Family First: Patti Accardi Baum and the St. Louis Baum Squad

Patti Accardi Baum has been in the real estate business for an impressive 27 years. She’s weathered the continual shifts and changes in the market, and through it all, she has maintained a balanced, successful and family-focused business. Today, her business is a family affair; her son, Giuseppe, joined The St. Louis Baum Squad in 2019.

REWIND: PAVING THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Patti is a St. Louis native: she grew up in Florissant as one of seven children living in a 1,064-square-foot, one-and-a-half bath home. She’s always held an interest in architecture.?

“I used to fantasize about living in one of those old Victorian homes off of Elizabeth Avenue on our way to Emmaus Bible Chapel every Sunday morning,” Patti remembers. Patti’s first career inspiration was to be a teacher. However, when she began student teaching, she realized becoming a teacher wasn’t aligned with who she was. She held a desire to operate with more freedom than the classroom allowed for.

So, she continued to work in the service industry as a bartender and server and was then promoted to restaurant manager at Cactus Dani’s. There, she successfully fine-tuned her already high-level social skills to interact with crowds outside of the social class in which she was brought up.

“It was in this position that I realized my passion for serving people in many different capacities,” Patti explains. Patti got married and had her first son; around this time, she was first introduced to real estate.

“I read an article about a well-known real estate agent who was doing so much business that her husband quit his job at Monsanto to assist her. [I thought], ‘Seriously?’”

Patti recognized that real estate combined serving people, flexibility and houses — three things she was passionate about and had a clear interest in.

“I knew right then and there that real estate was the right career for me.”

INTO THE PRESENT

Fast forward 27 years and Patti is a wife, a mother of two successful young men, and running a top real estate business. Her primary goal in real estate is to serve her clients with care, passion and a family-first attitude. Her son Giuseppe joined the team in 2019; he acts as the team’s primary buyer’s agent and Patti’s right hand.

“Speaking as team leader, not mom, working with Giuseppe is a blessing,” Patti smiles. “He helps out on all ends of the spectrum, which includes documents, client and agent relations, social media and marketing.”

“My mom has been doing this for 27 years. I just turned 27. So I’ve been around it all my life,” Giuseppe adds. “Not only have I been able to learn the real estate ropes from a young age, but more importantly, [I] have learned the right way to treat people by observing Patti conduct her business over the years.”

The St. Louis Baum Squad has extensive knowledge of the St. Louis market. Patti believes that “less is more” — rather than trying to build a large team, she’s focused on maintaining an effective one. “This has been my mindset since the crash of 2009 when I thought that more was more.

More stuff doesn’t equate to more happiness. We still strive to get material things, but most importantly, we want to focus on people and relationships,” Patti explains.

“At this time, Giuseppe is our only buyer’s agent, and we have a transaction coordinator. [I’m] just waiting for [my] recently licensed hubby, Joe, to get in the game! I’m doing more business this way than I ever was before.”

“Since joining midway through ‘19, I feel as though accountability to one another has helped take our abilities to the next level,” Giuseppe says. “We set personal records in ‘20 in regards to volume and [were] on pace to top that in ‘21. While on this track, our devotion to our clients’ best interests has not skipped a beat, something we take great pride in. We continue to strive to give our undivided attention.”

A LIFE OF BALANCE

Outside real estate, Patti and Joe enjoy volunteering with their church and hanging out with family and close friends. Their youngest son, Xander, is 16, and he keeps them busy with his swimming and water polo schedule. “I learned the hard way with Giuseppe.

I was a single mom for many years and had to work my tail off. I made a lot of mistakes by putting business before family time. Now, I turn it off. My business is a professional workday.

My voicemail says if a call comes after 5, your call will be returned the following day, and those are the first calls I make in the morning. I have to separate family time and business time, and my clients respect that.

Either the business runs you, or you run your business. This is what we do and where we put our priorities. Explaining this upfront to our clients has had positive effects,” Patti says. As Patti and Giuseppe look ahead, they envision more of the same — happy clients, a balance between work and family life and, perhaps most importantly, finding joy in everything they do.

“The vision is to grow our business by helping more families. From a dollar standpoint, our goal is $30 million this year, but it really doesn’t matter. It’s really about helping more families.”

“As for God, his way is perfect. The Lord’s word is flawless: He shields all who take refuge in him.” — Psalms 18:3

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