Jennifer Shelley - Long Lasting Partnerships In Montana
As a little girl growing up in rural New Jersey, Jennifer Shelley dreamed of living in the Rocky Mountains. Always the tomboy, Jennifer started her outdoor life early... dirt biking at 6, exploring in the woods, blazing trails, building forts, and learning to drive the WW2 Willys Jeep at 10 years old. Whenever her dad returned from his trips to the Rocky Mountains, Jennifer would pore over his photos knowing it was just a matter of time until she came west.
Finding Bigfork was a predestined accident. A planned float trip on the Smith River ended up being canceled, so Jennifer and her dad came to Bigfork to visit friends. When they flew into the valley, Jennifer just knew this was going to be her home, with the unmatched beauty of Flathead Lake and surrounding Rocky Mountains. Jennifer recalls turning to her dad as they stepped off the plane and saying, ‘This is it.’ “I knew I had found my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow... my OZ!” Two months later, she packed up her VW Rabbit and drove cross-country to Bigfork.
For many years, Jennifer worked in the software development and technology industry but in 2009, she finally acknowledged that real estate was her professional calling. Starting a real estate career in the midst of a major real estate recession is not a task that most people would take on, but that is exactly what Jennifer did! While agents and brokers were exiting the industry in mass numbers, Jennifer jumped in with both feet. It wasn’t easy, sales were hard to come by, and Jennifer worked multiple jobs to support her family while getting her new career off the ground, including cleaning the office for $50 per week in order to have gas in her vehicle to show property! By 2013, through persistence and dedication, Jennifer’s sales ranked her as one of the Top 5% of all agents in the Flathead Valley. By 2015, Jennifer had climbed into the Top 1% of all agents in the Flathead Valley—a position she has maintained ever since! All this while raising her four children and becoming the Montana Women’s Sporting Clays Champion (2010, 2011 & 2016).