Vanessa Gamp is Redfin’s newest Sales Manager leading the San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma teams. She joined Redfin in September 2024, bringing more than 16 years of experience as an agent and manager, most recently at Willowmar Real Estate. As a dedicated leader in the industry, Vanessa also serves as President of the San Francisco Association of Realtors® (SFAR), a Director of the California Association of Realtors®, a member of the SFAR Board of Directors, and a founding member of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. We caught up with Vanessa to hear about her decision to join Redfin and how things are going so far.
How did you become interested in real estate?
I got into real estate early on. I only had one other job out of college in biotech sales, where I learned that I loved selling, but hated being locked in a desk. I needed a different type of career, something that would get me out in the world meeting people. So, I got into real estate. My then-boyfriend, now-husband encouraged me to try working with his dad, who was a broker. He offered to pay the bills for a year, and we agreed that if I wasn’t able to contribute by the end of that year, we’d re-evaluate. It’s been 16 years and I’m still here!
Tell me about your career up until now
I spent the majority of my career so far at Zephyr Real Estate, which was the largest private brokerage in San Francisco. In my 12 years there, I was an agent, assistant sales manager, and project manager. When Zephyr was acquired by Corcoran, I transitioned to a new role as sales manager for the Noe Valley office. After that, I went to work with some friends at Willowmar in a purely sales role. That was a big change for me, as I’d always split my time between sales and managing. I find that actively being in sales really helps me be a better manager, because I actually know what’s going on in the field. During that time, I also became the president of the San Francisco Association of Realtors (SFAR). Doing that job reminded me how nice it is to be a part of leadership, do larger scale mentoring and really help improve the industry. I feel like the universe called out after that. I had mentioned to a friend that I might want to get back into management at a brokerage, and a week later I had a recruiting email from Redfin in my inbox.
What attracted you to Redfin?
I’ve always been pretty tech savvy and have long embraced the way the internet is transforming real estate. That led me to be one of Redfin’s first partner agents in San Francisco when the program launched in 2012, and I loved it. I really enjoyed the systems and felt they worked well. I was able to convert the leads and found it to be a great supplement to my business while I was building my career. I’ve always had a positive outlook on Redfin because I was working alongside it for many years. I use the app all the time because it can be a faster or more accurate way to look up property or neighborhood info when you’re out in the field. I don’t think I’m alone in the fact that I’ve been using it for years.
What made you decide to officially become part of the Redfin team?
Lauren Bensinger, Redfin’s San Francisco market manager, was on the recruiting email I received. She is a good friend of mine and someone I know and trust, so that was enough for me to take the initial call. I had some serious questions for the recruiter–I had left the partner program when I started doing lots of management, so I’d been out of the loop for a while. When they got me up to speed and told me about Redfin Next, it sealed the deal. I thought this is a fabulous option for a lot of seasoned agents who don’t want to start their own brokerage, but still want a bunch of extra support.
What do you think makes Redfin different from other brokerages?
Redfin is much more of a partnership relationship with the agent compared to a traditional brokerage. As an employee agent, Redfin is not only taking on your business costs, but also providing your benefits. To my knowledge, no other brokerages do that. On top of that, the reach of the website is unparalleled. Obviously many brokerages have strong websites that bring some traffic in, but consumers and other agents aren’t using those websites the same way they’re using Redfin.
Another thing is Redfin’s commitment to diversity. DEI work is deeply important to me–I sit on the DEI committee at CAR, and I am a founding member of SFAR’s DEI committee. I could tell without asking questions during my interviews that Redfin has a great diverse employee community. Then, when I was going through new employee training, I could read that the company has really upfront fair housing and DEI policies. I am so excited to be working for a company that is consciously thinking about it, has it on the forefront of onboarding their agents, and isn’t just paying lip service.
What opportunities do you see for your team and Redfin’s growth in San Francisco?
There’s a lot of room to educate the broader Realtor population about the significant changes Redfin has been making over the last two years. If we can change how other agents see the company, it’ll be a slam dunk to recruit new agents. I’m hoping that others will see my name, see my deep involvement in the local real estate community, and understand how radically things have changed here.
With my team specifically, I look forward to working with them on scripts for conversion. With years of experience trying to get customers to choose me over a Redfin agent, I know what other agents are going to say to try to win business, and I know how to coach around that. Being out there in the field myself, I can help my agents stay on top of things–like learning the rules of the NAR settlement and training on San Francisco-specific forms. I’m really excited to offer that level of personalized training.
What would you say to someone considering working at Redfin?
Redfin offers a concierge experience for the agent, not just for the client. As a Redfin agent, you are an employee, so we’re going to cover your membership dues and other business costs. We’ll provide you with listing coordinators and transaction coordinators, so you basically have full-time assistants working for you. You have all of the concierge support that any top producer in the country would have included as part of your everyday business. You then get to focus your time with your clients that you can bring in yourself, or through Redfin’s website. I think for many agents, it’s very appealing to have that level of support. There’s a saying that every day, realtors wake up unemployed – but that’s not true at Redfin.
Redfin is looking for ambitious, mission-driven agents and managers to join our team nationwide. If you’re interested in joining some of the top agents in the industry and growing your business with Redfin, visit our career page.
