Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebeca McLaughlin.
Hi Rebeca, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a first-generation Cuban American who was born and raised in Miami. I got my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Early Childhood Education at the University of Florida. Once I met my now-husband in college, I followed him to Tampa because I knew I didn’t want to go back to Miami after graduating. I worked at Twin Lakes Elementary as a kindergarten teacher for 2 years. Part of it was wonderful- I have a passion for working with young children, and I was also serving the Hispanic community, so my Spanish bilingualism and Cuban roots came in handy. On the other hand, I had a ton of special needs and extreme behavioral needs in my classroom with almost zero support. By my second year of teaching, the joy was taken out of it for me, and I was just in survival mode. So, I decided that if I was going to make a career change, doing it in my mid-20s before I eventually became a mom was an opportune time. That’s when my mother-in-law invited me to join her in real estate. At that point, she had been a top-producing Realtor for 9 years on a team. When I joined her, she decided to create our own team- a two-woman show called MCL Group, in tribute to our shared last name, McLaughlin, and standing for mastery, commitment, and luxury- a promise we make to all of our customers. I began real estate the summer after my second year of teaching in 2023. My first 6 months as a Realtor, I broke even with what would have been my teacher’s salary during that time. In 2024, I closed on 16 homes. In 2025, I will be closing on 21 homes (hopefully 22) and have more than doubled my teacher salary. I attribute my success to both nature and nurture. In terms of my nature, I’m a bubbly and extroverted person who loves working with others, very organized and type A, and an overachiever. All of those personality traits have shone in this career. As for the nurture side of it, having my amazing mother-in-law, Ronnie McLaughlin, as a mentor has transformed my career. She’s established so many connections over the past decade in real estate that our entire business stems from repeat customers and referrals. No cold calling, no buying leads from Zillow. And the reason why is because of the genuine care and trust we build with our customers. Our secret ingredient to our success is relationship building, something that comes naturally to both of us and that truly fills our cups. That, plus all of the other lessons she’s taught me about this career, has helped me grow exponentially. My growth continues, and I hope it will never end. I plan to be a lifelong learner in this career and am just so grateful for the relationships, liberty, personal fulfillment, and success it has brought to me.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A challenge is the crisis management that comes with being a Realtor. We are helping people with the biggest purchase of their lives, so there are big feelings that come along with that, especially when something goes wrong in a transaction. But it is my job to make the process as hassle-free as possible for our customers, so I try my best to take on that burden as I help resolve those crises.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I am on a two-person, family-run team. So, you are getting an intimate and personal level of service. The commitment we make to our customers is to over-communicate, hold their hand through every step of the process, and to take as much of the hassle out of real estate as possible for them. We like to call ourselves hassle hackers. Two things set us apart- our relationships and our marketing. We build relationship equity with our customers, fellow agents, and vendors, all of which helps set us and our deals up for success from the start. As for our marketing, we pride ourselves on going above and beyond and putting out elevated products- from listing photos, to including every single detail about a listing on MLS, to my bilingualism, to our print material.
Any big plans?
My plans for the future is to continue to expand our team’s outreach with my teammate Ronnie. One of the ways we do this is with our annual customer appreciation events. A couple of our most popular ones are professional pet photos with the Easter Bunny at the park, and a book exchange/bouquet-making all-ladies event called Books & Blooms. We also make it a priority to give back to teachers. For every closing we have per year, we mail a teacher of our customer’s choosing a Starbucks gift card during the holidays. It’s our way of honoring my background in education and showing appreciation to the professionals in the classroom who are so often overlooked. And ultimately, our priority is to help more families accomplish the American dream of homeownership.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/_mclgroup
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/mclgrouptampa
- Other: https://share.google/xF7y6Fdx2aFhhaez1
Image Credits
Zach Nicolaou – Easter Pet Photo
