Barb was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, spent her childhood in the Greater Toronto Area and moved to a suburb of Ottawa called Stittsville at the age of 13. Barb spent her teenage years in the neighbourhood of Crossing Bridge in Stittsville when Stittsville was just in the beginnings of its commercial push and residential expansion. She attended South Carleton High School in Richmond. She “fondly” remembers the day her parents drove her to her new school and had to stop for a family of skunks to cross the road. Barb quickly realized that life in Ottawa would be a good one as she fell in love with its greenspaces, rural areas, as well as the exciting, culture-filled downtown core. In retrospect, she knows her life is fuller for having been in Ottawa.

After high school, she studied history at Carleton University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts specializing in North American History. During her university career, Barb was introduced to the world of real estate with a part time job as a receptionist at a local real estate office. Here, she learned the language of the business and the administrative side to the real estate market.

Not long after graduating, love swept her off her feet causing her to follow her now husband, Steve, to Sydney, Australia. It was a year of exploring a foreign country, adjusting to a new culture and lifestyle, meeting many new people and enjoying the warm weather and the beaches. Then, in 2010, Steve was transferred to Amsterdam for work. Barb, once again, packed up their household preparing herself to try life on another continent, this time in a foreign speaking country.

It was love at first sight for Barb. Arriving on New Year’s Day 2010, Amsterdam was a mess, filled with the leftovers from the night before. It was cold and damp; a different cold than Canada… but she was in love. Barb spent her days exploring the city, going from museum to museum, canal to canal. Barb describes her years spent abroad as an amazing experience and one that she would not trade for anything else.

When opportunity knocked for Steve to return to work in Canada, both he and Barb decided it would be a good idea. An important reason for Barb was that she was beyond ready to sink her teeth into a career and begin exploring what she wanted to do with her life professionally. Decision made, they once again packed up their household and left their expat life behind, ready to come home.

Returning home after so long away only highlighted all the reasons Barb loved Ottawa. Settling in Stittsville, Barbara quickly began job hunting thinking it would take some time before she found anything. To her delight, Carole Evans, phoned her for an interview not long after her search had begun. The chemistry was instantaneous, and Barb felt excited at the prospect of working in real estate again, this time in both an administrative position and marketing management position. Over the next five years, Barbara took on a very active role in Carole’s business, coordinating both the office, events and marketing. Having learned loads about these aspects over the years, it was in the summer of 2015 that Barbara decided to further her education and present a new challenge for herself. Barb received her Ontario Real Estate license in 2016 and dove right into her new role as part of the Barb & Carole Team.

Barb and her husband currently live in Richmond, and have added a child to their family, a son named Declan.

Barb loves her work. Meeting new people, facing new challenges and problem solving everyday are the things she loves most about real estate. She loves being a part of the momentous journey of her clients in buying and/or selling their homes. It can be a time of great emotion: both exciting and stressful, joyful and sad. Barb puts herself right into the shoes of her clients and can empathize and understand where they are coming from. Her greatest goal is to help her clients through one of the most important steps in their lives.