Choosing the right professional is the same problem whether you are buying a condo in Virginia or booking a week afloat: you want someone who will still answer the phone after the deal closes. Tia Glover, a newer face on The Real Housewives of Potomac, has spent three years building a real estate business in the DC area, and her approach, laid out in an interview with AfroTech, doubles as a checklist for hiring anyone whose service depends on trust.
The headline lesson from her interview is counterintuitive. Visibility is not a shortcut. People assume that being on television automatically boosts her business, and she told AfroTech it is "not quite the case" — attention has to be funnelled into the work, and "it's not automatic." The same logic applies when you pick a charter broker, a marina manager or any specialist. A big name, a glossy feed or a famous brand tells you nothing about whether the person does the follow-through. What does? The habits below, all drawn from how Glover says she actually operates.
Check that they commit before they sell
Glover considered getting licensed while living in Seattle but held off, because she knew the move was not permanent. "I was a little bit apprehensive to grow roots there," she told AfroTech. Only when she moved to DC, knowing she would stay, did she get licensed — first in Virginia, where she lives, then adding DC, with Maryland on her list.
The practical takeaway: ask a professional how long they have been where they are and what they have invested in it. Someone who has put down real roots — licences, local knowledge, a settled base — has reasons to protect a reputation. Someone passing through does not. This matters doubly on the water, where a season's worth of local knowledge separates a good week from a bad one; our Mediterranean charter guide makes the same point about picking routes that fit the season.
Ask what they did before, and whether it transfers
Before real estate, Glover worked as an image consultant, and she sees a thread between the two careers. "I like offering a service that changes people's lives," she said in the AfroTech interview. "Real estate does that because it's one of the greatest investments you're going to make."
That is a useful screening question for any hire: what did you do before this, and does it actually help me? A background in service work — managing expectations, reading clients, handling trust — often matters more than the logo on the business card. It is why the person behind the desk can matter more than the brand; our explainer on what a charter broker actually does covers how that service layer works in practice.
Watch how they treat small clients
Glover works with Sotheby's International Realty, a brand associated with luxury, in a region she notes is home to some of the wealthiest Black communities in the country. But her client list is not limited to high-end buyers. "I've sold condos, I've sold multimillion-dollar homes," she told AfroTech, calling each transaction a privilege because "that client can go elsewhere."
Her reasoning is arithmetic as much as ethics. A buyer of a multimillion-dollar home is often buying a forever home — one transaction. A first-time buyer may come back again and again as life changes. When you size up a professional, notice how they treat the small job. The outfit that bothers with the modest booking is the one likely to bother with you when something goes wrong. The same test applies to how a crew or a broker handles a small boat and a short week; our comparison of bareboat versus crewed charter is really a guide to matching service level to what you need. For related coverage, see Motor or sail: matching the boat to the week you actually want.
Expect them to know what makes them different
Asked what she has learned as a Black woman in a crowded field, Glover told AfroTech that the first lesson is that agents need a clear sense of what sets them apart. She orders it deliberately: how to stand apart comes first, being Black second, being a foreigner — she was raised between Nigerian and English cultures — third. "What I think about when I enter a room is, what do I, Tia, need to do to set myself apart to earn this person's business?" she said.
For the person doing the hiring, this is a direct question to ask: what makes you different from the other ten people who do what you do? A vague answer is a warning. A specific one — a specialism, a way of working, a defined patch — is a good sign. If the answer is a hard sell, walk. Our checklist of ten questions to ask before signing a charter contract runs on the same principle: the quality of the answers tells you more than the brochure.
Notice how they handle attention and risk
Fame brought Glover complications as well as calls. She told AfroTech she gets plenty of enquiries since joining the show, but many do not feel like serious buyers, so she has put measures in place to filter them. It has also changed how she works day to day. "If I'm being completely honest, sometimes it does make me a little bit nervous," she said. Where she once showed properties alone, she now often brings someone else, "just because you never know."
Two practical lessons sit in there. First, a professional who filters enquiries rather than chasing every one is protecting their time for real clients — a good sign, not a cold shoulder. Second, someone who adjusts their working practices when circumstances change is thinking about safety and sustainability, not just volume. On the water, that instinct is everything; a crew that briefs, checks and adapts is the one you want holding the lines.
The one-line version
Glover's method, three years in, is unglamorous: commit to a place, transfer real service skills, treat every client as a relationship rather than a commission, know exactly what you bring, and filter the noise. "You watch Selling Sunset and it would be lovely to just sell one house and make millions [in] commission," she told AfroTech, "but that's not really the heart behind it for me." That sentence is the whole test. Ask the person you are about to hire — for a house, a boat or a week at anchor — what the heart behind it is, and listen hard to the answer.
