Growing up on the Central Coast
I was raised in Nipomo, California, when it was still a tiny Central Coast town. My mother was from South Africa and worked as a horseback riding instructor; my father was an aerospace engineer. They came from very different worlds, and I think both shaped the way I look at things.
My mother also instilled in me, from a very young age, that travel and experiencing other places mattered. That grew into a lifelong love of seeing the world, meeting new people, trying new foods, and paying attention to how people live in different places.
Much of my childhood revolved around horses. I rode and showed American Paint Horses on the American Paint Horse Association circuit — not as an occasional hobby, but as something that consumed hours every single day: riding, practicing, grooming, feeding, caring for them, whether I felt like it or not. Looking back, I think that's where a lot of my independence and work ethic came from.
I attended elementary school at Coastal Christian Academy in the Village of Arroyo Grande, then St. Joseph High School in Orcutt, where I became a track and field athlete — something that stayed with me long after graduation.
College, athletics, and business
After high school, I left the Central Coast for California State University, Sacramento — Sacramento State — on a track and field scholarship. Going from small Central Coast communities to Sacramento was a major shift, and balancing collegiate athletics with university life took everything I had.
At Sacramento State I pursued my interest in business and earned my degrees, including my undergraduate degree and my MBA. That education became the foundation for almost everything I've done since: teaching business and accounting, analyzing investment properties, managing rentals, building a real estate company, running a short-term rental business, and making decisions about my own investments.
College was also when I started teaching exercise classes — a natural extension of a life that had already run through horses, track, and collegiate athletics. I kept teaching fitness for more than 20 years, including at Kennedy Club Fitness. It was never a phase. It's simply part of who I am.
Choosing Paso Robles
I already loved the Central Coast — it was home. Paso Robles appealed to me because of the climate, the character of the town, and the energy building around its downtown and its growing wine industry. It still had a strong small-town quality, but something exciting was clearly happening. I wanted to raise my son somewhere I loved living, and Paso felt right.
Over time it became far more than the place I lived. It became the center of my family life, my professional life, my investments, my businesses, and most of the interests I still pursue today.
Teaching and coaching in North County
While raising my son in Paso Robles, I worked as an educator at Templeton High School and also taught evening classes at Cuesta College — business, computers, accounting, marketing, and some fitness-related subjects over the years. I also coached track and field at Templeton High, which kept me connected to a sport that had followed me since high school and college.
During this stretch I was raising my son, teaching academic courses, coaching, teaching fitness classes, and becoming increasingly interested in real estate and real estate investing — all at once.
I entered real estate first as an investor and property owner, not simply as someone who wanted to sell houses.
Becoming obsessed with real estate
During the 1990s and early 2000s, I became more and more interested in real estate and real estate investing — and eventually, "interested" was an understatement. I was fascinated by the financial side of property ownership: buying well, understanding the numbers, improving properties, managing them, creating income, building equity, and figuring out how one investment could lead to the next.
I couldn't afford the investment properties I wanted on the Central Coast, so I started where I could — California's Central Valley. Those first properties taught me the realities of investing. As they grew in value, I was gradually able to reposition most of my holdings back to Paso Robles.
One of the most frustrating parts of those early years was finding good professional help — agents and property managers who were knowledgeable, responsible, and responsive. I had a surprisingly hard time finding them, so eventually I decided to learn the business myself. I became a licensed real estate agent and set out to understand as much as I possibly could about buying, selling, investing, and property management — the entire life of a property, from acquisition and financing through tenants, remodeling, income, and eventually the sale.
Living in a piece of Paso Robles history
Over the years I've built several homes for investment purposes and remodeled countless others. I love interior design — imagining what a space could become, paying attention to how rooms work together, to materials, furnishings, lighting, color, architectural detail, and how a space actually feels to be in.
In 2003, I moved into an 1872 Victorian home originally built by Drury James, one of the founders of Paso Robles. It became one of the biggest projects of my life — about ten years to remodel and renovate it into a home, done in a way that respected its historic character without turning it into a museum. That process pulled together everything I love: historic architecture, remodeling, interior design, gardening, outdoor living, food, and hospitality.
Gardens, landscaping, and growing food
I absolutely love gardening — beautiful gardens, landscaping, and outdoor spaces where people can relax. For me it was never just about curb appeal; I see those spaces as another way of sharing beauty with people. That love grew strong enough that I eventually opened a small business, The Weekend Gardener, which I ran for several years, and pursued formal horticultural education through the UC Master Gardener program.
I especially love growing things I can eat — herbs, vegetables, fruit, as much as I can fit into the garden. I also raise chickens and ducks and use their fresh eggs in my cooking. When the harvest is more than I can use right away, I cook, can, dehydrate, freeze, and preserve it rather than let it go to waste. I enjoy the whole process, from the garden — and the coop — to the kitchen.
Travel, food, and making things myself
My love of food is tied to my love of travel, which goes back to my mother's South African roots and her insistence that seeing the world mattered. When I travel, I notice architecture, old buildings, doors and windows, materials, courtyards, gardens, and the small design choices that give a place its character. Food is always part of it — I want to taste what people eat locally and understand the ingredients and traditions behind it. Those experiences usually come home with me in some form, through cooking, gardening, or design.
I also enjoy home brewing and distilling, which probably fits a larger pattern: I like understanding how things work, and whenever I can, I like making things myself — building, remodeling, designing, growing, cooking, preserving, brewing, experimenting.
I don't want a property simply to function. I want people to walk into a place and feel that someone thought about their experience there.
Building a business, then selling it
My real estate career eventually led me to own Mission Country Properties Real Estate. As the company grew, I expanded beyond traditional sales and property management into short-term rental management, right as Paso Robles tourism and the local wine industry were taking off. The short-term rental side grew and grew — eventually large enough that I was able to sell it to a national firm.
That was a real milestone: something that started out of my own frustrations as a beginning investor had grown into a local business valuable enough for a national company to acquire.
How I work now
Since selling Mission Country Properties, I conduct my real estate work through my independent brokerage, Leila Harrington, Broker. My most intensive years in real estate were the 2010s — heavily involved in sales, property management, investment property, short-term rentals, and building my own portfolio. Today I'm still an active California real estate broker, but far more selective. I'm not trying to build the largest possible practice; I'd rather work with clients and properties where my experience actually makes a difference.
I tend to treat clients like friends — I want them comfortable calling me, asking questions, telling me what worries them. But being friendly doesn't mean I'll tell someone what they want to hear. I'm blunt, and I always tell the truth. If a property has problems, I'll say so. I'd rather have an uncomfortable conversation with a client than stay quiet to make a transaction easier — because I remember exactly what I wanted when I was starting out as an investor: someone knowledgeable and honest enough to tell me what I actually needed to know.
Restoring a farmhouse in the hills
More recently, I purchased acreage in the Adelaida area of Paso Robles, where I'm restoring an early-1900s farmhouse and learning an entirely new set of skills — drilling wells, developing roads and access, and the practical work of improving rural acreage. I'm also restoring the old farmhouse itself, which lets me combine my interests in historic properties, remodeling, design, and land development.
I haven't decided exactly what I'll ultimately grow there. I want to understand the land, soil, climate, water, and access before I choose a direction. Whatever it turns out to be, the property feels like a natural continuation of everything I've cared about: land, gardening, agriculture, real estate, historic restoration, food, and building something myself.