Laurie Bley, REALTOR®

Laurie Bley

I work as a real estate team with my husband, Ty Tyson. We came to real estate from two completely different careers, but bring the same perspective and instinct: pay close attention, do the work thoroughly, and take good care of people.

I moved to North Carolina from New York City in 1995 to study for my PhD at Duke, and ended up spending more than two decades as director of Duke's international journalism program. I learned so much working with journalists from around the world as they worked to turn raw information into stories that offer context and meaning. Journalists are good at asking questions, and I learned that the quality of the information you receive depends on the quality and framing of your research. This is a way to think about problem solving, and problem solving is a crucial core of any real estate transaction. I fully believe any problem can be resolved — it's just a matter of understanding and organizing the variables.

I organized media conferences and events around the world, and eventually led an ongoing project in South Africa to build a resource hub supporting journalists and journalism across the continent. As I am neither African nor a journalist, I saw my role first as a reference librarian — an academic doing the research and the legwork to gather information with granular precision, and turn it into accessible, useful resources that moved the gears of the project. This is exactly how I approach real estate.

I also saw my role, then as now, as a server, creating a buffet from the dishes people told me they wanted and needed, filling their plates, bringing them to the table. Being a server is not a metaphor for me. While I was in New York City, I worked in a number of fine restaurants, including the fabled Union Square Café in the Danny Meyer years when it won the James Beard Award for best service in the country. What I learned about service is that it’s not just about the skill and wherewithal to get a job done successfully and stick the landing with grace, it’s also about how you make people feel while you're doing it. This is a value I keep close.

The emergence of Covid seemed like a good time for a transition so we handed the South Africa project over to the people building their own futures there, and I stepped down. Sometime in the sourdough era, I took the real estate license course almost on a whim — and found myself deeply moved and inspired by the scale of what's at stake in a real estate transaction: the extent to which property ownership shapes not just a lifestyle, but the ability to build real lasting equity, security, and a foothold to support your evolving dreams. I think it’s important that you should have someone representing you who is just ferocious about the details, committed to collaboration and a rich cross referencing of expertise,

In these past years, Ty and I have shepherded so many amazing transactions, each one unique, each one full of heart and nuance: for first time buyers, people relocating, redefining, downsizing, upping the ante - wherever you are in your life, we want to help you find your story, and stick the landing.