March 25, 2022

Meet Sarah

One of my best friends is now working at Melanie Everett & Company, and if that sounds like a dream come true, it totally is.

I’m honored to tell you all about M&Co.’s inaugural Director of Operations: Sarah!

Sarah is my treasured friend of many years, a sister-in-Christ, and even a repeat client. We grew up in the city together! Since 2015, I’ve stored up hundreds of memories with Sarah: splitting a bottle of wine in the summertime, co-working but really just talking and laughing the whole time, traveling to Disney and Nashville and Charleston, church retreats, car rides, paddle tennis tournaments (okay, there was just ONE tournament that we did not win), Jimmy John’s sandwiches with extra mayo for her, rehashing bad dates with the wrong guys and eventually going on double dates with the right guys, walking through the McDonald’s drive-thru, watching her baptism in Lake Michigan and standing up in her wedding, dive bars (shoutout to Ave Tav), helping her buy and sell and buy again, and so. many. more.

And now, here we are. Sarah put in her two weeks’ notice at her high-powered consulting firm back in January, and by the end of that month, she started at M&Co. in a brand-new position created just for her.

As the Director of Operations, Sarah’s role is multifaceted and ever-evolving:

She oversees all of our transactions, making sure our buyers and sellers feel seen and heard.

She’s responsible for every single beautiful piece of M&Co. marketing, including an entire rebrand, which we will share soon. (Fun fact: Sarah been helping me with design since my early days in real estate. Now, it’s just super official!)

She is a marketing maven, and each day, she comes up with new ideas to grow the business and better serve our clients.

She has all-hands-on-deck, all the time.

…and more!

Below, you’ll find Sarah’s contact info and a quick Q&A. Welcome to Melanie Everett & Company, Sarah!

Meet Sarah Emas!

Tell us about your home! We live in a duplex-down in North Kenwood! It was new construction when we bought it, and we’ve been here three years. It’s open-concept with lots of flexible space, which I love. I have an office on the main floor facing our “living room”. The space is so me — an oversized couch, a little love seat that I’ve had since my first solo apartment, and two chic Studio McGee chairs from Target form the boundaries. An expansive coffee table, a wine chest, and vintage oil paintings from my grandparents complete the space. My dogs hang out there all day, and it’s just the coziest, prettiest spot!

What are your most-visited neighborhood spots? We had never explored Hyde Park until we lived down here, and it is such a hidden gem of a neighborhood! We love Nella for date night and Medici for brunch. Most mornings, you can find me at Pure Barre Hyde Park — I’ve done PB off-and-on for the past eight years, and I was thrilled when they opened a studio shortly after we moved here! What really makes North Kenwood home, though, is Christ Church Chicago. We have friends from all ages and stages of life, and it is truly a family, building each other up in the Gospel. We recently bought and renovated a beautiful church building in neighboring Woodlawn, which we’ll move into in May. I can’t wait!

What is your favorite part about working in real estate? My favorite part of real estate is managing the deals. I am a project manager through and through. I love lists, tasks, and tracking dates and status. That was the heart of what I did prior to M&Co. in IT consulting! It’s been a fun challenge to use those skills in real estate, because there’s a lot more volume of mini “projects” at any given time. It’s also a shorter timeline than any IT project, and very rewarding to see something go from start to finish in a month or two.

Why M&Co.? I love that M&Co. is independent, and we have the ability to be very creative and quick on our feet. I’ve worked in startups before, and it reminds me very much of that energy — if you have a great idea, you can just roll up your sleeves and execute on it!