My favorite post of the month again: Employee of the Month!

This month, I’m excited to talk about a very special member of our team: Natalie Ness.

I realize when you come to our blog, you’re here for education. But I also think it’s important for you to get to know the people you’ll be working with if you participate in any of our projects. Plus, I can never reiterate enough how vital it is to have a team, and to build a tribe.

Why Trust Matters in Your Team

If I’ve learning one thing, it’s the importance of trusting those you work with. It cannot be understated. There have been more than a few occasions with investors that have said, “Ross, I’m doing this because I trust you and I trust your team.” Natalie is a big part of building trust with our investors and partners.

Let’s see… where to even begin?

Natalie has worked for me for over 17 years. For the first 16 years she helped me build the orthodontics practice with three locations. During that time, Natalie took on virtually every role.

When I sold the practice, I knew I needed to take Natalie with me. It wasn’t an easy feat. The corporation buying me out wanted to keep Natalie just as much as I did. I literally had to fight to keep her. Twice during negotiations, they tried to alter the contract so they could keep her.

We hope this gives you even a sliver of an indication of just how important Natalie is to our team. There was no way I was losing her at the start of this new endeavor! I just wasn’t going to build a new business without her on our team. Since then, she’s been my right-hand.

She Walks The Walk

Much like at the practice, Natalie fills numerous roles at SAO: investor relations, marketing, commercial investments and many, many more. She’s a Jane of all Trades to say the least…

Natalie is also an investor in her own right, where she is involved in several short- and long-term lending and titled properties projects. What’s really unique and valuable about Natalie is her keen eye for locating opportunities for our investors. She does her due diligence better than anyone I know.

More About Natalie

Natalie has been married to her husband, Paul for over 31 years. Together, they’ve lived in various parts of the country. They have two beautiful children, her daughter Britney who is a military spouse whose husband just returned from deployment, and her son, Thomas who works for a medical supply company on the West Coast.

Today, Natalie and Paul call Florida home, where Natalie works remotely in her beautiful office overlooking the intercoastal waterway. But, luckily we still get to see Natalie pretty regularly at different conferences, meetings and site projects.

Natalie is also quite the athlete. Just recently she started running 5k races and already has placed in the top 3 in her age category twice! She’s competing against people who’ve been running for decades or more, and now she’s training for her second half marathon. She’s kickin’ butt and takin’ names.

When she’s not running laps around everyone, Natalie enjoys visiting local breweries in Broward County and being active in local organizations, including the Fairchild Botanical Gardens, Miami Zoo, Broward Center for the Arts, and University of Miami Football. She is also a member of the Fort Lauderdale Women in Real Estate monthly dinners and education seminars.

One morning out of every week, Natalie takes a sunrise walk on Deerfield Beach where she reflects on everything she is grateful for (she even includes us!). Natalie, we’re thankful for you, too.

One of Natalie’s favorite quotes and the motto she lives by comes from Zig Ziglar: “You can have everything in life you want, if you just help enough other people get what they want.” I love that because it really sums up our mission at SAO and in particular, Natalie.

Natalie always puts people first and is a true embodiment of the SAO mission. I know you’ll love her as much as we do.

Natalie, thank you for everything you do (and more!). We’re so grateful to have you here.

We here at SAO believe in teamwork. We believe each person (like Natalie) contributes something to the cause. If you’d like to know more about how we work as a team with you to help you gain financial freedom, contact us today.