A native Texan, a fluent Spanish speaker, a former product manager, and now a REALTOR® with Dickens Mitchener, Gabi Culpepper has enjoyed considerable success in less than two years’ time.

 

Born and raised in Arlington, Texas, Gabi moved to Charlotte about 20 years ago to work with First Data Corporation. The company needed native Spanish speakers, and Gabi fit the bill.

 

“That was during a time when there was this enormous boom of Hispanics coming and companies in Charlotte lacked Spanish speakers. So that was kind of what brought me to Charlotte,” Gabi remembers. “I ended up moving here. I didn't know a single person. I came and started working. I was given a territory to service and ended up meeting lifelong friends.”

 

Gabi also met her now husband, Scott. They have three adult children: Olivia (21), Ella (20), and Lily (18). The Culpepper family also has two Siamese cats, Biscuit and Frankie, and a Chihuahua named Tito.

 

After having three children, Gabi became a stay-at-home mom while Scott traveled frequently for his job. “I was fortunate enough to be able to stay at home and raise them. And all the while, we moved around a lot,” Gabi says. “We bought and sold real estate. I loved going to see houses; that was my biggest joy. If there was an open house, I would say, ‘We need to stop. I need to take a look at it and see it.’”

 

“My friends, who were real estate agents, got very tired of me quickly because I would say, ‘Can you show me this house?’ Now, I know what a pain I must have been to them... I thought it was great. Doesn't everybody like to look at houses?”

 

As Gabi’s daughters blossomed into adolescence and adulthood, Gabi started rethinking her life and career. “When COVID hit, one of my daughters was getting ready to go to college. And the following year, another one was going,” Gabi remembers. “And I realized, especially during that time that we were all sort of at home hanging around, what was I going to do after they were gone? Everybody was going to school remotely. My husband was working remotely. What my job had been for the last 18 years was to sort of manage everyone's schedule and what they were doing … and now there were no schedules to manage.”

 

“So it was sort of this epiphany that, in a couple of years, I wasn't going to have anything to do. And it was a perfect time for me to get my real estate license. I took everything online. I got my license in January 2021. My sister-in-law, a local lender, introduced me to Dickens Mitchener. It was a fortunate event that I ended up there because I absolutely love the firm and the support that they have provided me.”

 

Gabi’s goal was to do three transactions during her first year at Dickens Mitchener; she did 15. And despite what she described as an “insane” real estate market, Gabi did 25 transactions during her second year.

 

“I spend most of my time helping first-time homebuyers, which I love,” Gabi shares. “I'm a very tenacious person. Once I’m helping somebody, there is just no chance that I'm not going to find them something, even if it means me driving an hour or two hours away to find them a house that I felt was a good investment for them long-term. I take my clients under my wing. I think most of them would tell you that. I wasn't necessarily befriending them… I run my business very differently. My job isn't to become friends with my clients; I always look at my job in terms of advocating for my clients.”

 

When not working as the only fluent Spanish speaker at Dickens Mitchener, Gabi is traveling with her family and enjoys watching sporting events such as Charlotte FC and Carolina Panthers games.

 

“We have a house at the lake and we also try to take cool trips several times a year,” Gabi says. “We enjoy going to New York and kind of putzing around there around Christmas time. Austin makes the list a couple of times a year, too, along with Mexico City to visit my mom, who lives there now.”

 

Gabi enjoys her work and her family life and looks forward to continuing to serve people of all backgrounds in the Charlotte area.

 

“I feel like Dickens Mitchener was just a perfect place for me to land,” Gabi remarks. “I think it was a good fit for my personality and for their needs at the time.”