We joined Elfant Wissahickon Realtors...and we’re opening PHG’s Headquarters in Fishtown!
In a perfect world, this would have been perfectly timed and posted the first week of January (when we made the move to EWR,) but this is real life and there are clients to help, team members to mentor, a construction project to manage, and family and friends’ milestones to celebrate. However, this less perfectly-timed post is just as genuine in expressing our gratitude for joining Elfant Wissahickon.
Making matches is what we real estate agents do, so making this one came from the same due diligence we are known for guiding our clients through. We found the right fit by aligning with an agile, independent brokerage, growing from deep community-based roots. When you combine PHG local expertise with a local brokerage that’s focusing all its energies in the community where you live, the result for the consumer isn’t just an experience, it’s extraordinary.
Why we swiped right:
PHG believes in the power of community, and EWR is all about community.
EWR is locally-grown. From agents with their feet on the ground, all the way up to the partners and owners, everyone is based in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. They are a part of the community they serve.
PHG supports local businesses, and EWR IS a local business.
EWR is an independent, local brokerage. Each dollar spent at an independent, local business returns an average of three times more money to the community than it would at a national franchise or chain. Communities with small, locally-owned businesses enjoy greater per capita income growth, better public health and more social vitality.
PHG is a woman-led team, and EWR has female-led team roots.
In the 1980’s they were Wissahickon Realty, a woman-owned business, and Martin Elfant, Inc. Both partnered up in 1993 to form Elfant Wissahickon Realtors and since have successfully nurtured several women into leadership roles.
Rising Our Tide on Frankford Avenue
“A rising tide lifts all boats.”
“My favorite saying, used by JFK in 1963, but attributed to a local chamber of commerce in New England, is "A rising tide lifts all boats." I think everyone here wants everyone here to succeed...to reach their business goals and is happy to celebrate each other's personal goals. Your joining will help rise our tide! and we will help rise yours! We are all responsible!”
This note from Lousie D’Alessandro, one of EWR’s Founding Partners, was sent to us upon our arrival. Her sentiment is a perfect demonstration of what they are about and what we as a team strive to be.
Our first tide to rise will be fulfilling a major goal by opening Philly Home Girls HQ, a EWR-licensed office, at 2006 Frankford Ave! It will be an extension of our PHG brand, designed by our client and friend, Hope Velocette of Chrysalis Studios whose work includes Mission Taqueria at 1516 Sansom Street and Hats in the Belfry on Chestnut Street. The space is currently being built by another friend and client, United Makers, a collaborative construction management and general contracting company headquartered in Manayunk.
Rendering of Philly Home Girls Headquarters at 2006 Frankford Ave. provided by Chrysalis Studios
This Fishtown office will create a five-point arc of EWR locations, spanning about 18 miles to conveniently serve all EWR’s clients regardless of which office their agent calls home. We are thrilled to be investing in a storefront on this block where EIGHT other women-owned businesses call home, including Downerss, Minnow Lane, Made + Maker, Field, Vestige, and 2% to Glory. Follow us on social media for updates on our opening.
We continue to be grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the shared purpose of selling or buying a home. Philadelphia’s residents are our neighbors and friends and we are honored to be a part of our community. We strive to make your experience with us seamless, and something you’ll be proud to share with others.
Jeanne Whipple, Team Leader
Jeanne Whipple, started networking internationally by following the Genuine Hustle, small independent real estate convention, for lack of better word, attended by like-minded real estate agents all over the country who found each other through social media. In Tacoma we studied the culture of community, and in Raleigh we studied open mindedness and how life’s experiences can impact who you are and the way you do business. All of this was dotted with motivational speaking, master minding marketing tips, good food and a few drinks. Ultimately Jeanne Whipple ended up meeting her coach through a fantastic agent based out of Boise, Idaho, traveling to Boulder and Sun Valley to study with her, and meeting wonderful agents from California, Washington State, Toronto, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado and Florida along the way. In listening, learning, and studying these Jedi Master real estate agents who managed their businesses with joie de vivre, Jeanne found one common theme, that the agility of independent brokerages aligned with the core personal values that her and her teammates all share.