A lazy day at Goldwater Lake

"It was love at first sight!" That's how Gretchen describes her reaction to Prescott on her initial visit here several years ago. "The sense of history in the downtown, the friendly people on the street, and the beautiful landscape--it all just seemed to say `this is home' to me."

So it was that when the opportunity arose for her husband to transfer to Prescott, the family jumped at the chance. Of course leaving their Midwestern home was not easy. Refurbishing their turn-of-the century Victorian house on Main Street had been a labor of love. It held a lot of memories that come with raising four children (three boys and a girl), two cats, and a Dalmatian dog. But the kids were starting lives of their own, and it was time to turn the keys over to a new family who would enjoy the home all over again.

A stroll along Courthouse Square- Downtown Prescott

"At first, moving so far away from the Heartland was difficult," Gretchen reminisces. But it didn't take long for Prescott to become the new gathering place for reunions with family and friends. "When you live in such a wonderful place as Prescott, it's easy to entice everybody to come for frequent visits."

As the saying goes, you can take the girl out of the Midwest, but you can't take the Midwest out of the girl. That Midwestern work ethic, the guarantee of a handshake, a genuine smile--those are qualities that Gretchen grew up with and qualities that she intends to never lose sight of. "It's just part of who I am, and part of what makes me want to strive to be the best REALTOR® that I can be."

Gretchen's father was a REALTOR® and broker in a small Midwestern town for over 30 years and had gained a reputation in the community for being knowledgeable, honest, and hardworking. "That's the very reputation that I hope to gain," Gretchen says of her own real estate philosophy. "I want to copy the example my Dad set for me." To that end, Gretchen wants her clients to know that she'll be just as trustworthy and hardworking for them as she would her oldest and dearest friends back in the Midwest, whether those clients happen to be from the East Coast, the West Coast, or Alaska.

"In the end," she says, "we become friends from all across the country."