Community and Ambition: How Elyse Harney Built a Successful Business at Fifty
BY KENNA CASEY
“Real estate is a very vulnerable business,” Elyse Harney says. But success, for Elyse, has never been built alone. Long before she started her own business, she was taught by women who refused to place limits on what their students could achieve. In her, they instilled a simple but lasting belief: if you’re willing to work hard, there’s nothing you cannot do. Those early influences would later give her the confidence to take a risk: starting a real estate business at fifty and building it into the #1 independent brokerage in the tri-state region.
Although she solely attended all-girl’s institutions, she says that she “never felt, as a woman, that there was something I couldn’t do if I really wanted to do it.” That belief became essential during one of the most life-altering transitions of her life. After twenty-three years helping run the White Hart Inn, she was forced to confront what came next when it was set to be sold. “My years being the wife of the manager…made me realize that I was unhappy with something, and that I wanted to be independent.” Real estate, she realized, offered exactly that, allowing her to remain connected to people while creating something for herself. She earned her license and began working at a local firm, learning the business. When an opportunity arose: a property that could serve both as a home and a business space, she took it.
“If a door opens, take it…the door is probably never going to open again, the same door.”
But Harney did not walk through those doors alone. In the town of Salisbury, she explained, people showed up for each other in ways that extended far beyond mere business. While she and her husband were both founding businesses and raising five children, the community became essential. As she explains, “It takes the community to raise a family…it was a community that helped us do what we needed to do.” At the same time, the Harney family gave back just as deeply. From helping establish the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance to serving in local leadership roles, their lives were rooted in service. That sense of responsibility is central in Harney’s business. For her, success has never just been transactional. Clients, she explained, often come to her during pivotal moments in their lives, and her duty extends far beyond closing a deal. The role of an agent, in her business, is to show up, help where needed, and do whatever it takes to guide someone through the process.
“Real estate is a service business”, she says, one that requires not just ambition, but care. For Harney, her success extends beyond her business. Her willingness to take risks and acts of service have extended beyond her, touching numerous lives and creating lasting impact.
