Dana has lived and worked in various corners of the world, but Ocala is where she found her community. After 12 years as an educator – over half of which was overseas in Turkey and Thailand – the native Minnesotan “looped back around” to the United States and found Central Florida was an ideal place for her to pursue her love of equestrian sport.

 

“My mother and I have shared a passion for horses all my life, and my dad has been a big supporter of that. So I would come down here to ride,” she explains. “I liked it so much that I decided to stay.”

It wasn’t a fleeting decision; Dana has a deep appreciation for stability and community and wanted to live in an environment where she could grow and develop. She already had a solid background in real estate; her father is a commercial broker, as is her sister. The possibilities in Central Florida’s equestrian industry, sports, and agriculture instantly appealed to her.

“I need roots and to build community. It’s massively important to me, and Valerie is extremely good at creating that environment at Showcase,” she says. “So after many years of traveling, this really felt like the right place for me to be.”

Her global perspective is complemented by her eight years in the tech world as a program manager, where she handled organizing teams and made sure programs were implemented properly, coordinating the different strings of tech, software, designers and creators. This experience honed her ability to communicate effectively, organize complex projects, and break them down for people in simple, direct terms. Her understanding of and experience with diverse people and cultures, combined with her strengths as an advocate and love of community makes her an exceptional agent for her clients.

 

She plans to focus on residential and horse farm properties, but is also interested in handling historic homes. “Every house has a story that’s unique and relatable. They’re not just structures or something you’re buying off a shelf. There’s so much history – particularly with horse farms, where often someone has spent decades building and nurturing it. They’ve looked ahead, sometimes years, to growing a dream into something real. I really enjoy that.”

Dana competes at World Equestrian Center on her Andalusian each month and also started learning how to play polo at Ocala Polo Club – somewhat surprising herself with how much she likes it. She now participates often with the team at Florida Horse Park for Sunday matches.

“It gets me out of my box,” she says. “I love dressage, but polo kind of lets you loose a little bit. It can get pretty wild out there, but it’s so much fun. I think it’s important to challenge yourself and get involved with people. It just makes you better at the other things you do.”