Chico through Georgie's Eyes

Georgie and I explored many different themes in our conversation, each of which led us down a different path of understanding the world and our lives. Georgie Bellin grew up in the North State and has stayed here, she has a deep connection to Chico through real estate, being mayor, and endless hours of community service. She has learned plenty of lessons and has wonderful advice to give. We discussed the ideas of change and growth in retrospect, pleasing everyone in politics, how women’s place in the world has transformed, and the doors that dreaming big and working hard can open. 

Georgie has done it all and would do it again. We bonded immediately over the idea of coming to Chico and staying here. Georgie grew up in Davis California and came to Chico to study Economics at Chico State. It was much different back then, women were all lined up to be teachers or nurses, and Georgie herself was on the path to becoming an accountant or a math teacher. She told me that she was surrounded by men at the time and harassment was basically constant. Her plans after college were fluid, she thought about going to San Francisco and working in international commerce but Chico had a grip on her, and she fell in love with it. “When you fall in love, everything changes”. She started establishing roots here and it was hard to leave when her family was so close in Davis. Georgie got stuck in Chico and she's confident even if she had left she would have become a ‘boomerang’, someone who leaves but not for long, anyway. 

As Chico grasped her, she found her true calling in real estate. She did many things when she was young learning to fly, snow skiing, and learning shorthand for example. But once she decided on real estate she put her heart into it, she asked her first boss, “Do you think a woman could sell real estate” The response she got was, “Who is going to buy real estate from a woman”. And her path was far from the straight and narrow but by golly she has sold the hell out of real estate. She studied hard and got on a bus to Sacramento to take the license test. She passed and returned to Chico, without a car she used to ride around on her bike and knock on doors. 

Her favorite thing about real estate is the flexibility, a schedule that allows her to do everything she does. She has served on nearly every board in Chico and volunteered wherever possible. All of her friends from college, who became teachers have summer break and good retirement but Georgie has an unmet level of freedom. It has allowed her to be very involved with her family and her kids' lives, coaching sports teams and watching games. She's been in the real estate industry for 50 years and has never received a paycheck on a Friday afternoon. She has had to work and hustle for every penny, rely on herself, and plan ahead. She has loved her career, “Real estate is fun because you get to help people find what they like and everyone chooses something different”. She watches people choose houses she wouldn’t expect or pick herself and it gives her perspective on how different and unique people are simply through their house choices. 

With all of her community involvement Georgie was appointed to the Planning Commission of Chico where she served for 8 years, mostly as a chairwoman. She was elected to the City Council in 1983 and served as Mayor of Chico for 2 years. Her experience was a mirror of the politics we see today, not much has changed but if we had politicians like Georgie everywhere, the world itself would be completely different. Her biggest lesson to teach, when I asked how she handled all of the different opinions, especially in a polarized place like Chico, was to listen to people, make decisions based on facts, and do your research. “You are going to piss off half of the people half of the time” but Georgie learned that people are a lot less pissed off when they know your vote was well thought through and considered. “People admire others who have their own convictions, strengths, and knowledge”. It's not easy, but you have to be willing to make rough decisions for many people. “I know you aren’t going to be happy and I’m sorry”. Georgie excelled in community service and the public sector because she engages everyone equally and listens and she has a gift of empathy and caring. It is often hard to deliver those tough truths but you have to stand by your decisions, which is a lot easier to do when you believe in them. Georgie knows that if she was in the same place today she would take a lot less to heart and worry less about the little things. 

As mayor, she spent her time learning, even visiting the landfill at one point to understand its economic contributions to the community. “If you are willing to be a public servant you have to know what you are talking about, people like that”. It's not a popularity contest, you are never going to please everyone, don’t vote a certain way just because people want you to. “Promises shouldn’t rule over wisdom”. Things always look different in retrospect but Georgie tries to have compassion for herself and understand she made the best decisions at the time that she could have made. 

Not only did Georgie succeed in the public sector but she co-founded a real estate group with one of her friends. They called it The Group. Georgie had visions of designers, architects, developers, and real estate agents all working together in one office, and while the company didn’t take that exact path, they stood by that group effort belief. The business came around at a suitable time for Georgie. Her husband had just passed away and her kids were leaving for college, she was lost and grieving and was spending a lot of her time volunteering to maintain a feeling of connection and community. Her friend Fran Shelton reached out and asked Georgie if she wanted to start a women-owned real estate company, Georgie was the only person Fran trusted with this kind of idea. It sounded a little crazy at the time, it was nearly all men in the commercial real estate market, but they made it happen. Georgie remembers many projects well, one in which they bought land in Orland and built a medical center owned by a group of doctors who could have more autonomy with the facilities, further solidifying the idea that real estate is a group effort. Her business lasted 23 years and at one point or another, they were most definitely at the top. She believes that “Women can do anything as long as no one is upset about a man” In other words, get out of the way men, here come the commercial real estate moguls and they can’t be stopped. 

She eventually sold her company, Dan Jacuzzi the owner of over 50 Century 21 offices in different states approached her for a few years. She wanted to teach other people the skills of the trade but couldn’t imagine herself still running an office with employees, “I don’t want to worry about whether or not there is ice in the fridge”. Recently, the Century 21 office in Chico is #9 in the country for commercial real estate. They sold land that sends food to different non-profit food banks across the North State. 

Over my conversation with Georgie and her journey through life, I saw a few themes emerge, one of which was change over time and acceptance of growth. When I dove a little deeper Georgie had some great things to say. Everyone always fears change and it isn’t something that you can outrun. When she was mayor, she oversaw the development of the 20th Street Mall, today that part of Chico is always busy (it even has rush hour traffic, rare for Chico). Everyone thought she was crazy for bringing water lines and sewer to the other side of the highway, it was only cows out there and now there is a Junior High, Elementary School, many strip malls, grocery stores, and housing developments. Much later (20 years) she worked with the Meriam Park group (another development on the edge of town) and the developer had some very unique ideas. People had complaints because they were different, her response? “Good thing you don’t have to buy one then”. Today Meriam Park is well populated and a beauty in Chico. 

Population in Chico soared after the Camp Fire in 2018 and since Georgie has heard people say over and over, “I moved here in the 90s, I just want it to be like it was back then” Georgie scoffs knowing they are asking for something they can’t have and something they were a part of ruining. How many kids did you have that stayed in town, that had kids of their own? What’s important about a community isn’t its population it is the community itself and the safe and happy parks, events, and nonprofits. People will always complain and most of them have never served on a board or volunteered for an organization. “The minute you become a part of a community, become a part of that community” Involve yourself, engage, pay attention. You become a different complainer when you are educated on the issues, someone more focused on solutions and people involved than the problem and harms themselves. 

My favorite question was not an easy one but once again was very interesting. I asked Georgie what the # 1 skill she would recommend to her daughter or her younger self for working in the business world is, and she told me, to understand people and bring them together. This is how you lead, create safety, and listen to solve problems. Her second recommendation came in one word “typing”. Everyone needs to know how to type, who knew that when she taught a typing class when her kids were young and she made all of her daughter's friends take it they would use it every day with keyboards? Just how shorthand helped her find a job before recording machines. Georgie wrote shorthand for Dr. Kendal, to whom a building is dedicated to at Chico State. 

Her advice to all of the young people out there is not dissimilar to that of many others and also came in one word, “Travel”. Even if you don't have any money, you also don’t have any bills at such a young age. “Follow your fun, wherever that is”. Get a job with Hilton or Marriott or any travel industry and they’ll take you lost of different places. There are so many resorts in amazing places where you can live and work. Live where other people want to vacation. Once you have world experience come back to Chico and start a business here. But for now, just take the job. Georgie believes that “everything you do in life prepares you for the next, even the bad stuff” So learn and absorb when you are young. Her favorite destination to recommend, and she did so with such conviction and vigor that I almost bought a ticket, is New Zealand, there are restrictions on guns, it's liberal, and there is so much to see. The geography is so diverse and abundant, you can see the whole world in one trip. 

With expanding your global perspective comes expanding yourself. Never underestimate the value of developing yourself and skills that no one else has. Get as knowledgeable as you can, use the internet, and learn all there is to learn. Actually learn how to do it, not just how to google it. People are valued as much as their skills and abilities. If you can only scoop ice cream they will only pay you as much, anyone can scoop ice cream. Only you can develop yourself and no one limits you. Become a jack of all trades, learn to juggle, ski, or computers as early as you can, people will always ask you your greatest talent, interviewers, and college application questions, so it's not a bad idea to have one in your pocket. 

When I told my mom I was interviewing Georgie Bellin and I was pressed for questions one came to her mind right away, she told me, “Ask her what she is most proud of”. It was the best recommendation and closed out the interview in a great way. Georgie told me she is most proud of the kindness she inherited from her dad and how she has been able to extend his legacy of caring for other people throughout her life. He was a janitor at an elementary school. Georgie remembers that he used to unlock the music room at night for a group of Vietnamese kids. One day she came back from college and her mom told her that she was a little irritated at Georgie’s father. He had bought a piano for the Vietnamese family. Georgie’s mother knew his great kindness and this was not out of the park for him. Georgie walks in his footsteps of giving. “I’ve paid for so many kids to go to college that I don’t even know”. She has invested in the community and so many different individuals. She’s developed a Rolodex of people in Chico and beyond who can jump into action to help anyone who needs it. She has built relationships and friendships throughout her career and when she calls, people know that someone needs help and they are always willing to lend a hand. Georgie got a call once that a woman with 4 kids had just lost her husband and they were having a rough time. Georgie made a call and before they knew it the family was having a much-needed vacation and respite staying in a beautiful cabin in Almanor and Georgie and her friends were sending casseroles and care packages to them. She knows that she is lucky to have the money and to know people and she uses it for good, such she is proud of.

Georgie’s advice of seeing the world, building skills, staying ahead of the trends, being open to change, listening to everyone, and giving with no end will sit with me as I tackle the challenges in my life as I hope they sit with you. An amazing career and an amazing woman, I hope you all learned that just because someone says no to you, doesn’t mean it's over, it’s actually just the beginning. Join me next month to talk with our May speaker the President of a local Chico company!