Tereya Crittenton

Tereya Crittenton spent 26 years behind a chair before she ever held a real estate license, and that career still shows up in how she works with clients today. As a cosmetologist who built a specialty working with women experiencing alopecia, she learned to listen first and talk second. Those clients needed more than a haircut; they needed someone patient enough to sit through hard conversations and steady enough to help them feel like themselves again. That's the same instinct she brings now when a client is nervous about selling the only home they've ever owned or worn out trying to find the right house for a growing family.

After years running her own salon and getting to know plenty of busy working parents along the way, Tereya was ready for a change. Real estate gave her a new way to do what she's always been good at: walking people through a big moment in their lives and helping them land somewhere they're excited about, whether that means more space for the kids or a fresh start in a new town.

She grew up in Chicago and has spent her whole life in the Chicagoland area, so the neighborhoods aren't something she had to study, they're home. These days she lives just across the state line in Hammond, Indiana, and holds her license in Illinois. Mention a block in the city or a suburb outside it, and odds are she already knows it. If she doesn't, there's a good chance someone in her office does; being part of Coldwell Banker Realty means she's backed by a large network of agents, and she leans on that experience whenever a client needs an answer she doesn't already have.

Ask Tereya what she's best at and she'll tell you straight: communication and confidence. She stays in close touch with clients from the first phone call to closing day, and she's good at breaking down a messy situation into something that actually makes sense. She's also comfortable telling a client what she really thinks the smart next move is, the same way she was direct with clients for 26 years before this.

Outside of work, Tereya is raising three boys, one of whom followed her straight into real estate. At home she's outnumbered by two dogs, a Presa Canario and a red nose pitbull, who keep things just as lively as everything else in her life.