78 Photo Essay: Lindsey Wilson, Re/Max

Words and Image by Al Blanton

I’m a true Southern girl. I love the grandiose porches of older homes. Where I personally live in downtown Jasper, I love the fact that I can drive through my neighborhood and know the majority of my neighbors. I know the names of their pets and their kids. I love the fact that we can sit on the front porch in the evenings and wave to our friends as they drive by.

 A 12-year-old girl sits on a couch in the sunroom of her family home in Trussville, Alabama. There’s an unfamiliar face in the house, a man who is there to help sell the home she’s lived in her whole life. It’s a transition time for her family, and she needs assurance.

 Even at a young age, she’s a planner. She needs to know the steps in order, the 1-2-3’s of selling the place to which she’s grown so accustomed through the years. The place that built her and allowed her to be a girl.

 Lindsey Wilson remembers vividly the exchanges between Mr. Kent Jones, the family real estate agent, and her parents while sitting at the dining room table long ago. But something Mr. Jones said to her that day would ring more resoundingly through the years:

 “You’ve got a great personality,” said Mr. Jones. “You could go into real estate. When you get ready, you give me a call.”

 Today, that little girl is the president-elect of the Walker Area Association of Realtors.

 Lindsey has been with Re/Max Real Estate for the last 4 years. Previous to her time as an agent, she owned an interior design business and worked in traveling sales. In the 1990s, life changed forever when she met a handsome college student at the University of Alabama named Walker Wilson and he brought her to Walker County.

 Somewhere in between, she took a long hiatus from working life to raise two kids, Greer and John Walker. As the kids got older, Lindsey felt it was time to find a job that was flexible with her duties as a mother and wife, and real estate proved to be a perfect fit.

 Now Lindsey loves helping people during those transition times, when they need assurance. “When you buy your first home, you are excited, but you don’t have a clue about the buying process,” she says. “Or you get married and have a family, and there comes a time when you need to get a bigger home. There are so many times in our lives where I have the opportunity to help people make a change. Sometimes those changes are sad, and sometimes those changes are thrilling and exciting. But just to be able to help people, that’s the biggest thing.”

 Lindsey knows that often a small word of encouragement can go a long way.

 And Mr. Jones, wherever you are, thank you. 78