Ahead of the Curve

“My dad retired and was having health issues in Cullman where it was cold.” Elaine Sessions said to open her Real Producer’s June 2023 Broker in Charge spotlight interview.

“At the time my older brother had a roommate at Livingston University. He got in touch with his uncle who offered our family a place to stay in Grand Bay, with warmer weather, if we helped take care of their farm. We moved down here that summer after I finished eighth grade, and I later met my husband, Al, on the front porch of our house.”

Elaine has always seemed to be ahead of the curve in comparison to her peers.

One of the first examples of this was enrolling early at Livingston University (now known as the University of West Alabama) while still attending high school.

“By the time I was walking through the ceremony with my high school graduating class in 1971, I was already a sophomore in college at Livingston.

To date, she is the only student from Mobile County High School (now known as Alma Bryant) to complete such a feat.

“I was married by the age of 17. My husband graduated from college, and we moved back home. I transferred to the University of South Alabama and finished my undergraduate degree to become a teacher. Ten years later, I earned my master’s degree from South.” Sessions said.

At the age of 20, Elaine was employed at her high school alma mater, teaching students who were nearly the same age.

Elaine’s first foray into a stratospheric career in real estate can be credited to her husband and God. True to form, she achieved success early in a profession that was initially a second job.

“My husband was working on his master’s degree and said I needed to get my real estate license. A local realtor teaching his class had mentioned that husband and wife teams are the best real estate agents. I got it, sold a house right away, liked the pay and thought that it was fun.” Sessions said.

Elaine initially struggled as to whether she wanted to pursue real estate or teaching, until it dawned on her that the careers were complementary.

“If I can sell math to students that don’t want it, I can surely sell a house to somebody who does want it.” Sessions said.

Moving into the 1980’s, Elaine settled in at Old Hickory Realty in Mobile, under the mentorship of owner/broker Herb Reynolds.

“Herb influenced me in many ways. He was a Godly man; my children loved him and called him Grandpa. He encouraged me to constantly better myself, which I did by getting my broker’s license. This was way before people had any kind of continuing education after licensing. I credit a lot of my early success to him.” Elaine said.

“As a schoolteacher, I’d get out at 2:30, pick up the kids, get in the car and they would do their homework while I knocked on doors from place to place. By the time my husband got home, we had covered some good ground. My children learned every Sunday School song and hymn in the car.” Sessions said.

Always an educator, Sessions at once took newer agents under her wing to mentor. After moving to Marie McConnell in 1988, she was appointed their education director.

“I would teach them how to get business, how to fill out the forms and what to say. Post-license training had not been invented yet.” Elaine said.

In the mid 1990’s Sessions and the Marie McConnel ERA office collectively moved ahead of the curve yet again locally, with early technology adoption.

“We used the first fax machine which was cutting edge back then. If somebody was moving into the Mobile area, they would fax us the information. When they arrived, we would hopefully turn them into a customer. It was the beginning of the relocation system.” Sessions said.

Another significant landmark was reached when Elaine retired from teaching after 27 years of work.

“Upon retiring, I looked to see what was around. There was an opportunity to move into what the industry calls a ‘100% company’. We keep all our commissions and pay rent for our desk as independent contractors. It was a new way of doing business that gives the agent more control.” Sessions said.

In 2008 Sessions joined Roberts Brother’s West.

Fast forward to today, after 15 years with the company, and Elaine’s lists of accomplishments, by her team (and individually), border on mythic.

Some examples cited include: $68 million in average sales volume by the Sessions Team, with 298 units sold annually; $12 million in volume produced by Elaine; President’s Circle for 20 consecutive years; Robert’s Brother’s top team and the #1 Top Team in the Southeast for all the Home Services companies; numerous “Rookie of the Year” winners trained under Elaine.

The list goes on.

In true teacher fashion, Elaine concluded her profile with a childhood story about a defining moment in her life which contributed significantly towards her future success.

“It was a cold winter in Greenville, and I was 10 years old. My dad had been through several heart attacks and was not able to hold a steady job. Mom was uneducated and times were tough. We were renting a house and my dad had gotten permission to cut timber off a neighbor’s nearby property for firewood.” Elaine said.

“I would drag the wood up a hill, which seemed like a million miles away, and just remember being miserable, crying all the way. It was a defining moment for me. I was not going to let my children be in this kind of situation. We were going to do better than this. My children were not going to have to work this hard just to eat, stay warm and survive.” she concluded.

Suffice to say, Elaine’s childhood promise made to herself for a better today, has been well kept.

For questions or comments about this article, contact Elaine at (251) 751-1212 or Elainesessions@