AWARD-WINNING REAL ESTATE FAMILY TRIO
This is where family get-togethers can also double as staff meetings.
Take one doting mother and one independent daughter. Add one new daughter-in-law and mix in long workdays. Combine that with a helping of husbands who also work together three generations strong- and what do you have? How about a tradition of family values that has fostered the very successful careers of Peggy Feldman, her daughter Amy Barocas, and her daughter-in-law Kelsey Barocas? This mother-daughter trio with Harry Norman has wound their family ties into three flourishing realty careers.
PEGGY FELDMAN, AMY BAROCAS & KELSEY BAROCAS
Peggy, Amy and Kelsey are also proud to be members of a club with diminishing membershipnative Atlantans. As Atlanta grows its reputation as an international city, those who can claim that title are becoming rare indeed. But it’s a title that Peggy is particularly proud of. “I was born and raised in a little house in Morningside that my parents paid $6,000 for,” Peggy says. “Atlanta has prospered so much since that time. It’s a real treat to go back into Atlanta and see how much has changed.”
This Award-Winning Mother-Daughter Trio Team
During a notable 50 - year career, Peggy has accumulated such awards as the Atlanta Board of Realtors’ Phoenix and Crystal Awards, Prudential’s Chairman Circle representing the top two percent of agents nationwide, and the Communities Top 100 Award (add new awards here). Her daughter Amy has continued those winning ways and is a Life Member of the Atlanta Board of Realtors Million Dollar Club, a member of Prudential’s Chairman’s Circle and Prudential Atlanta/Georgia Realty’s top listing and selling agent, Atlanta Board of Realtors’ Phoenix Award Recipient, and countless others.
After attending the University of Georgia, Peggy married her high school sweetheart, Arthur Feldman. Together they set out to face the typical challenge of newlyweds- financial survival. After several part-time sales positions, Peggy eventually wound up as a residential manager of an apartment complex. “A lot of our friends were living in the complex, but we really couldn’t afford the rent to live there,” Peggy explains. “Our dear friend Jerry owned the properties. We worked it out where I would be resident manager. That was really my first step into real estate.”
Proves That Teamwork Is Truly a Family Tradition!
Peggy’s parents moved to Atlanta in 1942 and raised two daughters while balancing the role of small business owners. “My parents at one time owned three dress shops in downtown Atlanta,” says Peggy. “I have memories of traveling downtown on the ‘Sixteen Noble’ bus to visit the shop and earning a quarter for an afternoon of folding clothes.” It may not have been a lot of money, but Peggy credits her parents for her strong work ethic. “They taught us the difference between right and wrong and always impressed on us that we had a choice of which road to take. Those were important lessons.”
It’s a family affair
After a few years in the business, Peggy landed at Crest Realty, which would later join the Prudential family. In the meantime, her husband was busy building his own chemical manufacturing business, Phoenix Research Industries, Inc. Life at the Feldman home during this time was anything but routine. Her two children Amy and Sandy learned to go with the flow of parents with growing business demands. “The phone rang constantly,” Amy says. “I can remember riding around with my brother doing homework in the way back of the station wagon while Mom drove customers around and put up signs.” Even Peggy admits that they probably didn’t have a “Leave it to Beaver” existence. “One time Amy looked out to our next-door neighbor’s home and saw them sitting at the table eating. She wanted to know why they sat at the table at the same time each night,” Peggy laughs at the memory. “I explained they were eating dinner and she said, ‘Yeah, but every night?’”
Life in the apartment complex was like a small family and became the foundation for Peggy’s future success. After obtaining her license, she began selling to many of the residents who were looking for homes. “There were about 60 units and we were all friends. Our children played together and it was like our own little community,” she says. “As people began to move out into their own homes, I helped them find properties.” It was a very close group of people who still remain in touch with each other after many years. “We keep in contact to this day and get together often. I don’t know how we manage to do it, but we do,” says Peggy. “We’ve gone into different occupations, but cross over and help each other whenever we can.”
Eventually, Peggy and her husband purchased their own home and she began her selling career in Real Estate. And it was a decidedly pre-technology time. “I remember punching holes and putting each listing in a notebook, then moving it to another notebook when it sold. What a difference computers have made!” Peggy says with a laugh.
During Amy’s high school and college years, she would often work summers and holidays in various capacities at Peggy’s office, filling in wherever necessary. Peggy even convinces her to take the real estate licensing course one summer. “Her boyfriend had gone to football camp and Amy was moping around. So I suggested she take the class we were having at our office,” she says. Twice a week teenager Amy sat in a class with a decidedly older crowd and studied foreign terms such as PMI and FHA. It was certainly not the usual adolescent interests, but Amy completed the course with flying colors.
Even though Amy obtained her license while still in high school, real estate wouldn’t be her first career choice. After obtaining a Bachelor’s in Education from the University of Georgia, she began teaching in the Cobb County School system. Like her mother, she married her high school sweetheart and then devoted several years to the demands of teaching and motherhood. A daughter, Ivey, was born in 1993 and a son, Harrison, followed in 1995. It was after the birth of her second child that Amy began to feel the strain of trying to juggle a teaching career with a family life. Peggy was quick to point to the real estate license as a way for Amy to have more flexibility with her schedule. But Amy knew that the demands that the job could place and she and her husband, Sandy, discussed the ramifications of the switch at length. “We had dated since we were 15 and grown up together watching my mother’s career,” Amy says. “We knew it would make a change to our schedules, among other things. Sandy was extremely supportive of the idea.” Support is a word that often comes to the surface when Peggy, Amy and Kesley speak of their family. “There is no way you can do this type of job without a support system,” says Peggy. “My husband was incredible in helping out with the children while I was working and I wouldn’t have the career I do without him.” Amy agrees that her success has only come with the help and encouragement of her husband. It’s also a support system that runs both ways. Peggy has helped her husband, Arthur, build his business over the years and Amy’s husband, Sandy, has joined him in that industry. Recently, their son, Harrison, graduated from the University of Georgia with a Commercial Real Estate degree and joined in on the trend of family business as well, joining Arthur and Sandy at Phoenix Research Industries, Inc. Harrison and Kelsey were set up on a blind date for a Sorority Semi-Formal event, and the two have been inseparable ever since. They got married in October of 2019 and Kelsey joined the Barocas and Feldman Team at Harry Norman Realtors just before the wedding. “We’re a very close family anyway, and the fact that we spend so much time together just increases that,” says Peggy. “We often go on trips together or eat dinner together and we always celebrate birthdays and holidays together.”
In the 26 years since teaming together, Amy and Peggy have seen a tremendous increase in their business. Now, with the addition of Amy’s daughter-in-law, Kelsey, the trio has reached a whole new level of success in the Atlanta real estate industry. Kelsey obtained her Real Estate License over the summer before her senior year of college. Not sure what would come of it, she continued her degree and graduated in the Spring of 2018 with a degree in Business Management from Georgia College. She accepted a position at a logistics firm, and quickly realized the corporate lifestyle wasn’t the right fit. All it took was one conversation with Amy’s husband, Sandy, and he had coordinated Kelsey joining Peggy and Amy in Real Estate! Kelsey plays many roles for the Team, preparing contracts, packages, and managing most office duties, as well as being a full time agent & showing properties regularly. “It is important to have someone that shares your values and recognizes the importance of meeting a clients needs,” says Amy. And it could not have been a better fit to add Kelsey to the Team!
Listing and selling from Sandy Springs to Johns Creek and all around the Atlanta perimeter, the trio loves to share their intimate knowledge of the city with their customers.
“Growing up in these areas and knowing the history gives you a good feel for the market,” says Amy. “Atlanta has been incredibly lucky in the real estate market and there are so many wonderful locations to consider.” Knowing each area well also gives them the unique ability to address the client’s specific needs. “Some people are more concerned with schools, others look for recreation facilities,” says Amy. Some people cannot imagine their life “outside the perimeter” while others dream of a farmhouse style home in the suburbs. Each client is completely different, and the Team loves the challenge of finding the right fit for each and every client.
Family Values & Work
Peggy, Amy and Kelsey clearly enjoy working together. But there’s an obvious question when discussing working side-by-side with a parent or child. Can it get TOO close? When asked, they admit that each day can have challenges. Peggy’s high-energy-never-slow-down style is often in contrast with Amy and Kelsey’s more reserved manners. But whatever dilemmas these contrasting styles may pose are met with standard good humor. Even to the extent of dealing with their minimum of three iPhones and countless other technology that is readily available.
It’s clear that Peggy Feldman, Amy Barocas and Kelsey Barocas have found a formula that has worked for nearly three decades. Working together with a family of co-workers, they have built an enviable record of achievement. They are proud that new customers become friends, old friends are cherished and family is what matters. As Amy succinctly puts in, “It all comes down to love of work and love at home.” Certainly the recipe for success can’t get any simpler than that. We’re a very close family anyway, and the fact that we spend so much time together just increases that.
Work
The Dynamic Trio Ethic
678-852-3169BAROCASKELSEY 404-790-0913BAROCASAMYFELDMANPEGGY404-310-0895 4848 Ashford Dunwoody Road • Atlanta, GA 30338 • 770-394-2131 Office • HarryNorman.com Harry Norman, REALTORS® | Atlanta Perimeter Office
