Melissa Lombard

Every week, for almost three years, I enjoyed a conversation and a cup of coffee with a stranger and wrote about it here. The project, called Coffee With A Stranger, was absolutely the most incredible thing I’d ever done!

The project was on hold for six months as my husband and I enjoyed a foreign adventure running a bed and breakfast in rural Costa Rica. I blogged about that, if you’re interested. If I had to sum up the experience, I’d say it was sort of like Pioneer Woman meets Survivor. If you want to get the back story, check out this post. If you have questions, you might find the answer here.

During the Coffee With A Stranger project, we lived in Austin, TX and my husband and I ran a real estate company called Lombard Home Team – which was a Keller Williams affiliate. We were blessed with an abundance of great clients who turned into great friends.

Today, you will find us about 1500 miles north of Austin, in the beautiful city of Minneapolis. I was born here in MN and after 14 years away, it was time to be closer to home and family. My Texan husband Dave has adjusted nicely to the MN winters and though he hasn’t traded “y’all” for “you guys”, I’m pretty sure I overheard him say “heck yeah” the other day. And not mockingly either.

Never big on doing the same thing twice, I traded in my residential real estate blazer (OK, they don’t really give you a blazer, but they totally should) became a Commercial Broker Associate with a commercial real estate company and then landed my dream job, running a Keller Williams real estate firm. I spent my days asking lots of questions, teaching and coaching the very best real estate agents imaginable. There probably isn’t a job better suited for me. And yet, coming late summer 2022, there will be an new adventure! So stay tuned for that developing story!

Huge fan of:
Really great questions that aren’t easy to answer, rescue dogs, handwritten letters, examining other people’s bookshelves, finding coins on the sidewalk, sleeping under the stars, National Parks, the melodic call of a loon, Airstreams, things made by hand, everything uttered by Jesus, John Muir, and Steve Martin, oversized, fluffy bath towels, a perfect cortado, a killer cycling class with a perfect playlist, the idea of tiny houses, the reality of ample closet space, the smell of my childhood summers (fresh cut grass, hamburgers on the grill, water from a garden hose, the inside of the north end Dairy Queen, hot vinyl car seats) and magical moments shared with people I love.

Won’t see my name on the fan club list for:
Whiners, grape jelly, Smarties candy, ultimate fighting (ultimately ridiculous if you ask me.  Honestly gives me a stomachache.  Less hitting, more hugging please).

Someday I will:
Write a blog (I always start any kind of to-do or goal list with something I can cross immediately off), take an Amtrak across the country, buy a special property on a lake in the woods with plenty of room for guests to stay with us anytime they need a get-away, travel the world, have enough money to give away $100,000 every year, hike the Continental Divide with my brother, ride my bike across the US, own a super cool Airstream and travel the country interviewing strangers and sharing their stories.