In the late 1980s, Jerry’s then-neighbor Dot was a blossoming real estate agent with a business focused primarily on families relocating to Baton Rouge. One day, she enlisted Jerry’s help in selling Baton Rouge as a great place to be to the families she was working.

A lot of the people coming in then were a husband excited about the promotion and a wife angry because she’s moving to Louisiana,” Jerry said with a laugh. “Dot said people love Baton Rouge….Teach them.”

Jerry, a fifth-generation Baton Rouge native, hardly thought of that as work – the city has always been an easy sell.

As a nurse who worked in psychiatric nursing for a time, she has always had a keen interest in working with people. “People fascinate me.”

In no time, Jerry found her passion in introducing Baton Rouge newcomers to everything the Red Stick has to offer – a booming social scene, authentic Cajun food and a rich culture steeped in a deep sense of community.

It didn’t take long for Jerry to dabble in real estate while also working as a nurse to realize that it was time to pick one or the other. “I started with helping Dot and found out right away that to be a good agent, I had to be full-time.” She left nursing – bringing with her a deep appreciation for people and valuable experience with handling stacks of paperwork, too.

With guidance from Dot and a heaping dose of support and encouragement from her parents and her husband Roger, Jerry hit the ground running. Dot served as her priceless mentor.

Above everything, Dot wanted her customers to be happy – even going so far once to buy back a house because her clients were not satisfied. That was a philosophy she and Jerry shared, along with deep regard for the city of Baton Rouge and years of memories. “I learned a lot from Dot,” Jerry said. “She was my mentor.”

Growing up when the societal standard for educated women was for them to become either a teacher or a nurse, Jerry dreamed of being a doctor. She comes from a family that firmly believes anything is possible – it’s a message her dad taught her from an early age. “Can’t” was not a word allowed in her family. “My parents always told me ‘whatever you want to do you can do.’ There was no can’t in our family,” she said. “My dad was the type that you’d come home with an A – and he would want to know why it wasn’t an A+.”

That same attitude is at the very foundation of Del Rio Real Estate, Inc. Jerry prides herself on being a hands-on leader of her team who enjoys providing one-on-one guidance to each of the 14 agents with Del Rio Real Estate, Inc.

Her team is a selective group of agents, fitting with Jerry’s longtime vision of a boutique agency of Baton Rouge natives who have a lifetime of experience learning the area and being a part of its communities. She holds each Del Rio Real Estate member to the same high standards she holds herself – never stop learning, you can’t say can’t and above all – the client comes first.

“This is a profession. You have to act like it.”

Jerry takes a professional approach to everything she tackles. So when the business bug hit in 1989, she shifted gears and never looked back. She knew she could succeed, so she did.She and Roger held their family to the same standards on which they were raised, raising their four children to believe that anything is possible with hard work, dedication and a passion for people. Now, both of her daughters work in medicine, one as a radiologist and one as an x-ray technician. Her two sons followed in Roger’s footsteps, carrying on his industrial supply business after he retired.