Meet our instructors

After 20 years in the corporate world, Stormie made the life-changing decision to become a REALTOR^® . Soon after becoming a licensed agent, Stormie realized she had a passion for Seniors. She obtained the Senior Real Estate Specialist designation and became a well-respected SRES instructor with Superior School of Real Estate. In addition, she also authored and instructs the Continuing Education course “Working with Today’s Seniors”. She is well-versed in the Senior industry and her classes are packed full of educational information and personal experience.

Stormie has served as a Mecklenburg County Commissioner of Park & Recreation, a Red Cross Volunteer, on the Union County Council on Aging sponsor and volunteer, and has recently authored a North Carolina Real Estate Commission continuing education course on the benefits of home staging. Her dynamic personality and professional business ethic round out her qualifications to make any class fun and engaging.

EDUCATION:

• University of North Carolina at Charlotte, BA Business

LICENSES & DESIGNATIONS:

• NC Broker
• SC REALTOR^®
• SRES
• ECOBROKER
• ASP

Kris has 12 years of real estate experience spanning commercial and residential investment and brokerage. Most recently, he launched his own company to acquire self-storage facilities, a niche commercial real estate asset class. Kris began his real estate career working with banks and asset managers to broker the sale of foreclosed properties during the recession of 2008. Since then, Kris has held the role of Acquisitions Director for several acquisitions and development companies in North Carolina. His responsibilities have included raising capital, sourcing off-market deals, underwriting, and leading due diligence.

Kris is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and Kenan-Flagler Business School, where he served as a Fund Manager for the school’s private equity real estate fund. He has been the special guest on podcasts, including The Self Storage Show and Cashflow Hustle Podcast. He has presented on the topic of technology in self-storage at the NC Self-Storage Association annual conference, and he has been a guest speaker in Executive MBA and Undergraduate classes at Kenan-Flagler Business School. Kris is active in his local church and has lived in North Carolina for nearly 20 years.

As professional speaker and trainer, Spencer brings experience and levity to every engagement of teaching and training in which he partakes. He has spoken in churches, on several university campuses and to a full stadium. He delights seeing people experience a breakthrough in understanding and moving to the next level.

Spencer is a broker with Keller Williams of Greensboro specializing in sellers. Where he also serves as a trainer for the market center.

Spencer grew up in Louisiana and graduated from LSU with a business degree. He married Renée in 1992 after meeting her when they each joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ. They are a house divided only when Renée’s South Carolina Gamecocks compete against the LSU Tigers. Together, they served CRU for 15 years in Kentucky and North Carolina. Spencer helped launch 12 new campus ministries in the NC Triad. In 2006 the Clifford’s resigned from CRU so Spencer could pursue a calling to pastoral ministry. He graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary with a Masters of Divinity in 2009. He was ordained in the Anglican Church in 2010 and helped plant two churches, Christ Church in High Point and Church of the Redeemer in Greensboro. As a licensed real estate agent, Spencer now helps people meet their wealth preservation, selling and buying real estate needs. The Clifford’s have three kids they are very proud of Grace, Andrew, and Joy. They love spending time together especially playing with their yellow lab Sandy.

We are excited to introduce Lonnie Daniels as one of the newest members of the Superior instructor team!  Lonnie will be teaching evening prelicensing courses in our Charlotte classroom.  Lonnie holds licenses as a Broker-in-Charge in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.  He is also owner and lead facilitator of the Palmetto Real Estate Academy in South Carolina.

Lonnie has a military background, having served two years in the SC Army National Guard and six years in the US Army.  He spent a year stationed in Iraq with the Army.

EDUCATION:

• Associates Degree, Central Texas College
• Bachelors Degree, Tarleton State University
• MBA, University of Phoenix
• Currently pursuing DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) with a specialization in Leadership at Walden University

COMMITTEES:

• Member of the Board of Zoning Appeals
• Recently selected to serve on the 2020 Realtor Land Institute Governmental Affairs Committee

Derrin’s extensive real estate experience and professional success as a Broker-in-Charge and a business owner make him a valuable addition to the Superior School roster of instructors.

As the Executive Director/BIC for Peters Enterprises, Derrin spent many years managing a diverse multi-million-dollar portfolio of multifamily, office, retail, medical and self-storage facilities located throughout North Carolina’s Triad region. Prior to that, he served as vice president for a major real estate company in Ohio, handling the entire property management division in addition to building his expertise in commercial and industrial leasing, real estate development, investment properties and site selection. Derrin also has a business owner’s perspective, as he currently owns a real estate consulting company, Dunzweiler consulting, offering his expertise in all facets of real estate. He enjoys sharing his deep knowledge of real estate with Superior students, helping them learn more about the breadth of opportunities available in today’s residential and commercial real estate markets.

Frank is a North Carolina native. He grew up in Raleigh and moved to Greenville, NC to attend school at East Carolina University. There he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Education, and there he also met his wife Andrea who is an educator too. They currently live on a “hobby farm” in Winterville, NC where they raise rabbits, chickens, goats, honeybees and their six children. After teaching several years in public and private schools, Frank ventured into the world of real estate by starting a property management company with a longtime friend and broker. Frank earned his real estate license and he joined the Keller Williams Market Center in Greenville, NC. Within 6 months he was hired to serve as Team Leader and soon became Broker in Charge and an owner / partner. Frank eventually moved to his own firm and he has been a multimillion dollar producing agent many years. Frank has always enjoyed teaching and helping others therefore becoming a real estate instructor was a perfect fit. In 2011 he joined the J.Y. Monk Real Estate Training Center as an instructor and within a few years he was hired as the School Director. Frank has helped thousands of people earn and maintain their real estate license. He has also helped many brokers become approved real estate instructors. Whether he is teaching pre & post licensing courses, continuing education, or training brokers or instructors, Frank has a passion for learning and for teaching others.

In 2005 Tracy became a licensed agent and REALTOR in North Carolina, working with Buyers and Sellers in the Lake Norman area. Combining her love for the lake and entrepreneurship she started her own boutique real estate company in 2007. She enjoyed a unique waterfront office and was featured on the cover of Lake Norman Woman in 2008. Eventually wanting to branch out and experience different things, Tracy worked as a Broker with Realty Executives, then Lake Norman Realty, where she had the pleasure to work with many different REALTORS and clients, making lifetime relationships. Tracy continues to work as a Broker at Keller Williams Realty Lake Norman, where she is serving her second term as a member of the Agent Leadership Council. At Keller Williams, she enjoys teaching part of the Ignite Series for Brokers new to the business.

Prior to her real estate career, Tracy worked as an Account Executive at a Charlotte-based marketing firm and worked as a teacher of Journalism and Computers at Statesville Montessori School.

Tracy has always had a passion for teaching and helping others. Her knowledge of Real Estate and dynamic personality will be absorbed by her students. She is excited to bring her experience and passion for this profession into the classroom at Superior.

DESIGNATIONS:

• REALTOR®
• Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI)

EDUCATION:

• B.A. in Communications, West Virginia University
• M.S. in Journalism-Advertising, West Virginia University

Vic Knight is a NC licensed real estate Broker, a NC Certified Residential/Commercial Appraiser, Past-President of the NC Association of REALTORS^®, a Past-Chair of the National Association of REALTORS^® Appraisal Committee, and a past member of the Board of Trustees of The Appraisal Foundation. Vic was a Governors appointee to the NC Real Estate Commission for 8 years and served as its Chairman from 2013 thru 2014.

Vic’s 30+ years in the real estate business includes owning and managing a Century 21 residential brokerage firm, extensive residential and commercial development, residential property management and currently is owner of Appraizr.com, a real estate consulting and full service residential and commercial real estate appraisal firm.

Vic is a graduate of (ITI) the Instructor Training Institute and has authored and taught numerous real estate brokerage continuing education courses since 1998. Vic holds a BS in Civil Engineering from NC State University and was a practicing professional engineer with the Bechtel Corporation prior to entering the real estate industry.”

EDUCATION:

• North Carolina State University
• BS Civil Engineering

Following in the footsteps of her mother, Melea earned her North Carolina real estate brokerage license in 1986. She and her mother Billie worked side by side for decades, helping thousands of families relocate to the Triangle area of North Carolina. The Lemons are experienced in both listing and purchasing, and have connected their clients with real estate professionals in other states and around the world.

Having completed her graduate work in Adult Education, Malea enjoys combining her training in education with her knowledge of real estate processes to ensure that both buyers and sellers are well educated in all aspects of real estate transactions. Over the years, Melea has received numerous awards for Listing Agent of the Month/Year and Selling Agent of the Month/Year.

Melea joined Coldwell Banker in 2014, where she trains all new agents.
In addition to being an expert in the areas of taxes, schools, resale potential, recreational facilities and shopping, Melea also knows where to find the tastiest Indian takeout, the best nail salon and the best dry cleaner. It’s this kind of personalized knowledge and experience that makes Melea such an invaluable resource for homebuyers and sellers, and for her students at Superior School. She believes that the greatest gift she can give her students is to help them feel confident, well-informed and well-prepared for successful careers.

EDUCATION:

• North Carolina State University
• BS Marketing Education

DESIGNATIONS:

• DREI – Distinguished Real Estate Instructor
  

Jack Marinello is a high performance, market-wise professional. He is a nationally recognized real estate educator known for his practical, real world experience, which he effectively communicates with clarity and humor.

Upon moving to North Carolina in 2013, Jack began teaching in the greater Raleigh area. He is proud to be part of the Superior School’s instructional staff. He joins others at the school that have earned the Distinguished Real Estate Instructors designation from the national Real Estate Educations Association.

Jack’s brings to the classroom decades of experience in residential sales, land development, income property trades, and property management. As a licensed real estate broker, Jack has served clients in California, Utah and North Carolina.

EDUCATION:

• BA Broadcast Journalism, San Diego State University-California State University

LICENSES & DESIGNATIONS:

• DREI

Sam Martin, PhD, DREI, MOT has completed his Ph.D. in Education (specialization in Educational Technology) at a distance from Walden University. Sam’s research includes ethics instruction and pedagogy. Sam is one of 500+/- Certified Uniform Standards of Professional Practice (USPAP) instructors worldwide. He holds the North Carolina Certified Residential Real Estate Appraisal, North Carolina Real Estate Broker, North Carolina Pre-license Educator and Post-license Educator, North Carolina CE Instructor, and Illinois Real Estate Prelicense Educator, and Illinois Real Estate CE Educator licenses. Sam has been teaching appraisal and real estate classes since 1988. He has taught for a variety of institutions, most recently: Superior Real Estate School, The Chicago Association of Realtors, and Realtor University (online).

Sam has written an advanced appraisal text book used in certification courses. He is a professor at Realtor University, and develops advanced valuation courses as part of a course design team for Realtor University.

Sam has the DREI designation: Distinguished Real Estate Instructor from the Real Estate Educators Association. There are fewer than 100 DREIs in the US.

Sam has taken advanced educational technology courses from the University of Calgary (at a distance), workshops from Sloan-C (the Sloan-Consortium, now known as the Online Learning Consortium), and the Illinois Online Network (ION), where he received the Master Online Teacher (MOT) certificate. Sam holds the CDEI designation from IDECC (www.idecc.org).

Sam, as his alter-ego Haviland Uriza, spoke on a panel concerning Land Valuation at the OpenMLS Metaverse Conference. This conference was virtual, and was held in Second Life™. He also appeared on a panel for the International Online Conference (IOC), addressing issues of online learners and instructors. Sam has presented at the Faculty Summer Institute (FSI) on the subject: Web 2.0: Integrating Facebook, Ning and a Learning Management System (2009).

The Real Estate Education Foundation (REEF) has awarded Sam the Academic Scholarship for the 2009-2010, 2010-2011, and 2014-2015 academic years. Sam has won four grants from the Association of Illinois Real Estate Educators (AIREE), and three Higher Education Scholarships from the Chicago Association of Realtors Education Foundation.

Sam has fought appraisal- and mortgage-fraud his entire professional life, and has performed investigations for the State of Illinois. He is a member of the Illinois Coalition of Appraisal Professionals (ICAP), and the Real Estate Educators Association (REEA). Sam is the Immediate Past President of the Association of Illinois Real Estate Educators (AIREE.org) which awarded him their prestigious Educator of the Year Award for 2014. Sam is on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Association of the Association for Educational Communication and Technology (IAECT).

Superior School is excited to welcome Vee Morton as a postlicensing and continuing education instructor.  Vee has more than 30 years of experience in mortgage banking and real estate, and over 16 years in training and consulting. As an approved NC Real Estate Education provider and instructor since 2002, Vee is also an NC Commissioner of Banks approved education provider and a National Mortgage Fraud expert. She is also a Broker-in-Charge for her own company, Lake Living Realty.

Vee brings a wealth of knowledge to the classroom, takes a personal interest in helping her students and provides a positive learning atmosphere through humor, unforgettable stories, and a lighthearted look at life.

EDUCATION:

• Business Finance, Real Estate Law and Communication, Queens College

Aristotle said, “The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching”. Bruce started his career with obtaining an Educational Specialists degree (Master’s +30) from the University of South Carolina. After working as a counselor for ten years, he became a real estate broker and soon started his own real estate company in Charlotte. As owner and broker-in-charge, he grew his company to 34 brokers and was recognized three consecutive years as one of the top ten real estate companies in Charlotte according to the Charlotte Business Journal. During that time, he started teaching with Superior School of Real Estate, there he was able to practice his passion for teaching. After teaching with Superior for five years, he joined the North Carolina Real Estate Commission as the Education and Licensing Officer and later the Director of Education and Licensing. While serving as Director, he was instrumental in implementing and updating educational models and content to reflect the current educational needs of real estate brokers. During this same time, he was able to serve the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO) through the exam accreditation committee and the education committee.

He is actively involved in professional organizations and serves as a board member for the national Real Estate Educators Association (REEA) and holds the rare credential as a Distinguished Real Estate Instructor (DREI).

He creates and conducts Instructor Development Workshops (IDWs) throughout the country and is involved in international real estate education.

He has returned to Superior School of Real Estate to become the kind of instructor that provides the highest level of knowledge in the courses he teaches and to do what he is passionate about, teaching.

EDUCATION:

• University of South Carolina- Columbia, Educational Specialist Degree

DESIGNATIONS & CERTIFICATIONS:

• DREI – Distinguished Real Estate Instructor

Tricia is an attorney who began her law practice in the early 1980s in Ohio, initially as a staff attorney with the Toledo Legal Aid Society and then as a Referee in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, Family Court Division. She returned to North Carolina in 1987, was admitted to the NC State Bar in August 1987, and practiced family law until 1999.

Tricia left private practice in September 1999 to accept a position in the NC Real Estate Commission’s Education & Licensing Division as the first Legal Education Officer, serving in that capacity for more than 18 years and learning from luminaries such as Larry Outlaw, Blackwell Brogden, Tom Miller, and Miriam Baer. As Legal Education Officer, she helped create the educational materials for the Commission’s annual Update/BICAR courses and was a co-author of the Commission’s NC Real Estate Manual, the approved text for the Commission’s post-license courses. She also created the educational materials for the Commission’s Broker-in-Charge course, oversaw its administration, and taught the course at various locations around the state from 2000 through 2017.

Tricia thoroughly enjoys sharing her knowledge with others and learning from them. She was well received as an instructor in the BIC Course by brokers across NC, whether the original 4.5 hour version or the 12-hour version. Students and instructors frequently comment that Tricia has an uncanny ability to explain complex concepts in simple, understandable terms, whether orally or in writing.

EDUCATION:

• University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill BA with honors in Psychology – 1978
• University of Toledo College of Law Juris Doctor – 1981

LICENSES & DESIGNATIONS:

• Admitted to NC State Bar August, 1987 – present (active status)
• Admitted to Ohio State Bar November, 1981 – present (currently inactive status)
• NC Broker License 2002 (currently active status)
• CDEI – Certified Distance Education Instructor February 2018

Brian Pate has been a well-respected real estate professional for over 25 years. During his time in the business, he has served as an agent, manager, coach, instructor and training manager and the teams he has managed have produced over $1 billion in real estate sales.

As a mega agent at Keller Williams Realty in Wake Forest, North Carolina, Brian and his team have helped over 220 families buy and sell a home over the past 3 years. The team currently ranks in the top 150 real estate teams in the Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors and in the top 1% of Keller Williams agents nationally out of over 180,000 agents.

In addition to sales, Brian has trained over 10,000 students in real estate classes all over the country. As a pre-license instructor, he was recognized many times by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission for exemplary pass rates. Along with that, he has taught broker post license classes and continuing education all over North Carolina.

At one time, Brian was the director of training for the largest independent real estate company in the Raleigh/Durham market and also served as a Team Leader of an office with over 250 Realtors. He has a total of 14 years of experience as a Broker In Charge. In addition, he is a past president of the North Carolina Real Estate Educators Association and has been a member for over 20 years.

Brian is also a part owner of a title insurance company in North Carolina and also manages a portfolio of investment properties for a private equity group that includes over $20 million in real estate holdings.

EDUCATION:

• North Carolina State University

In 1987, Stephanie became a licensed agent in North Carolina along with her mother and father who all had moved to North Carolina from the Midwest. Although Stephanie’s family got into real estate at that time, (Her mother is still a top producing agent working in the Lake Norman market.) Stephanie did not start working in real estate until 2007 when she joined Sperry Van Ness as a commercial agent.  Within her first year as a commercial agent, she was named “Rookie of the Year” and was awarded the Blanton Little Memorial for outstanding academic achievement.

Stephanie has worked in various areas of real estate since 2008.  She leased office space with Regus Executive Suites, managed real estate syndication sales for large real estate companies covering four states working with Realtor.com, and most recently, worked as a recruiter for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices across the state of North Carolina, where she introduced thousands of people to the field of real estate.

Stephanie shares that her most fulfilling accomplishment – other than being a mother of three – is knowing she has both hired and coached countless agents into very successful real estate careers. This love for helping people launch rewarding real estate careers is what drives Stephanie to teach.

Stephanie’s classes can be described as having intentional learning with purpose, while complemented with energy, fun and real-life examples. Stephanie is excited to share her real estate and sales knowledge to a classroom full of eager learners at Superior.

Prior to her real estate career, Stephanie worked as a Regional Sales Director with Deere & Company and FTD, Inc.

DESIGNATIONS:

• REALTOR®
• Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI)
• Ninja Selling Certified
• Integrity Selling Certified
• At Home With Diversity® Certified

EDUCATION:

• Bachelors in Business Administration, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
• Masters of Business Administration, Meredith College, Raleigh, NC

Lynda is one of our newer instructors and teaches evening Prelicensing courses in Raleigh.

When she’s not teaching, Lynda works as the Broker-in-Charge of Keller Williams Preferred Brier Creek.

She enjoys sharing her experience and knowledge of real estate with her students and helping them get a start in their real estate career.

Tim was licensed and started his Real Estate Career in 1981 in Binghamton, NY as a salesperson and earned his Broker’s license in 1987. He spent his first years in residential real estate with a small local company and then 8 years affiliated with a Coldwell Banker office where he was the first to start a Commercial/Investment Division (CID) within a CB residential office.

From 1987 to 1997 he specialized in sales and leasing of commercial, industrial and investment properties with an emphasis on environmentally contaminated properties. In 1991 he went into business and opened O’Hara & Terry Real Estate Services in Vestal, NY which he still has an interest in. He started his teaching career as an orientation instructor for the local board of REALTORS in 1985.

In 1997 he moved to North Carolina and started teaching at the Mingle School of Real Estate in 1998 where he was a senior instructor who taught both Pre and Post licensing courses as well as the mandatory Update and BICAR courses. He has written numerous elective CE courses that have been approved and taught in NC. Tim was the BIC for Springsteed Realty from 1999-2003 until he moved to the Keller Williams Ballantyne Area Market Center and served as the first BIC and Teamleader until 2004. He returned to full time teaching in 2004.

LICENSES & DESIGNATIONS:

• EMS National Council of Exchangers
• DREI – Distinguished Real Estate Instructor

Mike Tolbert lives in Cornelius, NC. He hails from Rome, GA. Licensed to assist clients with the sale or purchase of real property, Mike’s focus is residential property. He also facilitates corporate relocations both entering and departing North Carolina. Prior to his real estate career, Mike retired from Daimler Trucks North America, where he held various positions within the Human Resources Department. For the last 10 years of his career he was in the role of Corporate Training and Skills Manager.  Often, Mike was assigned projects throughout the US, Mexico and Germany.

Current real estate affiliations have included Wilson Realty and Keller-Williams Realty. Mike is licensed under the NC Real Estate Commission and serves as an active Broker-Realtor© and is BIC of his firm AIS Real Estate LLC. In October 2019, he was certified to teach Pre-licensing, Post-licensing, and Continuing Education by the NC Real Estate Commission. In his role as instructor, Mike purposefully teaches his students how to be successful in real estate.  Mike’s professional business, AIS Real Estate LLC is a self-named acronym for Accuracy, Integrity and Satisfaction. This echoes true throughout all Mike’s endeavors.

John began his real estate career by obtaining his Broker’s license while he was a student at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2004. He graduated from UNC in 2005 and immediately began a full-time career in real estate.

He is a Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Diamond Realty in Mebane, NC, and is a partner in one of the top selling real estate groups in Alamance County. He is also a sales trainer and public speaker for a host of other industries.

John teaches primarily in the Triad and Triangle regions for Post-Licensing education. He anticipates taking a more active role in Continuing Education  while continuing to work with Provisional Brokers in Post-Licensing. ”My desire in the classroom is to give students the best possible learning experience while making class fun and applicable to real world real estate practice. It is a privilege to work with Superior and so many great students ” he said.

EDUCATION:

• University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
• E.A.Morris Fellow – Fellowship for Emerging Leaders

DESIGNATIONS:

• DREI

With nearly 20 years of Real Estate experience working with buyers, sellers and investors and owner of a successful property management company, Terry is excited to share with his students the experiences and knowledge he has acquired.

Prior to obtaining his Real Estate license in 1997, Terry was employed for 13 years as an IBM System’s Analyst and System’s trainer for Fortune 100 customers from California to Sao Palo Brazil, he moved out into the “real world” to train for an up-and-coming software training company. He traveled the country to help fortune 100 customers learn the new world of Personal Computers, and their software.

Now wanting to be closer to home, Terry is back in the real estate business with a strong desire to help people learn new skills and help them along their path to obtaining their real estate license.

LICENSES & DESIGNATIONS:

• DREI – Distinguished Real Estate Instructor
• SRES – Senior Real Estate Specialist®
• GRI – Graduate, REALTOR® Institute