Always Smiling! Always On The Hop!

THE eight or so years she and her late husband Charles spent as managers, entertainment co-ordinators and maintenance folk at the popular Mac Nicol's family resort at Bazley Beach, on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, were the happiest of her married life, recalls Jean Liversedge.

However, fast-forward to today and this amiable charmer, notwithstanding a longing for those halcyon days down south, is still happy - this time in the world of real estate, which has always excited her.

She also remains the ever-smiling, always-on-the-hop, multi-tasker that she became during her unforgettable Bazley Beach years in the 1990s.

Nowadays, Jean manages, with great zest and aplomb, the Upper Highway branch of the Dormehl Phalane Group (DPG) in Gillitts, where there are 22 agents and company founder Owen Dormehl is the principal. The team covers an area that starts at the top of Fields Hill, entering Kloof, and extends as far as Hammarsdale/Cato Ridge.

Scottish-born Jean settled in South Africa with her parents and two younger brothers in 1956, when she was nine. She spent most of her school days in Vereeniging.

She first entered the world of property in 2000 when, after Mac Nicol's was sold, she and Charles joined Wakefields in Pietermaritzburg, learning the ropes as rookie agents. She joined the Dormehl family in 2012, "to allow me to grow," she says.

Her first responsibility at the Upper Highway branch, then located at 7 Old Main Road, was to get a data base of buyers and sellers. After a few months, Owen Dormehl had offered Jean the position of office manager

 "All these years later and I am still here!," she says with a grin, although since January 8 this year "here' has been the branch's impressive new premises in Gillitts Centre, Clifton Road.

"The new office space is great! It offers our agents location, individual space, larger offices and loads more parking," says Jean, pointing out that the branch specialises in sales.

"When I have the time I still love to sell too, but my duties are to ensure that the agents have ongoing training, support and motivation. I truly love what I do. I especially love seeing agents shine. When they make a sale, putting a willing buyer and seller together, that really makes my heart happy."

She adds that being a manager can, on occasion, also mean "offering a shoulder for someone to cry on". And, right on cue, she is there to oblige.

Also among Jean's duties is helping to promote the DPG brand via community projects, such as successful blood-donation drives held at the Gillitts office, the most recent on January 22.

"We started hosting blood drives at our office after last year's riots in KwaZulu-Natal, as a way to give back to the community. The recent drive was our third, and we plan to hold drives four times a year. Check our Facebook page for upcoming dates. We are also affiliated to the Robin Hood Foundation and collect for them, as well as support them in their drive to support local charities."

What does Jean rate as the strength of the Dormehl Phalane Group brand?

She replies: "Owen has built this brand with amazing determination and now has 65 offices countrywide. I am so very proud to be part of this growth. Our strength as a branch is loyalty to the brand; being available to agents from other offices when possible. Also among our strengths is our referrals."

Every year the group hosts national awards "where we are spoilt rotten and treated to many special things," says Jean. "The branch has placed third, fourth and fifth in registered sales over the years and has constantly won the 'referrals sent' award for the group."

Another smile comes when Jean is asked about personal DPG awards: "I won the Blue Door award in 2013, and then again in 2019. I also got the 'agent referral' award for 2012 and, most recently, the 'training award' for 2020. In 2015 I won the 'Oscar' award, and that was a very proud moment. When I received it again in 2018, I was over the moon!"

Away from the property world, Jean loves to collect teddy bears, and has a huge collection. She also has a penchant for reading, and is a member of a book club that has been around for more than 30 years, meets once a month and often arranges trips and weekends away: "Having friendships that are over 40 years old is truly one of my greatest blessings".

She also enjoys camping with her daughter, son-in-law and their two boys, aged 12 and 15: "We venture out to the 'Berg or beach for special family time. I think my grandsons feel they help to keep me young. When we wash dishes together, and they blast their music, I know the words!

Jean has another daughter who lives in England with her husband and, due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, she has not seen them in some while: "My grandaughter celebrated her 21st birthday during lockdown and had Covid for her 22nd birthday, so we have a lot of catching up to do one of these days!"