SAM POWELL
A real estate professional since 2002, Sam Powell is a transplant to Chicago by way of Rochester, NY where she went to school at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Delaware where she grew up. Sam lives in the West Loop and simply LOVES it. Sam is passionate about technology both personally and professionally, her family – Jen her partner/wife together since 1992 and their 2 doggies – chocolate lab, AFIS (named after the fingerprint database) and black lab CODIS (named after the DNA database). Her family has an addiction in volunteering and giving back. Commonly in real estate, clients leave items behind in their property so she actively works to put useful items in the hands of people who can use them, from furniture to guitars to blenders and clothes, together her and her partner fill a 24 foot truck of donations each year with their very successful building drive. She continues to try and HACK the live/work balance by being a TRULY MOBILE and PAPERLESS Agent.
When in the Office
FASHION STYLE? Shorts / Flops & a Baseball Cap, cause you are not hiring me for the BRAND I am wearing. I like to say “You don’t have to WEAR PRADA to sell Million Dollar Homes”… you are hiring me for my talents and experience that I bring to the table & my tattoo’s are always on display. Follow Me: fb.com/askforsam
COFFEE OR TEA? NITRO COLD BREW kind of strong!
FAVORITE LUNCH? Soft Boiled Eggs and Fresh Crunchy Bread with Butter & Salt for dipping
MUST HAVE WORK GADGET? Ipad Pro with Keyboard and Pen – state of the art awesomeness! And all things/apps about efficiency – for example – linktr.ee/askforsam is one of the coolest ways to get options to anyone to connect with you – totally customizable…
BRING A LUNCH OR EAT OUT? I love to mix it up, create experiences with food…
FAVORITE SPACE? Seriously – I like to be MOBILE – out and about, exploring decks, and balcony’s, and sexy indoor/outdoor spaces. Mobile Office addict over here… explore the city, and enjoy working cause it feels less like work.
COMMUTE TIME? Home Office is steps away…
NEWS SOURCE? I like an app called SMART NEWS
DESK ORGANIZED OR CLUTTERED? I can’t work till I’ve RESET my office… must be clean and neat…
BRIEFCASE OR HANDBAG? I have a backpack & bag addiction… Most fav is a 1 of a kind custom bag made in Russia for me… Steampunk in style, all leather…
MAC or PC? APPLE TO THE CORE.. I personally own 15+ apple devices “find my phone” feature tells me where all my little babies are at all times.
BREAK TIME? I’m all for down time, self care, and chill… we work too hard and too long – it’s over rated! 1 life is all we’ve got.
MOST EFFECTIVE HOURS OF THE WORKDAY? Late morning, early afternoon.
FAVORITE BUSINESS BOOK? The ONE thing.
SOMEONE YOU LOOK UP TO IN YOUR INDUSTRY? Truly there are SO many… I’d have to say Tommy Choi and Eddie Garcia are two that I really admire what they do on and off the court [as it were]
HOW DO YOU CLOSE OUT YOUR WORK DAY? I set alarms for important apts for the next day… I don’t like being late, so alarms for every phone call and zoom call and presentation… I have to delete alarms weekly cause they grow so quickly in the alarm settings…
BUSINESS ADVICE? As soon as there is something about your career that you no longer like/love – time to find a solution to take it off your plate, whether it’s an app solution, or an assistant or someone you can pay to do that piece – it’s a game changer, and you can re-love your career again!
When in the Home
FASHION STYLE? Barefoot, tank top, baseball cap on backwards
WINE OR COCKTAIL? I like a ton of stuff, used to love strong craft beers, but have moved on to Whiskey’s and Bourbon’s… also enjoy a good Crown and Soda or Vodka Soda…. I’ll try anything a bunch of times… ha ha ha
FAVORITE MEAL YOU COOK? My wife’s family Pierogi’s… [Plum is the fam fav, followed by Cheese and then Sauerkraut]
MUST HAVE KITCHEN GADGET? Instapot brand Instapot & Multi Air Fryer!
COOK OUT OR TAKE OUT? We enjoy cooking as well as being spoiled by the talents of others. I’m 50/50.
FAVORITE ROOM IN THE HOUSE? Our condo has a combo Kitchen / Living / Dining / Office open plan.. huge square.. it’s where I am unless I am sleeping.
HOURS SPENT DRIVING AROUND? I’m pretty spoiled with my Team, I focus on the Listings, so my drive time is minimal, more driving to travel to Speaking Engagements and visiting with family.
MUSIC OR PODCAST? Music – honestly more like binge listening to TV shows while I am working/playing.
SELF CLEANER OR CLEANING SERVICE? We would give up CABLE and EATING OUT before we would give up our Cleaning Service.
PURSE OR WRISTLET? HA HA HA – now that’s funny… I’m going with POCKET SHORTS/PANTS
TV OR NETFLIX? ALL ABOUT THE APPS Amazon Prime Video / Apple Tv / Hulu / Netflix / Discovery+
HOW LONG CAN YOU GO BEFORE YOU NEED A BREAK? I used to be able to go and go – and then my body and spirt said – more breaks please, life is short. Enjoy more of the moments by creating them, and get away from WORK more.
MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL? NIGHT – Super night owl family.
FAVORITE RECREATIONAL READ? Truly Not much of a Reader – love listening to Podcasts like “My Favorite Murder” and “Family Secrets”
SOMEONE YOU LOOK UP TO IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE? Joanna Simms, my high school Photography Teacher
HOW DO YOU UNWIND YOUR DAY? Adult beverage on the ROCK, Micro-dosing for anxiety, pain management and CHILL
HOME FRONT ADVICE? Reset / Clean your Kitchen and Office daily so it does not get overwhelming, clean as you go while you cook, and take LONG HOT baths, drain and refill the tub if you need to, watch a movie, relax, bring your cocktail with you.
Recipe Favorite
GRANDMA THOMPSON PLUM PIEROGI’S
Dough: On the stove, bring 1TB Crisco, 1Tsp Salt, 2 Egg Yolks & 1 Cup of Milk to boil.
On the counter in a large bowl: Add 2 egg Yolks, mix in the mixture above, and add flour until the dough is just sticky enough to not stick to your fingers anymore.. it can be a little sticky…
Filling: you can use canned plums – they are sweet, strain and pit them, split them in 1/2’s for easier filling the dough pockets.
OR – you can buy fresh plum’s, and pit them and replace the pit with a sugar cube, and freeze till needed
Once the dough rests for an hour in the fridge in cling wrap. Roll out small sections of dough. We hand roll, hand fill, and hand twist the dough. I like to put the dough on the table, and with my fingers press into it across the top first and then all the way down the dough, looks a bit like a waffle with my finger indentations in it. Then I will place it in my hand and gently stretch, the finger press points have added a little stability to the dough that you can be a little rough with it. Add enough pieces of plum to fill the dough, fold it over, and begin to twist the edge into itself over and over again until you get to the other side. Our family LOVES the little ball of extra dough that sits at the final twisted end…
Once the pierogi’s are made, bring a large pot of water to boil and boil each pierogi until it floats, or for a few minutes. Lay the boiled pierogi onto parchment paper, and after it air drys on that side, flip it to air dry on the other side. About an hour a side. Then lay them in a single layer in gallon zip log freezer bags and stack in your freezer. Once frozen you can re-package into a single zip lock per flavor depending on how many different pierogi’s you have made.
To Serve, defrost the pierogis to room temp. In a large saucepan melt some salted butter and cook the pierogi’s on each side until golden brown. Melt salted butter for the table. We encourage cutting the pierogi into pieces and then drizzling butter on top… and ENJOY. I’ve been hand making these with my wife’s family now for 29 years [come this Nov 2021]
