Nanda de Laurentys’ start in real estate was all about righting a wrong. When she and her husband moved to Augusta from Rome, Italy, more than 40 years ago, their house buying experience was, to be polite, less than desirable. She has spent many years since trying to ensure that other homebuyers have a better outcome.

A top producer for Blanchard and Calhoun Real Estate Company since the mid-1980s, Nanda remembers her first sale as a new agent. She pressed her pen against the contract so hard she punched a hole in the paper and had to tape it when her client wasn’t looking. She’s conquered the nerves, but she hasn’t lost her excitement for the profession or her great sense of gratitude for the company that has helped her achieve success. She’s been named top sales and listing agent too many times to count. But, for Nanda, the intangible rewards are far more important to her than the commissions… the respect and genuine affection of her clients, the abiding friendships she has made along the way, the satisfaction of a job well done.

Nanda joined Blanchard and Calhoun because of their high ethical standards. She stays because she likes working for a company – a family company – not a corporation. “I’ve worked for three generations of Blanchards,” she says. “Their reputation is the best in town, and that’s important to me.” Twenty years ago, Nanda’s daughter Toni joined her team, a family business within a family business. They’ve become quite a formidable duo, often juggling multiple closings in a single day. At a closing in 2008, one of Nanda’s clients asked for her permission to date her daughter. Impressed by his manners and charmed by his old world formality, Nanda gave her blessing. Three years later, Toni and William Wynegar were married. “The acquisition of my son-in-law,” laughs Nanda, “is the best thing to come from my efforts at Blanchard and Calhoun.” Which goes to prove, commissions are great, but family is everything.