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At DH, we come from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and even countries.Our multidisciplinary backgrounds come into play in sometimes-obvious and often-unexpected ways, all of which we employ for the benefit of our clients. 

When you work with a District Homes agent, you gain the wealth of knowledge, talent and experience of all our agents. All our various selves make up a distinctively wonderful whole dedicated to your success.

We call this “THE WAY WE WERE” series, we’ll show you what we did before we got here, when we were young (or younger!). We’ll also share how those experiences shaped who we are now and helped us be better people — and better agents.

Enjoy!

 

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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?)

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Ellie Ridge

I was born and raised in Albany and received my bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley in Sociology. After college I worked at Facebook and Instagram as a content strategist, and had so much fun writing and designing for a living. I traveled all around the world for work including to Singapore, Brazil and Thailand in a single year! I worked specifically on advertising products and what I learned about people's purchasing behavior, as well as the power of words and design to influence outcomes, is tremendously beneficial in my work now as a listing agent.   

At 24, I saved up every dollar to my name and bought my first home, in East Oakland. It was both exciting and overwhelming, but I knew even back then that I wanted to be involved in real estate in one way or another. When I sold that home a few years later, I was able to buy my next house, and around that time I started thinking more and more about real estate; how much I loved houses, how incredible buying property had been for me as a financial tool, how grateful I was to have a place of my own. My family is in construction and I knew I understood structures more than the average person. I finally took the leap to become an agent and it's the best thing I've ever done. It's deeply meaningful to me to guide others in their home buying journey; for many of us, it's the largest financial transaction we will make in our lives. I take my job very seriously and I educate my clients (or facilitate the education with trusted tradespeople) as much as I can on the systems of a home, from the foundation to the roof and everything in between. 

My work is the great passion of my life. I love the Bay Area deeply. It will always be my home, and it means so much to me to help others build their home here. 

 

 

 

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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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sarah Ridge

In 1970, long before it was mainstream, my grandmother was an entrepreneur with a social and ecological conscience. She started the original Body Shop in Berkeley, a company that forms the backdrop of so many of our memories. I was raised in that women-owned company. I started working in the shops at age 14, and by 22, I was the vice -president, working alongside my mother, who expanded the low-key shop into a thriving business with more than 70 employees and 11 retail locations. 

As a young business owner, I learned what it means to oversee a large budget, watch the economic and style trends closely and, ultimately, bring the company into the 21st century. I am most proud of my work revamping the mail order division, and writing and producing the company's first website back in the late ’90's. Not only does this experience inform me as a Realtor, but it roots me, here, in the community I serve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jason Lawrence

I came to District Homes two years ago after a more than 22-year career as a diplomat for the U.S. Department of State. My Foreign Service career took me from Bulgaria to Japan to the United Nations, to name just a few locales.  worked on issues ranging from trade to global health to the environment.  

At the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, I was lead negotiator on a range of development issues. As we all know, one of the most important tools in a real estate professional’s skill set is negotiation — the key to ascertaining and achieving goals, and a catalyst for success. When it comes to negotiations and positive outcomes, I am a seasoned professional. 

(And it’s also so fun to speak Japanese in the office with our transaction coordinator, Kae Sato, who hails from Japan!)

 

 

 

 

 

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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.

 

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Cameron Parkinson

While in college I was a board operator and went under the name of DJ CamRon Don Demaro for KZSC, the UC Santa Cruz college radio station.

While finishing up my bachelor's degree in Psychology at the University of California Santa Cruz back in 2005 in realized I didn’t want a future in the psychology field so I threw myself into sports media, writing for City on a Hill Press, working with SlugTalk a sports radio program with KZSC and doing local sports television coverage with High School Sports Focus.

I worked in Sports Journalism for four years with stops at the Le Grande Observer in La Grande Oregon, for the Sonora Union Democrat in Sonora California and then for the Antelope Valley Press in Palmdale California (including covering  one Major League Baseball the LA Angels faced the Oakland Athletics!).

I’ve always loved sports and was also a soccer coach for both the Mersey Soccer Club and Mavericks Soccer Club in Berkeley for 10+ years. Sports have been a huge part of my life and who I am today and help me be a great team player in Real Estate, making me a great guide to my clients and also maintaining a great reputation within the Real Estate Community.

 

 

 

 

 

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