Real Estate Love Stories
38% of workers say they've dated a coworker. (Look to your left, look to your right... those people are dating.) But these five power pairs took it a step beyond, marrying someone in the industry.
Ken and Jane Page
British royalty brought Transwestern managing director Ken Page and Lionstone COO Jane Page together. They were both working in the real estate department for a major insurance company in the mid-'80s and met at an internal asbestos liability conference (nothing says love like asbestos). It was held in Houston at a recently foreclosed hotel, and as its asset manager, Ken knew Prince Charles was staying there, too. He invited Jane to join him and some hotel staff to his recently vacated room to “see how a prince lived.” (At first, she thought he was talking about himself… he’s lucky he made it past that one.)
Ken and Jane dated long-distance for a year, with him in Houston and her in California, before she transferred here. They married a few years later, surprising some colleagues who didn’t realize they had been dating. They no longer share an employer, but Ken says they love working in the same industry. He says commercial real estate is very social, so it’s fun to know the same people and travel to industry events together. Outside of work, the pair spend time with their daughters, travel, work out, and ski.
Mike and Julie Taetz
Colliers principal/director Mike Taetz and Colliers VP/Appelt Co prez Julie Tysor Taetz (here at the Chihuly Museum in Seattle) met in the mid ‘80s at Appelt Ricks and Womack (which has evolved into Colliers). Both were new to the industry and crossed paths on their industrial beats, so they slowly became friends. Co-workers joked they should date and much later, a lunch at Danton’s Seafood Restaurant convinced them it was a good idea. Real estate is part of everything they do (even their wedding was an industry affair, with the entire Colliers office invited), but they do get some healthy individualism by working at separate offices.
Here they are with their own Brady Bunch. Julie tells us she and Mike are constantly on the go between visiting all six kids, their country home just north of La Grange, and a love of travel. Why the marriage almost didn’t happen: He has a renowned love for Krispy Kreme, and she can’t even be around donuts.
Ed and Carrie Shoemake
JLL VP Ed Shoemake and his wife Glassman Shoemake Maldonado Architects prez Carrie Glassman Shoemake—here celebrating their 34th anniversary at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris—met at a Museum of Fine Arts lecture series and learned they lived only three houses down from each other. He says it’s best that their areas of architecture overlap but don’t coincide, but they did enjoy working on their house addition together. They’re both very visual people, and being in the same industry helps them understand each other’s decisions and goals. The downside: Family vacations often turn into architectural tours. (Ed says their daughter, a graphic design grad student, has earned enough architectural continuing education learning units to sell them underground.)
Elliott and Diana Bridger
Betcha can’t guess where UCR retail broker Elliott Bridger and JLL office tenant rep Diana Bridger (here at their wedding reception last June) met. They were college friends—Diana was a UT cheerleader and Elliott was a Silver Spur—but parted ways after graduation. She emailed him questions about the Houston real estate market and they coincidentally ran into each other again at a friend’s ranch. They dated long distance for a while before she moved here. They’re expecting their first child (a boy) in June. They enjoy being in different sectors, but try to refer business to each other whenever possible.
Scott Cutlip and Janis Brackett
Kirksey lead designer Scott Cutlip and HOK project manager Janis Brackett are true competitors, which makes sense—they used to work together at Kirksey. Janis was Scott’s project manager, and he tried to set her up with one of his friends. She didn’t like him, so Scott gave it a go. It’s not all competition now; they help each other out with personal development in the industry. One fun thing of sharing a career path: They always have something to talk about. The con: two very demanding schedules. Scott and Janis love to do the MS150 and camp together.
