Auben Realty - Why Choose Auben

Take a seat, this is a long one.

Next month, marks 10 years in business for Auben. As we look towards a bright future, I thought I would take a minute to tell a little about our past and how we got here. There were several entities that smashed together to give birth to Auben Realty in the fall of 2009.

Sitting squarely in one of the greatest depressions in the history of the United States, I liked our chances. We were inexperienced, naïve and optimistic—all of the things you need to start a business.

Over the years, many things have changed but our ambition has never wavered. Even back in 2008, before Auben even existed, I was already looking international for our property acquisitions. We were a family run business with a global reach—an interesting combination.

I typed the word “plan” into my computer and 1627 results showed up. Further evidence that we had no idea what we were doing, so I personally had to be extremely flexible–so much so that someone once made a shirt for me that said I am flexible and it wasn’t for my ability to touch my knees.

But Auben is not about me and my knees. When working correctly, Auben is about a collective groundswell of energy that builds and builds until it becomes an engine of change–until we become changemakers.

As the energy builds, my job is to help us up our game and find a bigger field. I am working diligently to do this. However, there are several others who deserve the real credit for Auben. They are folks who don’t crave the limelight but deserve the recognition. Two are my family and one I have always thought of as a sister—we have had enough fights that surely we have to be related.

Auben would not be here without Natalie Walls, Audrey Schuetze and Bill Schuetze. Each one of them has worked relentlessly and selflessly to help Auben keep it’s doors opened and they all deserve our gratitude.

You will be hard-pressed to outwork these 3 people and I have images seared in my brain of my mom working at midnight reviewing handwritten time sheets, my father sitting in a windowless room calling back every single lead that called in and patiently listening before promising that I would weave bricks into gold.

The last person, Natalie Walls is Auben. She is one of the hardest working, most loyal human beings I have ever met. I love her and I am lucky to have met her. She embodies Auben’s underdog spirit and relentless push. She can be prickly like a cactus but there is so much love beneath those thorns. She kept me inline so many times it has been ridiculous. She has been the balance the organization needed to my optimism. And frankly we wouldn’t still be in business if I hadn’t met her. When I was trying to build spaceships, she was tracking nickels in our bank account.

I have been very fortunate in my life for many reasons. But one of the biggest reasons I have been successful is that my parents wanted nothing more than improvement for their children and they have spent a lifetime investing in my knowledge, education and experience. It has truly been a gift and I am fortunate beyond belief. With this fortune comes an obligation to pay it forward and the promise that I make to all of you is that I will try with all my might. I have made a lot of mistakes and will make plenty more but my daughter’s book bag (which she created on her own) tells me we are on the right path