Photo by Tamara Herrick, Every Emotion Photography.
DYANNA NICHOLS
Dyanna Nichols worked as a bartender and in bar and restaurant management for years when she was starting to feel burnt out. Two of her regular customers ultimately motivated her to switch careers. She’s now a realtor with Realty One Group Mountain Desert. “I was inspired by a local regular couple Kathy and Tim Cox. I had reached a breaking point of boredom and feeling tapped out in my past career and needed a change that would carry me well to my retiree years. After much thought and discussion with Tim and Kathy, they agreed to mentor me and bring me onto their real estate team. Without them, I would not be where I am today,” she says. She enjoys how multifaceted real estate is as an industry and helping her clients thrive.
“Constant change, intense pressure, the thrill of the hunt, creativity, building relationships and helping people through one of the most stressful times of their lives,” she says. “It’s the people business, no matter what your business. The biggest challenge will always be people, communication and expectations.” The most rewarding part of her work? A smile and a thank you from her clients. Much like how she was supported early in her career by Kathy and Tim, she’s also bolstered by one of her colleagues. “My organization is run with my cherished counterpart, Danni Barker. She has been my loyal transaction coordinator since the beginning, which is coming up on five years. Her role is essential to my professional, mental and emotional well being, and I could not be so successful without her,” she says.
Outside of real estate, she says her marriage, work, family and kitties are most important to her. She’s been an avid reader since childhood. Like many Sedona residents, hikes are her cherished time of personal peace. Cooking also brings her great joy. She even collects old cookbooks and shows affection by baking for others. “Beyond real estate, I devote my spare time to a local group that supports members of our community for younger generations. That group is called Sedona XYZ, named so because the focus is on Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z,” she says. “The creation was driven toward support of small business owners, employees of small business and entrepreneurs. It is my pleasure to give service to others and an honor to have just been voted in as the president.”
Photo by Cameron Wylde.
VICTORIA WYLDE
Gainesville, Florida-native Victoria Wylde is a realtor/real estate professional with Re/Max Sedona. She’s also the president of the Sedona Luxury Real Estate Professionals group. She attended her hometown’s college, the University of Florida, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in plant genetics and her master’s in business. Real estate is in her blood. Her mom, Nancy Turbyfill, is a real estate agent. Victoria met her husband, Cameron Wylde, on their college’s cycling team. The couple wed in 2018 in Sedona, a city that would become very important to them. Post-college, the pair relocated to Fort Collins, Colorado. In Colorado, they worked for a hemp company. During COVID, the business collapsed. The couple moved out of their rental home, bought an Airstream and traveled the country while working remotely.
Victoria’s parents moved to Sedona in 2020, and Victoria and Cameron followed them. The Wyldes purchased a fixer upper in Sedona. their first foray into real estate. The pair turned it into a successful rental property and then started managing others. Victoria got her real estate license, and Cameron started a vacation rental company. Victoria says she enjoys helping others, which is what real estate is all about. “I am helping clients get to their next chapter in life, whether that’s buying their dream home in Sedona that they have worked so hard for, or I am helping them sell their home so they can move closer to their grandkids,” she says. “Often people think my job title is only being a ‘realtor,’ but I often find myself wearing many hats, such as therapist, professional leaf blower, decorator, advisor and a dedicated sounding board for whatever my clients are going through in life. I am there to support them and help their dreams come true.” She was inspired by her mother to switch careers.
“Part of the reason I decided to go into real estate was because of women. I really have to thank my mom, who really inspired me to get into the business as I saw how she was able to help clients and build an amazing business. Residential real estate tends to be an industry that is led by women,” she says. “I am inspired daily by the other top female agents in our community who have built incredible businesses and get great outcomes for their clients. That is also something I so love about Sedona is that our realtor community is very friendly and cooperative with one another, which makes transactions and deals better for our clients.”
Photo by Andrew Holman, andrewholman.com.
TRACI DURFEE
Traci Durfee, a realtor and the director of sales with Sedona Elite Properties (SEP), was long-time friends with SEP owners Ian Kraut and his wife, Lindsay Hammersmith, and worked with the pair in another industry about a decade ago. Her former career was in marketing and graphic design, but there was an internal nudge telling her to get her real estate license. She followed that voice. At the end of 2018, she enrolled in real estate school. In 2019, Ian asked her to work for the company he purchased. The rest, as they say, is history. Traci says she enjoys how exciting real estate is. “It is such a high-level profession requiring me to operate at my peak abilities at all times for my clients,” says Traci. “There are so many moving parts within a real estate transaction that it can easily become derailed. To get through every step of the process and actually, successfully close a deal for your client, is still exhilarating every time.”
Traci also works hard to establish trust with her clients. “I believe my ability to connect quickly with people on a level that makes them feel seen and heard instills an immediate sense of trust. This trust is everything when it comes to navigating the sale or purchase of a home. With that trust comes a very strong bond that develops with my clients. This allows for a more flowing collaboration together for optimal outcomes,” she says. She is a fan of later-in-life job changes. Traci started her career in real estate at 50.
“I strongly encourage any woman at any chapter of her life to consider going into real estate,” she says. “I had no idea where this industry was going to take me. The vast knowledge I’ve acquired over the years has been incredible. In my soul, I know all of the other experiences and jobs I had in my life led me to real estate. It is not an easy profession. I can assure you of that. But if you commit to being part of it, I truly believe that there is a place for any woman here to succeed with major opportunities coming to Sedona and the Verde Valley as a whole.” She says she loves living in a place where wildlife wanders throughout her backyard almost daily. “The best Christmas gift this year was catching sight of a little bobcat climbing up one of our trees and peeking over into our pool,” she says. “I also live for the winter sunsets. The colors are ethereal.”
Photo by KFM Designs Photography, LLC.
JANIE TRIBBLE
Winslow, Arizona, native Janie Tribble is the co-owner of Redstone Properties and a full-time real estate agent. She and her husband, Dennis Tribble, have owned and remodeled over 131 homes in Sedona in the past two decades. The couple has sold over 1,000 properties in Sedona. Her path to real estate was far from linear. Janie has a colorful professional background and has had a long list of job titles in a variety of industries. She worked for the material manager for Hughes Aircraft, the president of Arizona Western College and for the U.S. Public Health Service. After her son was born, she taught high school business education at Kofa High School in Yuma. After teaching, she was recruited by Service Corporation International to become a family service counselor. Her biggest career turn came when she was working at a cemetery/funeral home business. Cincinnati, Ohio-based Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum hired her to start its family service department. In this role, she helped grieving loved ones with funeral arrangements, gave them options for memorization and assisted them with finding counseling services.
“My mission was to help the loved ones of the deceased find some sense of peace and in creating a place they could memorialize and visit,” she says. “Much the same applies to the purchase of a home. It is perhaps the greatest investment that one makes and certainly the place where memories are made, and hopefully, the family can take safe haven. It is a joyous occasion when you help your clients find just the right house.” She left Ohio to return to her native Arizona in 2005 and felt drawn back to her home state. “You may wonder what brought me back to Sedona,” she says. “I was always coming back. It calls you. Being raised on the cusp of the Hopi and Navajo Nation is a gift.”
What does she love about the Sedona market? No two homes are alike.“They stand on their own merit and require study and due diligence to protect your buyer or seller,” she says. She also appreciates the community in the local real estate market. “Working with wonderful, talented vendors is always rewarding,” she says. “You are working side by side to create a beautiful, fresh new home that you have created together. The creativity is boundless. Success is when hard work and preparation meets opportunity. You keep on keeping on with optimism and calculated, achievable goals. That is key to success.”
