Mount Pleasant Magazine March/April 2021

26 www. ReadMPM. com | www. VOICE forRea l Es tate. com | www.MountPl easantBu i lder s . com T he term “power couple” takes on new meaning since married professional pairings and the tendency for spouses to move into business together is increasing, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which recently estimated 1.4 million businesses in the country are run by husband-and-wife teams. Locally, real estate duos, specifically, have enjoyed success side-by-side, but it has taken years of working together to determine what is effective in their marital and work lives. Allen and April Coleman of Coleman Builders first met in 2002 when Allen was overseeing the development of I’On in Mount Pleasant. One fateful day, he was tasked with giving a tour to the new girl, April, who had just been hired to run the development’s club. “We hit it off and got married a year later,” they recounted. “We saw what was going on in I’On and thought to ourselves, ‘We can do this too!’” Conversely, Cathy and Ed Hunnicutt met long before they entered the real estate field. Ed started practicing real estate shortly after their first child was born, and they moved to Mount Pleasant so that he could pursue a professional partnership with his brother, joining his established real estate team. Later, Cathy came on board after Ed’s brother stepped away from the business. “I told her if she would do the marketing and promotion, applying her knowledge to real estate, we could start our own brand,” explained Ed. It worked, and now they enjoy working alongside one another under Carolina One. Another couple, Sean and Carey Tipple of Daniel Island Real Estate, also met and married before they dove fully into the industry. Carey is from a family of Realtors®, and Sean was an account executive for banks, working in the mortgage department for over 15 years, so the career move was a natural progression for both. After the couple moved to Daniel Island, Carey received her real estate license in 2004, and when business really picked up in 2012 after the housing crash, she introduced the idea of partnering with Sean. The rest became history. Opposites attract, and, in business, this can be an asset when an individual’s strengths complement their counterpart. The Hunnicutts affirm that their qualities, though different, “weave beautifully together, creating a dynamic strengthened by vast experience and ability.” In the example of the Colemans, one handles the design side of the business, while the other oversees BY ALYSSA D I SALVO All in the Family Blending Real Estate Business with Love Apr i l and Al l en Co l eman of Co l eman Bu i l der s and the i r three ch i l dren .