Brokers Brooke Gothard and Nicole Goldsmith work for rival firms, but the friends came together in Los Angeles where they cheered on the Georgia Bulldogs to a huge victory over the Horned Frogs from Texas Christian University.
Gothard, who works for JLL Atlanta, and Goldsmith a CBRE landlord representative, joined dozens of real estate pros from Georgia who made the cross-country trek to watch the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship at SoFi Stadium. Gothard went to the game with University of Georgia grads Kristen Henderson and Goldsmith to support her friends and kick off the new year in a big way.
Goldsmith's father Rick Lackey, also a UGA grad and founder of the national broker group Real Professionals Network, made the trip with his wife Malinda Lackey. Cushman & Wakefield broker and Georgia grad Ken Ashley was there, too. He and wife Karen Ashley got a photo with the championship trophy after the defending national champs Georgia beat TCU 65-7.
Gothard said the trip was nothing short of epic. "SoFi was absolutely packed with ATL people!" she said in an email. "I ran into probably 50 people who I didn’t even realize were out there — pretty crazy."
The night before the game, several Atlanta pros attended a concert by Athens, Georgia, band Futurebirds. REM's Mike Mills joined them on stage at the Athens Goes West benefit show at the famed Troubadour in West Hollywood, California.