I’ve Been Tagged

There’s a game going on in the blogosphere the equivalent of “Tag, You’re It!” Mortgage blogger, Dan Green, tagged me the other day and now I must tell you 5 things you may not know about me and tag others.

1. If they made a movie about my parents, Bridget Bardot would play my mother and Andy Griffith would play my father. They met when dad was stationed in France in World War II. Mom grew up in a town an hour from Paris. Dad grew up in Madison County (as in “The Bridges of Madison County”), Iowa.
2. My mother, Antoinette, named me Francoise. When I started school, 20 kindergartners in Bondurant, IA were faced with the challenge of pronouncing my name. In frustration, they nicknamed me, Fran.
3. I live with my partner, Mary Kaye. We have 2 cats that allow us to live with them.
4. Before meeting Mary Kaye, I lived in Des Moines. Unlike Chicago, it’s not a great place to be gay and an even worse place to be gay and single. I made the most of my challenging social life through standup comedy. Jokes like, “I’ve faced a lot of discrimination in my life. It’s tough when you’re a lesbian and you don’t have a talent for softball.” and “My gay lifestyle in Des Moines is so incredible, they made a movie about it – Home Alone.” got me into the finals of the Funniest Person in Iowa Contest in 1998.
5. A health scare is what got me into Chicago real estate. Years ago, my doctor said a test came back abnormal and that I needed to see a specialist. My mother died at age 54, so it prompted a lot of thinking about my life. I decided that I didn’t want to spend the rest of it managing projects for a large global corporation. It turned-out that my doctor mis-read my report and I was fine. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I love being a Realtor!

Thanks for letting me play, Dan! Here’s the history of the game, as it led to me.

• Drew of Drew’s Marketing Minute
• Starbucker
• Trevor Gay of Simplicity
• Phil of Make it Great
• Kammie of Passion Meet’s Purpose
• Success from the Nest
• Dave of Rothacker Reviews
• Andrea Learned of Learned on Women
• Ann Handley of the Marketing Profs Daily Fix
• Nedra Weinreich, Spare Change
• Toby Bloomberg, the Diva Marketer
• Paul Chaney, Strategic Blogging
• Mark McKnight, RSS Pieces
• Jim Cronin, The Real Estate Tomato
• Greg Swann, The Bloodhound Blog
• Dan Green, The Mortgage Reports

And the game continues…I am tagging Brandon, Dean, Jake, Richard, and Timothy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fran Bailey shows, previews and tracks downtown Chicago homes for sale giving her the insights needed to help her clients negotiate the best price and terms. Fran has been quoted in numerous Chicago and national publications. To schedule showings of listings regardless of broker or to contact Fran email her at fran.bailey@bairdwarner.com or call 773.793.4516. Learn More