With its ever-changing landscape, the real estate world can be complex. The right person with the right motivation, however, can readily navigate this world, achieving great success. Donna Moyer, principal broker of Liz Moore & Associates’ Newport News office, demonstrates well this reality, having walked the path from real estate agent to principal broker, managing salespeople, productivity and everyday office affairs and ensuring compliance with state regulations.
As owner Liz Moore says, “We’ve lived through many market cycles over the past 20 years — from the hottest markets to the Great Recession to a global pandemic. Regardless of what’s happening in the market, our clients still need the same thing: trusted real estate advisors who have the experience and the empathy to guide them successfully through the transition.”
In 1997, at a time when Moyer says, “I was looking for my purpose in life, in addition to being a mom and paying bills,” she met Liz Moore and went to work for her as a real estate agent at Cale Realty. “Liz had bigger visions,” says Moyer, and in 2003 opened her own company, Liz Moore & Associates.
While Moyer started as a real estate agent, it didn’t take long for her to realize she “had an internal calling that wasn’t satisfied. When I got into managing in 2004, I realized this is what I was meant to do,” she says. “I love helping develop people, whether hiring brand new or from another company, I love to help them build their business — I’m a good cheerleader,” Moyer says.
Having been with Liz Moore & Associates from its foundation, Moyer recognizes much of what makes the company unique. “We are very much a family, but not in a cliché kind of way,” Moyer says. “Everyone here is cheering for everyone. Everyone’s success is his or her success.” Moore adds, “Our internal theme is #WorkHappy. The managers and I like to say that we are on a mission to have the ‘happiest and most productive agents on the planet.’”
One of the most exciting and meaningful community projects at Liz Moore & Associates is its annual Cupcake Wars to benefit CHKD and other charities, which the firm has been doing for more than 11 years. For Moore, this is a “cause very near and dear” to her heart as her son, Grayson, now 30 years old, was born prematurely, weighing only one pound, four ounces, and “spent his first three months in the NICU at CHKD,” says Moore. The event is held every year the Friday before Valentine’s Day and is a competition among the branches, “mostly for bragging rights,” says Moyer. Agents, clients and friends bake and sell cupcakes and this year, they brought in close to $21,000 in three hours’ time. The bragging rights prize? An “atrocious-looking porcelain animal, Peter Pig,” says Moyer, which now resides at the Newport News office until next year’s competition ensues.
For Moyer, being a principal broker at Liz Moore & Associates isn’t just a job. “I’m definitely living the dream. I’m passionate about it,” she says. And, clearly, this company is doing something right. “We don’t have a lot of employee turnover in an industry that does. We create a climate that’s home,” Moyer continues. And being a local company, says Moore, “We can be swift to respond to changing markets and community needs. Real estate is local. So are we.”
TO THE POINT:
Liz Moore & Associates
Address: 11801 Canon Blvd., Ste. 100, Newport News, Virginia, 23606
Contact: Donna Moyer, managing broker
Phone: 757-873-2707
Website: www.lizmoore.com
