We were lucky to catch up with Beth Ferester recently and have shared our conversation below.

Beth, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love for you to start by sharing your thoughts about the pros and cons of family businesses.

I have spent the past 30 years of my 40 year career working alongside my husband, Bob. It definitely has it’s pros and cons. It is very rewarding to be able to build a successful business, sharing it with your family, and being able to spend more time together. The cons, in my opinion, are that the business is the main topic of discussion during the workday and after. Another con would be that one person most often is “the lead” person, so the one that is supporting the lead person has to have the confidence in themselves to work in the “background” most of the time.

This year, 2022, our granddaughter has joined our real estate company and helps with our coffeeshop as well. This has introduced an entirely different set of pros and cons. In many ways it is like raising your children where both parents have to try and be on the same page in dealing with their children. It is even more complicated with a grandchild who you tend to be much easier on than you would your own children. There are definitely times when we differ on what responsibilities our granddaughter should have. And, both of us being “workaholics”, we both have to be sensitive to the ways of the younger generation’s work styles. Through it all, it is wonderful having your grandchild prepare to take over your business and continue your legacy

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started real estate in 1982 when my husband was transferred to Houston. We moved here with our four children, ages 3-13. It was quite a challenge to start a brand new career and still take care of the needs of the family, but with an amazing husband who went above and beyond to help, it allowed me to become successful. The children were also a huge part of my early career, the older ones helping with the younger two and all of them helping putting flags out on July 4th and delivering cookbooks to our neighborhood once a year. My first marketing materials were cookbooks that I published from my own recipes and in later years, recipes of my clients. I did this for 14 years, combining most of them in one book in 2020.

I quickly became the top producer for my company in my office and then in all of their offices in Houston, along with one of the top agents in the country. Fast Forward to 1991 when I started my own company, Ferester & Company, and started my own mentor program. The first agent I mentored is still with me today.

I sold my company to an international company staying with them until 2015 when I, once again, started my own company, Beth Ferester & Company. In 2021, I was approached by The Corcoran Group out of New York, to launch their brand in Texas. My highly successful agents and I are thrilled with the systems, marketing, and hands-on involvement of this amazing company.

I have kept many clients for my entire career, always coming back to me for their real estate needs and referring friends and families – even children and grandchildren along the way. I love my clients and they have been so good to me. One young client calls me her “Fairy Homemother”. I do more than just sell them their homes. I am their “go-to” for advice, vendors to use, help on remodeling and many other aspects of their lives. I spend much of my day talking to and assisting my large sphere of clients.

After I had my company for a few years, I had the opportunity to take the space next door to my office in Creekside, The Woodlands. In today’s world of real estate, big offices are not as important as most of us work remotely, so I decided instead of expanding the real estate office, I would start something that would serve the community and “give-back” to local charities. That was the beginning of Lovebeans Coffeehouse, where neighbors and friends come and enjoy the best coffee, and made in-house lunch items and pastries. This has given me such joy (even with all of the issues involved in running a restaurant, and has brought me closer to the community.

Another huge thing that happened this year, along with affiliating with Corcoran, is having our granddaughter, Grace Ferester Petty, join us. Grace is learning the business from her grandfather and I and will hopefully be our legacy as we finish out the next 10 years, turning over the reins to her and the others we have mentored over the years.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When I first opened my own company in 1991, we didn’t have the funds to take on such a financial endeavor. At that time, I looked to my family and close friends to invest in my first company. Along with their funds, I got a small business loan for minorities in business as a woman.

Four years later, I had paid off all of the investors with interest and went on to take the business to become the top independent company in North Houston. That is why I was a target for several international companies to approach us to sell to them.

By 2015 when I started my second company, I obviously had been successful enough to fund the real estate company as well as the coffeehouse, myself.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients has always been past clients. You MUST keep in touch with your past clients and also ask family and friends to refer you clients. In this day of social media and CRM’s and everything else we have had to learn in order to keep up with today’s marketing platforms, staying in touch with everyone and asking for the business is still teh #1 source of my new clients.

Of course, I do have to use social media and print ads as a background for my business, but referrals are 90% of new clients for me. However, I will say that of all the social media platforms, videos, and podcasts, are the best and have proven successful for me. I recently had a call from a family in California who said they had listened to all of my podcasts and watched my videos on my YOUTUBE Chanel and loved that I was genuine and honest. In these venues, I not only focus on my real estate career, but my family and friends, and other agents in the business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ferester.com
• Instagram: Bethferester The Woodlands Realtor
• Facebook: Beth Ferester Real Estate
• Linkedin: Beth Ferester, Realtor
• Youtube: Corcoran Ferester Realty