Tracy McLaughlin is one of the top-ranked real estate agents in the United States and has been sought out by A-list celebrities, but to her daughters Whitney McLaughlin and Grace McLaughlin, she’s the star inspiring their dreams and goals. Tracy, who is ranked as the No. 8 agent in California and has longstanding ties to the Aspen community, has joined forces with her daughters and seen over $2 billion in luxury real estate market sales. Last year alone, the team of mother and daughters closed $407 million worth of transactions. However, the most important deal they have isn’t financial: It’s waking up at 7:30 a.m. every morning to meet in the dining room and strategize how to grow their business and continue to build their family legacy.
“Real estate has been in our family for so many years,” Tracy tells LittleThings. “I started flipping homes in the '90s in Marin County [California]. We became very good at it with a formula that was a winner. After a succession of those, I got my license and the rest unfolded very organically.”
Growing up with a mom in the business, the girls were accustomed to watching her work, and they soaked in her knowledge even before they were ready to embark on their own careers.
“When growing up, my mom inspired me with her intense work ethic, her athletic drive, her generosity, and her ability to make every person feel as if they are the most important person in the room,” Grace says. “I have always been super interested in residential real estate, and knew that I wanted to join my mom from a young age. Most of my internships throughout both high school and college were with different brokerages, working in their marketing departments and gaining experience in the industry. I am a ‘people person’ and, like my mom, am able to relate to many different-minded individuals. I find that this industry allows me to use many of my traits and skills to their best ability and is also very rewarding. Seeing families and individuals with smiles across their faces when deals go through makes the hard work very worth it.”
Though they got their real estate licenses four months apart, Whitney didn’t always share the same goal as her sister. “At first, I was pretty resistant to the idea of going into the real estate industry,” Whitney says. “I wanted to get experience in the corporate world, and I didn’t want to feel like I was following my family or jumping into something that was ‘set up for me.’ However, after a few years of working in a more corporate environment, I found myself infatuated with my mother's business. I loved listening in to her client calls and became more and more interested in learning what was going on with each deal. Boy, there was drama sometimes with her clients and their issues that she must consistently manage. Some of this stuff was better than TV reality shows! I like the psychology involved in residential real estate. It’s like being a psychologist, and that is a subject that has always interested me. I love the challenge of navigating different personalities and accommodating individual needs/wants. I also have the best role model and mentor, so it felt like a no-brainer.”
Growing up, Tracy was always inspired by her own mom and now gets to pay it forward.
“My mother also always worked,” says Tracy. “I always felt it made her an interesting person. She had a lot of stories to share from working in the emergency room as a unit coordinator. She is also a great mom.”
That hard work ethic has translated into Tracy’s parenting. Whitney says, “My mother was always doing 100 things at once, but they never made her absent from our lives. She consistently showed up to thoughtfully raise my brother, sister, and me, all while building an incredibly successful business. Watching her wake up at 5 a.m. and work until 8 or 9 at night showed me that drive and consistency pay off. She continues to give 110% in all categories of her life, including her family, and I will forever be inspired by that.”
Tracy is a mentor in and out of the office. “I continue to mentor both girls in relation to showing them how to talk to clients, when to pull back and give a client space (if they are considering buying or selling), and other important things like immediate response to clients,” says Tracy. She says she never puts pressure on her kids, and “a lot of kindness, accolades, and compliments goes a long way.”
Of having her mom as her boss, Whitney says, “Like every relationship, there are challenges, but we’ve been pretty lucky with our professional dynamic. We always try to remember that we are family and ‘best friends’ in front of the designation of colleagues. We are incredibly close and truly enjoy spending time together both in and out of the office.”
“One great piece of advice my mom has given me is to pave your own path, both personally and professionally,” says Grace. “My mom always seems to be one step ahead in the industry, finding creative and effective ways to work with her clients and their needs. Her independence and her passion for what she does has driven her to succeed in all areas of life, and it’s amazing to see how many people look to her for advice both personally, and professionally, as she has paved her own path.”
Whitney says, “I think the best piece of personal and professional advice Tracy has given me would be to find something I am very good at and enjoy because no one can ‘take that away from me.’ As I continue to go through life and face challenges, I’ve found that learning, honing, and working at something I love (like residential real estate) will pay off in the future. Friends can come and go. Spouses can come and go. Wealth can come and go. However, what someone cannot take away from you is your knowledge. I am working on the retention of as much knowledge as I can.”
Grace shares, “The best thing about working with family is honesty. My mom, sister, and I are all able to be very honest with each other about our wants and needs in the business, and this makes for very open discussions. Remembering to put family first is key.”
Grace recalls an early memory of when her mom did just that. “When I was 9 or 10, and the markets crashed in the global financial crisis, many people in real estate struggled. I remember my parents going through a hard time, both my mom with residential real estate and my dad in the brokerage business. My passion for horses was, and is, something that defines me. My mom knew how important it was for me to continue riding and did whatever she could to make that possible. She taught me that through some of the hardest times, she will do whatever it takes for her children and for the people she loves.”
