Marie is a native Floridian who grew up in Fort Lauderdale, the youngest of her four siblings. In the mid-1970s, her parents bought an 18-unit motel they named The Blarney Castle, in an homage to their ancestral home in Ireland. When Marie’s father passed away a few years later, her mother took up the reins, moved the family into the motel, and managed the family business on her own.  

“My friends thought it was the coolest thing,” she remembers with a laugh. “But the reality was my mother was on call 24/7.  We would sit down to dinner and the front desk bell would ring.  Then she would jump out of her chair and be out there for half an hour while her dinner got cold. 

“That’s just part of the job, though; you can’t be absent when you’re running a hospitality business. My mother taught us by example about work ethic and taking care of people.” 

Marie graduated from Florida International University with a BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering and started a career as an IT consultant. She married in 1998 and moved to the Florida Keys, where she and her husband raised their two daughters while also managing their successful landscaping and nursery business. During that time she earned her Real Estate license.

“When my daughters were almost finished with college, we moved to Ocala.  We’ve owned property here for 20 years and have always loved the area,” she says.  “My husband and I started a home rental business called Ocala Florida Home Rentals, Inc, which complemented my Real Estate career.” 

Marie worked with a smaller brokerage firm in Ocala before joining Showcase in the Fall of 2025. After meeting and talking with key members of the team, she knew almost immediately it was the right fit for her.  “I really wasn’t looking for a huge brokerage firm. I love that Showcase has such a great team, and an incredible marketing department that really supports their agents.” 

Marie plans to focus initially on residential home sales and helping people with relocation by providing them with information about the different and diverse areas of Ocala. She’s excited about the vibrant growth of Ocala and the many things it has to offer to a wide range of people. “There’s a real sense of community here, and of people who support each other. I think that’s the ideal environment where people want to be.”