#communityovereverything: Chloe Hancock
At CityCentral, we take pride in our communities and the diverse nature of each business and the people behind those businesses. We love learning more about those that make up our incredible communities and taking the opportunity to share those stories through our Community Over Everything initiative. We were lucky enough to sit down with Chloe Hancock and learn more about her, and the many ventures she takes part in. Chloe is an active member of the Plano Chamber and is Chair of the YPP (Young Professionals of Plano). From helping with the family business, Elephant Truck, to branding and marketing herself as a real estate agent, Chloe wears a lot of hats. Here’s a few highlights from our conversation!
K: Tell us a little bit about you, Elephant Trunk and what you do with real estate.
C: Elephant Trunk has been in existence for… it’ll be five years in August. It’s a family business, just me and my parents. Elephant Trunk is a rentable moving supply company, so instead of cardboard boxes, we deliver plastic container to your door, they have finger locking lids, and you’ll pack them up and move, and we’ll pick them up afterwards. We describe ourselves as being economical, our pricing is comparable to the cardboard box because we want to be accessible. And we’re ecological! It’s better for the environment to not be using cardboard or throwing that away after you move. It’s easy because we deliver right to your door and you order online and it’s all a very nice, simple process. Elephant Trunk is kind of the love of my family’s life. The idea came from my mom actually. My mom and I are both realtors. My mom has been a realtor for over 20 years now, so she’s heard people lament the cardboard box. She always thought that there has to be something better. And then she heard about this company in Canada called Frog Box. And they do what we do. And part of what they do is they also donate a portion of their proceeds to the frogs. And so that's something that we also took on is that we donate a portion of our proceeds to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. They have like retired circus elephants there. We donate a portion of our proceeds to them every year. And then in real estate, I've been a realtor, this is my third year. Kind of following in my mom's footsteps, we work together, we're not necessarily a team, but she is definitely my mentor. And we help each other when we need it. And real estate has been just like an interesting thing. I like helping and educating people. I bought a house and then like, after that you realize all the things that you don't know about buying your house. So I'm really, I would almost say, aggressive about education.
K: You are! I'll just say, I follow her on Instagram, and just seeing your lists like, “This is what you should be doing this month around the house, organize your pantry etc”. That has been really helpful to me. But, yeah, you have so much education content and you are incredibly passionate about it, you're passionate about your community and a lot of other things as well. It's awesome to see that through your Instagram stories and all that stuff.
C: That’s probably my favorite thing about being a realtor is how involved I get to be in my community. Whenever Elephant Trunk first started, we joined the Plano Chamber of Commerce and we’ve been with it ever since. The longer we’ve been in it, the more involved I’ve gotten. I’m the Chair for the Young Professionals of Plano with the Chamber of Commerce, and I’m on the board with the Chamber. I get to hear about things going on with the city and be involved with how the chamber gives back to the community, businesses and the decisions they make. It helps educate me and has shown me resources and ways to learn about what’s happening at all levels of the community. I really love doing that.
K: I love it! We already touched on this a bit, but what sets your business apart from other companies?
C: With Elephant Trunk, there are not a lot of other businesses that do what we do with the reusable boxes. The few that do are in different price points, and they’re typically more expensive. Because we are a small family owned business, we have a lot more control over what we can do versus other businesses that tend to be franchises. Most other company’s rental periods start at one week, we start at two weeks. We try to be more considerate because we want to prioritize making the moving process nicer for people. My dad is so hands on in the business. He loves people and working with them and making things easier for them wherever we can. Those are the biggest differentiators with Elephant Trunk. With real estate, everyone says they prioritize education but I prioritize it so much. The first time I ever sit down and write an offer with a buyer, it can take an hour. I’ve spent three hours going over contracts with people. I want them to completely understand what they’re doing and what they’re offering. Buying a house is a big deal. I think that investing in education and the knowledge that a realtor brings is valuable, because this is probably the most expensive thing that you buy, or sell.
K: It’s awesome that you take the time to educate your clients. The next question is something that has become really important to me personally. How do you navigate your work/life balance?
C: I’m really big on setting boundaries. I also have a lot of communication which I think is the foundation of boundaries. Most realtors you come across say they work 24/7, “Call me anytime and I’ll answer and be at a showing in 15 min”. I make exceptions where necessary but most of this time this is not a life or death industry. I ask for clients to give me a 24 hour notice to see houses, that gives me time to do research and get together information for them. That way, when we see a house, they’re educated on what they’re seeing. I try to take a couple days off every week. Another big part has been having this space. When the pandemic hit my office closed. I transitioned to working from home. Then that just distracts me with my house, there are responsibilities, cleaning and I just wanted a space where I could focus.
K: Yeah! That’s one of the biggest things I hear from a lot of people, especially during the pandemic, is looking for a space to have that kind of separation of work and home life. What for you, is the most rewarding part of your job?
C: With Elephant Trunk, I think its growing something that I think is really meaningful. I think that prioritizing the environment is something that we as consumers can do and building a company that is accessible, financially accessible and easy to use and creates an environmentally conscientious product that is easy for consumers. With real estate, its helping people find their home. There are plenty of closings that have been painful and there are plenty that have been super smooth and easy. It is always so gratifying at the end of the process to see my clients so happy and seeing that joy makes me feel really good.
We want to thank Chloe for taking the time to sit down and speak with us. This is just a small excerpt of everything that we talked about but if you’re interested in learning more about Chloe and all that she does check her out on Instagram at chloe.therealtor . Also check out Elephant Trunk at elephanttrunk.net.
