Management Professionals of Special “Finds…”
Brenda Thompson, Chief Executive Officer - Broker
Brenda is a born entrepreneur and inventor. She holds an active real estate brokerage license in North Carolina. And has been licensed in New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. She has been a Realtor for more than 30 years. Prior to her real estate career, she was as Director of Marketing for the New York Stock Exchange, she owned and operated two companies including a woodburning stove franchise on Long Island in New York. In 1991 she obtained her NY broker’s license and achieved top-performing agent status in two national franchise agencies.
In 1995 she created and branded Special “Finds…”, Properties of Unique Character for those Choosing Something Out of the Ordinary, an award-winning, niche, real estate business. She has turned her marketing expertise into a valuable service for property owners, like herself, who face challenges when selling unique and unusual properties.
Jim Skinner, Chief Operating Officer - Broker
Jim has been the Founder, President, and CEO of Terregena Inc. incorporated in both Canada and the US. He is a Member of the Board of Advisors of The Forge at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada; a consultant to the Canadian Federal Government Economic Development Agency; and, was a Member of the Board of Advisors of the Impact Consulting Group at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
He has been Chairman of the Board of three companies – one public, two private and a Member of the Board of Directors of several public and private firms including Chairman of the Compensation and Stock Option Committee and a Member of the Finance Committee.
Jim has been President and CEO of three publicly traded companies and a key participant in the start-up and growth of several companies. He has been the turn-around executive of seven firms after having served as President, Corporate Vice President & General Manager and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for multi-national corporations including Philips Medical Systems and Becton Dickinson following a career in sales and marketing with Johnson and Johnson and Bayer.
Jim was a Founding Member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a Member of the Graduate School Board of Advisors at North Carolina State University and was appointed by Governor James B. Hunt as Chairman of the North Carolina Entrepreneurial Development Board. He is a graduate of Ryerson University, York University and the University of Toronto.