It’s with great delight that we announce Susan McCallion has been nominated for the Elaine McLaughlin Outstanding Hospitality Service Award (“E Award”). The E Award is a wonderful program put on by the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau, “designed to recognize the extraordinary customer service provided by Lee County tourism and allied industry employees.”
Trish and I were excited when one of our recent homebuyers told us they had nominated Susan for the award after ranting and raving over the service we provided as a company. It’s great to hear that our team has such an effect on making Sanibel dreams become a sunny reality!
This particular customer’s story is unique in many ways, yet shares the same desires and longing to live on Sanibel as many of the rest of our stories. It’s only right that we share their story below,
“It is with such gratitude that we are able to have this wonderful opportunity to share Our Story about someone in particular that not only went above and beyond, but over the moon for us! She has made such an impact in our lives by helping us make our retirement dream a living reality!
Let us begin….
Over two decades ago my wife and I visited a place that took our breathes away… a place that we could only dream of someday retiring: Sanibel Island!
Literally, from that moment on we challenged ourselves to make that dream a living reality, because we knew that we needed to be there. We worked extra-long hours of overtime, stashed away as much money that we could under our mattresses, ate many of our share of boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, and always kept on believing in our hearts that dreams could come true!
As time passed, we slowly began to see the Sanibel Lighthouse flickering in a distance. We became less tolerant of shoveling snow, wearing extra layers of clothing and braving the elements of long cold Winters that seem to never want to morph into Spring! We knew that it was now time to prepare ourselves to move on to the next chapter in our lives.
Hearing the sound of the words, “You’re Pre-Approved,” from our lender was totally harmonious! Within seconds we were on the web, typing in the words, “Realtors in Sanibel Island,” and the rest is now history. We wanted to find someone whom we could share our story with and not only listen, but be able to “feel” and understand what we were looking for. It took a little while, but we indeed found that remarkable person… Susan McCallion!
There are so many adjectives that can describe Susan. She is small in stature but, a giant when it comes to professionalism, knowledge of Sanibel, and the housing market, and she literally puts the “Energizing Bunny” to shame! It didn’t take us long to realize that we had made the right decision putting our dream into her hands. She made it her responsibility to ensure that we would find the right home for the final chapter in “Our Story!”
We are delighted to say that we did indeed find our dream home, and will be slowly taking the time to make it our own and transitioning into our Sanibel home. As for Susan… well she continues to this day assisting us with whatever we need but most importantly, being our friend.
Sanibel Island should be proud of what Susan and her husband give back to the community. They are very active with the United Way, the Sanibel School and many other charitable organizations. They even publish a newsletter entitled, “Sanibel Island Life & News,” which shares very important news and issues about life on Sanibel Island to help us who are not from the area.
Not mention, she was a major factor in helping us find that rare Junonia seashell on the beach….and for that we will be forever grateful!
Thanks for allowing us to share our story….and of course, thanks to Susan and the McCallion & McCallion team.”