Who am I today?" Margie Freeman asks when introducing herself at community meetings or business encounters.
She considers her many varied roles - wife, mother, resident, community activist, multiple-business owner - to select the one most applicable.
Business, personal growth
Margie came to Fremont in 1976. Looking for moorage for a 90-foot tugboat she'd just purchased, she also found her husband, Mark. He'd been born here, literally, and his parents, Orrin H. "Doc" and May Freeman, had deep roots in the neighborhood.
Today, Margie and Mark, with their son Erik, honor that legacy as they operate Fremont Boat Co., a business Doc purchased in 1928.
Margie has dedicated herself to the family business and helped start others. For all along, she and Mark have sought new opportunities and taken risks on themselves to begin other businesses of their own.
"I think that is where growth comes from," she stated philosophically, "business, as well as personal."
THE NEXT BIG STEP
As she enters her fourth decade here, Margie takes another huge step forward. In January, after two years of beta testing, she, Mark, Erik, an experienced web developer and a site manager have launched a new and innovative website, which Margie describes as "like a second life for everybody."
Their newest life is RentGreat Space.com, an on-line, classified-advertising site for rental properties. Fremont Boat Co. leases moorage, commercial, residential and storage space, and this site addresses the needs of just such a property-management company.
As a rule, Margie explained, real estate brokers can access an Internet site unavailable to property owners or those looking for space. RentGreatSpace, like newspaper classifieds, can be viewed by anyone for free.
Property owners pay a monthly fee to run ads, with the cost dependent on the number of ads they run. This makes it viable for large property-management companies, as well as a woodworker who rents out a little extra shop space.
"The Seattle Times does a good job on-line, but it's expensive. We were trying to rent out a 400-square-foot office space, and money for advertising took up all the profits."
"Is there a place for both? Absolutely!" Margie sees her site as another option, rather than as competition for newspapers or CraigsList. She wanted an organized place specifically for rental ads, with moorage listings, something CraigsList didn't offer.
The site also includes a service directory targeted at property owners and their needs, such as painters, plumbers and marine surveyors. This answers questions she hears regularly: "Gee, Margie, where do I go to get a...?" As Margie sees it, if her customers have those questions, so will users of the Internet site.
The service directory, and the site as a whole, do not highlight or endorse any one service, property or product; instead, they provide a list, and users make choices.
"Eventually, we're going to broad-en our scope," Margie said. "But, first, we want to get good at what we do."
Currently, focused on ads for properties in Washington, they could conceivably take ads from anywhere. They've worked hard to put "cool things" on the site, such as satellite maps, multiple search criteria and space wanted ads - and provide a way users can do comparisons between multiple listings.
"It's a big leap," she admitted. "It's not as easy as it sounds."
MULTITASKING
When asked if she intends for this, as it grows, to become her primary business, Margie paused.
"I don't see anything as being primary," she corrected. "I've never thought of me as being in just one business."
Margie doesn't even see her business - or businesses - as her primary concern. She has actively participated in such community groups as the Lake Union District Council and the Fremont Chamber of Commerce, and she currently serves as president of the Lake Union Association.
She gives time to the community she married into and relies upon community support in return.
Margie believes Fremont contributes to her ability to take risks and try new things. "It's the place to be creative," she said. She explained how she went to a [Fremont] chamber meeting with this new business idea, "and everyone was very supportive."
Listening to her, it sounds like Fremont is a good place to be whether your bent is artistic, activist or entrepreneurial.
In describing what she does, Mar-gie insists, "there is no main business." Instead, she throws herself into life with energy, enthusiasm and the directed focus of a consummate business woman.
When talking to her about the time she spends juggling her variety of concerns, she brings conversation back where she wants it.
"Just like the website," she reminded me, "you can do lots of different things there, too."
Kirby Lindsay writes about Fremont, where she has spent far, far too much time. She welcomes your questions at fremont@oz.net.
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