Jimmy Farrell
Mount Pleasant · Charleston

38+ years as the real estate guy. Meet the rest of me.

Runner. Liverpool lunatic. A yellow Lab's favorite couch. And now a digital marketer who brought the entire toolbox.

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Jimmy Farrell smiling

How a leasing guy became a newsletter guy

I started in retail real estate, leasing and redeveloping shopping centers around Washington, D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia. Long days, tough rooms, a lot of handshakes. Then Charleston happened, and I spent five years helping people find homes in the neighborhoods I now call mine.

It was a great run, and I'm proud of every year of it.

After 38+ years, I'm retiring the title. Not the toolbox.

Somewhere along the way, what I looked forward to wasn't the next deal. It was Thursday morning, when CHS Happenings lands in more than 11,000 Charleston inboxes. That newsletter, and the digital marketing work growing out of it, is where I'm headed.

Turns out the job was never really about the real estate. It was about people, trust and following up. Those travel just fine.

Jimmy taking a selfie with his family on a Charleston street
My people.

The part a résumé skips

Everything on this page ranks a distant second to these three.

I run with friends, usually early and occasionally in a Santa sweater. I yell at a television when Liverpool scores. I read, I write, and most of it happens with a Lab on my lap. Same guy you'd have met across the table, just with fewer ties.

Jimmy in a Liverpool jersey, mid-celebration
Liverpool scored. Zero chill.
Jimmy and three friends in ugly holiday sweaters before a run
Ugly sweaters. Group run. Obviously.
Jimmy on a porch swing with a yellow Lab
My actual boss.
Jimmy biting a finisher's medal at a race
The medal never stood a chance.
What real estate really taught me

Six skills. Zero wasted.

Same habits, new playbook. Here's what's coming with me.

01
Relationship building

People buy from people they trust

True for a lease, true for a newsletter. I show up, I follow through, and I still answer my phone like it's 1995.

02
New business development

Find what nobody else saw

Decades of seeing the opportunity before everyone else did. Now I spot the audience, the partner and the angle.

03
Marketing

Different medium, same instinct

I was marketing before Instagram existed. What makes people lean in hasn't changed. Only where I do it has.

04
Persistence

The third "no" is the warm-up

Anyone who has leased retail space knows it. Follow-up isn't a nuisance, it's the job. I also run long distances on purpose, so I come by this honestly.

05
Tech-savvy

I bought the very first Apple laptop

It was the size of a carry-on and I got looks everywhere I took it. Years later I brought a CRM into my company and got the same looks. Both worked out.

06
Attention to detail

One missed clause in a retail lease gets expensive fast

Co-tenancy, exclusives, percentage rent, CAM charges. I've read all the fine print, twice. A campaign gets the same treatment.

So what am I doing now?

Building and growing digital businesses, starting with the one I know best. CHS Happenings is Charleston's free weekly guide to what's opening, what's happening and what's changing, and it's proof the playbook works.

I help businesses and brands do the same: earn real attention, build an audience that actually shows up, and keep it.

11,000+ Charleston readers, every Thursday morning
38+ Years of learning how people decide
Get in touch

Let's talk.

Former clients, friends, neighbors and curious new faces. Say hello. Seriously, I answer.

Email[email protected] Call or text202-365-4770 Read alongCHS Happenings

Looking for real estate help? I've stepped away from the business, but reach out anyway and I'll point you toward someone I trust.