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Jeanette Dryburgh had a revelation when her children finished college. She could continue down the leisurely life of a Westport empty-nester, or she could get a job. She chose the latter.
All of the golf and tennis wasn't going to make me happy, Dryburgh says while sitting at her desk and looking over the Saugatuck River. She leads a team of eight at Jeanette Dryburgh & Associates out of the William Raveis office in Westport.
Dryburgh says she happily played a stay-at-home mother role as her children grew up. She did it all from soccer mom to weekend entertaining. She would even have a separate dinner waiting for her husband, Doug, when he returned from his fashion industry career in Manhattan each day. You know how they have this saying, 'Been there, done that?' Well, that's me, Dryburgh says.
As her children grew up, so did she, she says. All the energy that went into managing a family needed an outlet, and she turned to real estate. It's been more than a decade and her team continues to grow. Doug no longer takes the train for that fashion job, he works for her. In her first three years as a Realtor, she was already a leading agent in buyer-controlled sales.
She recommends that young mothers, eager to balance a career and family, take a page from her book. Those early years with the children are something she cherishes and wouldn't want to see another mother miss. I'm an example of being able to be home for a lot of years and then go on to still have a successful career, Dryburgh says.
She leans back in her chair and thinks about those weekends of entertaining neighbors and friends, of making sure the kids made it to practices and games. Her business now consumes all of that time and energy. It's a seven-day-a-week career for her. She says Doug sometimes asks whether she can set up a nice get-together on a Friday night. I tell him sorry, but I have to work in the morning.".
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