Women We Love: Maggie Currier of Compass
Here at SOS, we love supporting women in business. As a female founded organization, we meet executives who are breaking barriers in their respective fields every single day. That’s why we’re starting a brand new blog series, Women We Love, that spotlights aspirational women in business who have forged successful careers and lives.
This week, we are so thrilled to sit down with Boston native and residential real estate mogul, Maggie Currier. She shares what it was like growing up in a real estate family which led her to become one of the top ten agents in Cambridge. All while starting a family and becoming a mom of three!
Read on to learn more about why we love Maggie and snag some pro tips on climbing your way to the top.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what it was like growing up in a real estate family, who inspired you to pursue this career?
Maggie: Growing up, real estate was always talked about constantly in our home. At every family dinner, my parents would involve us in their conversations at a young age. My mom would host luncheons and invite all the real estate agents. I would always help her put them together - setting up the table, cleaning up, cooking, even calling and leaving voicemails inviting them to our open house. Of course, I'd always be sure to share what was on the menu to entice them to come. I think this made my eventual transition from hospitality to real estate very seamless. At a young age, I was managing a restaurant while I was going to school. I was a senior at UMass majoring in Finance and English Literature and my time at the restaurant just felt like it was up. We were barreling into a major recession in 2008 and my mom suggested I get my real estate license so I can work with her in between classes. I followed her advice and enrolled to get my license, spent months taking class and the exam, all while working with my mom on the side. I was grateful for that flexibility in my schedule. When I graduated in the middle of the financial crisis, there were no jobs or opportunities. I was doing really well with the simple administrative tasks my mom had given me, so she started to give me more and more work. I started doing open houses, inspections, and essentially anything the senior agents didn’t want to do.
How has your experience been as a woman in real estate?
Maggie: Real estate has always been a female dominant industry. The media may give us a different look at times, showing mostly male leads in popular television shows and media, but there are tons of extremely successful women in real estate. I think it’s especially appealing to working moms because of the flexibility. When you’re starting out and learning, people aren’t going to hand you glamorous listings. When I first started, I was driving thirty minutes away in a car with no air conditioning to show very non-glamorous listings at entry level price points, high financing terms etc. My advice would be to start small - view as many houses as you can in the market you want to specialize in, run the inspections, and host the open houses. Do as much as you can to learn as much as you can. My best advice to mothers in real estate is to have child coverage. Even if my schedule isn’t packed full, my kids are in full-time day care. We have family dinner every night and do bath time together. I do my best to block off that time with them and to create space in my day for my career, my kids and myself.
Where do you want to see SOS if you can choose any iconic property in Boston and beyond?
Maggie: I would love to see SOS in every public place, particularly where you find women. We’ve all been there asking the ladies in the bathroom if they have a tampon. SOS is such an amazing concept, I would love to see the machines in restaurants, nightlife, and big venues like sporting arenas and museums.
Tell us about an SOS moment you had recently. Do you have a favorite SOS brand and/or product?
Maggie: I’ve had many SOS moments as a mother - I’ve run out of wipes when I need to change my kids on-the-go or have forgotten a change of clothes for them. You need to improvise. I’m not the type of person that has luggage as a diaper bag so SOS would really come in handy for me. I think you guys should put baby wipes in the machine! They’re so versatile and universal, anyone can get use out of them. As far as my favorite product in the machine, I can’t live without the Cora tampons and the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream. It’s amazing for my dry skin.
Follow Maggie @currierlaneyoung, learn more about her and explore her listings HERE.