Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Olson.
Hi Sarah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My story starts in the passenger seat of my mother’s car. I grew up in a very old house in Northern New Jersey — no shower, barely any heat — and every weekend my mom and I would drive through neighborhoods we couldn’t afford, dreaming out loud about houses we’d never live in. I didn’t know it then, but those drives planted something in me: a fascination with what a home represents. Safety. Possibility. A fresh start.
I did the sensible thing first — accounting degree, corporate job. Then at 28, pregnant with my first child, I got my real estate license and launched my career on maternity leave. No sales background, no database, no mentor. I closed twelve homes my first year and was named Rookie of the Year, and I never looked back. I built my career as a broker in North Carolina starting in 1999 — working alongside agents closing 100+ homes a year, and eventually opening my own brokerage with my husband, Jon.
In 2015, our family moved to Jacksonville, and I thought that chapter might be closed. Then we bought a house here, and I got two expensive lessons in how different real estate is from state to state. First, it turned out the agent we thought was representing us wasn’t actually representing us at all. Then our mortgage payment jumped $300 a month — because no one told us to file for Florida’s Homestead Exemption. Not our realtor, not the title company. Nobody. I remember thinking, I would never have let this happen to a client. Within a year and a half of moving here, I had my Florida broker associate license and was rebuilding my career from zero — sixteen years of experience, not a single person to call.
Today I lead the First Coast Collective team at RE/MAX Unlimited, where we specialize in life transitions — relocations, first-time buyers, downsizing — because I’ve lived those transitions myself. We also produce Around Town with Sarah Olson on HGTVJax, our weekly show spotlighting local business owners. And I founded the Real Estate Agent Success Academy to train new agents, because I know exactly what it feels like to hold a license and have no idea what to do with it. I’m currently writing a book about that journey.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not smooth — and I wouldn’t trade the bumps, because they’re where every lesson came from.
My biggest challenge was starting over in Florida with sixteen years of experience and zero database. When I got my broker associate license here, I was essentially a veteran starting like a brand-new agent — I knew how to negotiate, how to protect clients at the closing table, how to run a business. What I didn’t have was a single person to call. That gap between skill and opportunity is the loneliest place in real estate.
I joined a prominent real estate franchise in Ponte Vedra Beach — fantastic office, fantastic broker, great location — but I needed my phone to ring, and without anyone to call, that was a real challenge. So I left to join a large team where the phone would ring. And it did. Then COVID hit, and that RE/MAX franchise dissolved. Rather than switch brands yet again, I found RE/MAX Unlimited and started my own team — the First Coast Collective. It turned out to be the best choice I could have made.
Every one of those struggles taught me something I now pass on to the agents I mentor: skills alone don’t build a business, and nobody should have to figure that out alone.
We’ve been impressed with First Coast Collective RE/MAX Unlimted, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
First Coast Collective is a real estate team under RE/MAX Unlimited serving Northeast Florida, and we specialize in life transitions — relocations, first-time buyers, families downsizing, investors making their next move. Our tagline says it best: “Your life moves. We make the right one happen.” Most people don’t buy or sell a house because of the house — they do it because life is changing. We’ve built our entire approach around guiding people through that change, not just the transaction.
What sets us apart is education and protection. I came into the Florida market as a buyer who wasn’t properly represented and paid the price for it, so our team over-explains everything — representation, taxes, exemptions, timelines — because informed clients make confident decisions. With a broker associate leading the team, our clients get broker-level expertise on every transaction.
Brand-wise, what I’m most proud of is how deeply we’re woven into this community. We produce Around Town with Sarah Olson on HGTVJax, a weekly show where I interview local business owners and tell the stories of the people who make Northeast Florida special. It has nothing to do with selling houses and everything to do with why we love living here — and honestly, that’s the point.
The other side of my work is the Real Estate Agent Success Academy, a training academy for newly licensed and restarting agents. I’ve started from zero twice in my career, and I created RSA because talented, motivated people fail in this business every day — not because they aren’t good enough, but because nobody taught them how to build an actual business. We offer a Business Accelerator workshop, 1:1 mentoring, and a downloadable workbook to launch a new career from day one at startwithrsa.com. I’m also finishing a book that maps out the roadmap I wish someone had handed me on day one.
Whether you’re moving through a big life change or building a real estate career, we’d love to help you make the right move.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Just this: Northeast Florida is the best-kept secret in the state, and I say that as someone who chose it twice — once when we moved here, and again when I decided to build my businesses here.
This is not the Florida of theme parks and neon. The First Coast is oak canopies and salt air, historic neighborhoods and brand-new master-planned communities, forty miles of uncrowded beaches from Ponte Vedra to Amelia Island. You can kayak the Intracoastal in the morning, walk the grounds at TPC Sawgrass in the afternoon, and end the day with fresh-caught seafood at a beach shack or a chef-driven spot in San Marco or Riverside. Our food scene is seriously underrated — I get to taste my way through it interviewing local restaurant owners for Around Town, and I’m never disappointed.
But what really sets this place apart is the people. There’s a friendliness here — a small-town warmth inside a major metro — that surprises almost every family I help relocate. Whether it’s Nocatee, St. Augustine, the beaches, or the historic districts, these are true communities, where neighbors know each other and local businesses are the heartbeat.
We even get a little something Florida rarely offers: actual seasons. Just enough fall crispness to light a fire pit, without ever putting away your flip-flops.
If your life is moving — a new job, a fresh start, a next chapter — I can’t imagine a better place to land. And if you do land here, come say hello. We’d love to show you around town. Literally.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://firstcoastcollective.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstcoastcollective/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefirstcoastcollective
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraholiviaolson/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thefirstcoastcollective
- Other: https://reagentsuccess.com/
