Pamela Banks: Looking for Opportunities
and Positivity in 2021
By Tracey C. Velt
When Pamela Banks, 2021 National Women’s Council of REALTORS® President and sales associate with RE/MAX Prestige in Wellington, Florida, first started in Women’s Council in 2004, it didn’t take long for her to see the value. “I had a client from New York who was buying a villa in Boynton Beach, Fla. The client asked if I could find someone to sell his condo in Sugar Loaf, New York,” she says. She turned to the Women’s Council network and searched the city but came up empty. “So, I drilled down to the zip code and started calling members in that zip code. Technology at that time was non-existent, I searched through books to find members.” She said she realized it was a special organization when, “no one blew me off. No one told me they couldn't help me even though they didn't work the area. They all gave me names and numbers for other members who could help. I was finally able to refer the business to someone,” she says. “It was then I realized the caliber of members who belong to this organization. They want to help you succeed.”
Early in her work life, Banks worked as an Estee Lauder cosmetic salesperson where she was a top producer. She took some time off to be home with her children but needed to go back to work when her mother was ill with cancer and needed financial support. “I sold cosmetics again, but door-to-door. I sold beauty supplies to shops. It was outside sales and I loved it!” From there, she got into newspaper sales where she got experience marketing products. In this case, it was cars. “I took the photos and wrote descriptions. Doing so set me up for writing ads to sell homes and listing photography,” she notes. Ultimately, after wanting more control over her career path and creativity, Banks followed a friend’s advice to become a real estate salesperson. “Now, I can run my business and treat people the way I want to be treated.” Women’s Council has been instrumental in helping her grow her business. “I learn from successful REALTORS® and surround myself with successful people so that I can become better at my craft,” she says.
Since the pandemic started, Banks has been concentrating on her sphere. “My business is a referral-based business.” As such, the beginning stay-at-home mandates helped her to realize she was a bit more disconnected from her sphere than she should be. “I immediately started making phone calls, updating my database, sending handwritten notes. I took the time to talk to them about what is going on in their lives. We didn’t always talk business; it was about personal outreach.”
Not only that, she says, she got involved in leadership with the Council. “When you are involved at that level, you have a seat at the table. Then, you’re actually part of the solution. I love getting to know people who are making positive changes to the industry.”
As President, Banks wants to build on the momentum of leaders before her. “What we realized in 2020, is that our members are engaged online. We had record attendance at our virtual national convention, members took advantage of their time to earn their PMN designation, and they got involved because they didn’t have to leave their homes,” she says. “We want to build on that engagement. We learned a valuable lesson in that we can do business differently. We can still connect in ways like we’ve never done before and still be empowering and positive to our members,” says Banks.
After a concerted multi-year effort to focus on internal structural changes nationally, Banks says that one of her goals is to refocus externally “our culture, external outreach, and exploration of encompassing a broader network."
"We're going to reconnect in ways, and we're going to renew the energy, the inspiration, the empowerment to our members." View Pamela's New Year video message now!
About the Contributor
Tracey C. Velt is an Orlando-based freelance writer with more than 20 years of experience writing about the real estate industry.
