Timber Lake Topic, Jan 22, 2020
Read the full interview with Kristen Gill, broker, from the January 22, 2020 issue of the Timber Lake Topic here, or log onto their website at the link below.
https://www.timberlakesouthdakota.com

Kristen Gill brings 20 years of experience to her new business, Gill Land Company, which specializes in bringing ag real estate buyers and sellers together.
Licensed in South Dakota and anticipating her North Dakota license, she will headquarter at the Gill Red Angus Ranch northeast of Timber Lake, where she and husband Bryan and their sons Holden, Hudson and Gracen live. “All I need is a phone, computer and vehicle,” Gill said. “These days you don’t need brick and mortar. Geography is not going to hold you back.”
After six years with Pifer’s Auction and Realty she was ready to launch her own company. Gill started her ag career at Burke, where she grew up on the family farm/ranch. Between her junior and senior years at Burke High School she was an exchange student to Germany, which helped lead her to a new program in International Business at Northern State University in Aberdeen, where she minored in German.
Barry Grossenburg at Grossenburg Implement in Winner directed her to an opportunity with John Deere, where spent the first year traveling as a marketing rep from her location in Minneapolis. “I learned I could do anything,” Gill said, but the farm machinery business was a little too technical to suit her.
After three years with John Deere she earned a fellowship at the University of South Carolina to pursue a master’s degree in International Business. There she migrated more toward marketing and entrepreneurial programs. She met Bryan in Bismarck before she went to South Carolina. While they were dating and eventually engaged, they never lived in the same place.
When Ingersoll Rand, who owned Bobcat, a North Dakota manufacturing company, interviewed her at Columbia, she accepted their offer and moved to Fargo. Part of her job was creating advertising and marketing for the Agriculture market. She eventually became program manager, involved in the product development process from start to finish - from need to design to testing, sourcing parts, manufacturing and finally, marketing. She was like the hub of a wheel touching every aspect of the process. “I’m a planner and organizer so I enjoyed it a lot,” Gill said.
Moving to Bryan’s hometown of Timber Lake, she discovered her next career as a real estate agent for Pifers. Her first experience was helping a couple with a large family of grown children sell their home place. The selling price exceeded their expectations. “That was their legacy,” she said. “It was a really emotional thing for them.” The job was so much more than she thought it would be as she learned about the family and their history. Each client’s situation is different, whether selling due to death, retirement, investment or something else.
As the only broker at GLC, Kristen is the face of the company but she has a team of people (web developer, graphic designer, and auctioneers) to call on as needed. Her goal in each case is to make sure her clients have accurate information. “I want them to be comfortable with their decision,” she said.
Starting a new business requires a leap of faith, Gill said, but she knows she’s in the right place. Timber Lake is home. “It feels like we’ve always been here,” she said. “This is where God wants me to be and I’m going to do my best to trust him.”
Besides following her kids’ activities, she is a leader for Life Teen at Holy Cross Catholic Church, is a volunteer for the Days of 1910 street sports, and is getting involved with Timber Lake & Area Development.
Although the primary office for Gill Land Company is at her home, she will also maintain an office in the State Farm building at 215 1/2 W. Grand Crossing in Mobridge, where she will be most Tuesdays. Her phone numbers are 605-848- 4502 and 701-934-2732.