018 through a mutual friend and we were all excited and hopeful for what could be in a burgeoning partnership! I started in real estate full-time in 2019 and it's been a ride...I am so fortunate to be in this role. It brings meaning and purpose to my life.