Abigail Hines Miller grew up around real estate; but the pandemic, and some encouragement from her friend and former REALTORⓇ, finally inspired her to make the full-time leap into Charlotte real estate in 2022.

 

“I’d seen it from a distance, but decided to take the opportunity and jump in,” Abigail says. “The pandemic kind of kick-started it because I was 90 percent remote and had two small kids, so I could kind of get my feet wet before moving on and doing it full-time.”

 

She also had inspiration from her own home search.

 

“The agent who’d sold us our home in 2017, Erica Mendoza, became a good friend of mine. She’d been encouraging me to go the real estate route because she thought I’d be a good fit for the business.”

 

Abigail’s family has a history of entrepreneurship as her father has created and sold multiple million-dollar businesses, along with owning investment properties across the country. Her mother has run a commercial interior design business for more than 35 years, for which Abigail worked as a sales representative while starting up her own residential interior design business.

Abigail started her real estate career part-time at Henderson Ventures before moving to Ivester Jackson Distinctive Properties as she scaled up in 2022. She also combines her own staging and interior design business, Tailored Interiors Group, working regularly with agents in her office. She won the “Rookie of the Year” award at her former agency based on her leadership, sales volume, lead generation, and bringing in new clientele. Abigail had $5.4 million in sales last year, but, with her move to the new agency and greater familiarity with the business and the area, she projects growth to $15 million to $20 million in 2023.

“It’s in my veins and in my blood to chase my dreams and go after big things that others might fear pursuing,” she says. “I’ve also been given the encouragement to be outspoken, stand up for myself and what I believe in, and position myself appropriately at a high level.”

 

That drive has served her well, according to Abigail, as she made the decision to start out on her own. It also provided her with contacts, relationships, and the skills to build them after she and her husband, Tyler, who served in the military, returned home from serving in England. Tyler’s experience in sales, particularly his experience with automotive sales, has also given her perspective on what it means to provide a great client experience.

 

“Things that have always been very important to me are responsiveness and honesty and integrity,” Abigail notes. “My husband used to work in car sales at many different levels, and it didn’t matter at what price point, everyone assumes car salesmen are slimy and don’t trust them. A lot of people assume anyone in sales has the mentality that they’re out for themself. But I don’t think there’s one client I’ve worked with that has ever felt that way.”

When she’s not working on generating new business or taking care of clients, Abigail lives with her husband, Tyler, their two sons, Eli (6), and Abram (3), and their dog, Zara, who they brought home with them from abroad. Both of their families live nearby, providing Abigail and her husband opportunities to be a part of their lives even more.

 

“We’re always going to sporting events,” Abigail adds. “We spend a lot of time visiting with family and doing things in and around Charlotte on the weekends.”

 

The family also loves to travel, and Abigail is working to support military charities, given her family’s background.

 

With a bright future ahead, and with a strong support system and family history driving her, Abigail sees only positives from her decision to go full-time, even with the sacrifices that come along with that decision.

“I didn’t know how much I would love it, with the people I get to meet and how it would coincide with my design background. The story’s still unfolding. It’s opened a lot of different doors, from a personal perspective and a career perspective as well. You have to be able to understand what it involves to market yourself, to grow, and be self-disciplined in pursuing the industry. But if you have good mentors and align yourself with people that work in similar ways and are willing to learn and roll with the punches, you can certainly be successful, and it’s worth pursuing.”

 

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“I was built to be strong-minded and entrepreneurially focused. I’m very disciplined, in terms of my career and the impact that it has on my family. I want to be able to give my kids and my family the same luxuries I had growing up.”

 

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“I offer a level of service, consistently, that a lot of people aren’t willing to. And there are sacrifices that come with that, but it’s a part of quality of service and the honesty and integrity it takes to maintain a brand, an image, a reputation for yourself.”