About Linda & Tom

Tom Read grew up in Los Angeles, but his tastes of rural life during his 20s and 30s set his mind firmly on eventually living and working in a rural place. With degrees in journalism and communications management, he worked for many years in large organizations, coordinating projects that spanned North America and the globe.

“But my heart is drawn to find a simpler life, where I’m in daily contact with the natural world,” explains Tom. It’s been an evolutionary process to create a lifestyle that allows him and Linda to combine rural living with meaningful work that they enjoy.

Tom’s experience from 2004 to 2006 as a member of the committee reviewing Texada’s Official Community Plan taught him a lot about land-use planning in BC’s rural areas and about Texada’s history and future.

“I got to work with a really knowledgeable group of people including long-time Texadans and experts from elsewhere in the province. We helped this community build consensus about the future rules for land use here. It was a terrific experience and helped me better understand my community.”

Tom continues to teach occasional online classes in project management and communications for UCLA Extension. And in his “spare time,” Tom’s volunteer activities include serving as secretary of the Texada Island Community Society, as a director of the Chamber of Commerce, and as a volunteer librarian at Texada’s community library.

“In a small community like Texada, volunteers take up most of the 'infrastructure' work that would probably be paying jobs in bigger towns and cities,” Tom explains. “But many hands make light work, so we pitch in with the many others who volunteer their time to keep Texada’s wheels turning.”

“If you like freeways, enjoy crowds of people and feel that having a mall within a few minutes drive is essential, then Texada Island isn’t for you,” cautions Linda Bruhn. “But if you like the beauty of nature, if you value the strengths of a small community, and if you welcome taking responsibility for your own lifestyle, then Texada might be a place you could be happy.”

Linda encourages potential new residents of Texada to do some research about Texada before they visit and also to spend at least a couple days here, talking to locals and driving around to get a real sense of what living on this island involves.

Her 25-year background as a professional writer and marketing communications manager proves useful to Linda every day in her work as a Realtor. “Communication is such a critical part of working with people,” says Linda, “and communicating well in writing is just essential these days with so much information about real estate being handled on the internet and via email.”

In addition to handling much of the daily email, phones, marketing and paperwork for their business and going on “housecalls” with Tom and real estate clients, Linda finds a few spare hours to serve as treasurer of the Texada Island Community Society and volunteer editor of the quarterly Texada Island Lines news-paper. She’s also an active member of the Texada Arts, Culture and Tourism Society, the Texada Sandcastle Weekend Committee and the Texada Island Chamber of Commerce.

Living for 20 years with multiple sclerosis that affects her mobility adds an interesting challenge to Linda’s life. “I’m very independent and head- strong, so I think MS may be life’s way of making me slow down and pay careful attention,” she says. “Tom and I make good real estate and life partners because we have complementary strengths plus act as back-up for each other.”

Sharing goals in both their personal and professional lives keeps things interesting. One of their main goals is to support themselves in a manner that complements their community, the local economy and their chosen lifestyle. When they were looking for a new “career” direction in 2004, Linda and Tom decided after careful consideration to pursue real estate as a new venture be- cause it made good use of their backgrounds in communications and management and fit an underserved part of Texada’s economy.

Linda and Tom both hold real estate licenses in British Columbia. Through a combination of internet outreach, top-quality service to clients, being available on Texada full-time, and sheer hard work, they have worked together to help a record number of property sellers and buyers complete successful transactions since June 2004.

Like with any shared effort, Linda and Tom divide the tasks involved in real estate service. Most of the time, Linda handles the day-to-day business of phones, email, contracts and paperwork, website maintenance and working with other realtors, while Tom acts as “quality control” and does much of the physical side of the business, including photography, signage, measuring and showing property.

As full-time Texada residents, Linda and Tom are available on the island most days and answer their phone and emails seven days a week, including most holidays, from 9 am to 9 pm.