08/07/2025
Some stories sneak up on you — even when they’ve been growing beside you all along.
I’ve known Jayme McKillop - RE/MAX Vernon Jayme McKillop for a few years now. We first met through music — both of us passionate artists before anything else. From there, we kept running into each other at local events, community fundraisers, and arts nights — the kind of connections that quietly deepen over time.
When Jayme became a real estate agent, another thread tied us together: long-standing family roots in real estate, on both sides. Both of our fathers have been in the business for decades — hers here in Vernon, mine out east. That shared history gave us another layer of understanding, one that only recently came full circle.
We’d chat now and then about the industry — but it wasn’t until I sat down to interview her for this video project that I realized how much I didn’t know.
We filmed in the Cambium Orchard neighbourhood — a spot with deep personal roots for her — and peeled back the layers. We got into everything: food security, affordable housing, gardening, trail running, dogs, Okanagan life, arts, and culture. And through it all, one thread ran strong: community. Her years of service. Her drive to give back. The values her mom taught her — not passed down like a legacy, but lived and practiced, still today.
I wasn’t in tears, but I’ll admit it — I got choked up editing. Teary, even. It’s not every day you get to help tell a story that feels this close to home.
These are the kinds of projects that remind me why we do what we do at Phreeagent.
They connect people and place.
They celebrate milestones — like 10 years of Jayme representing Vernon in real estate.
They shine a light on what matters — and sometimes, they show us what we didn’t realize we’d been standing beside the whole time.
In fact, after all these years of friendship, it wasn’t until filming this piece that Jayme discovered I was once a real estate agent too.
Even among friends, there’s always more to the story.
Thank you for trusting us with your story Jayme.
Watch the video, and see why this one left a mark.
This is the Phreeagent effect.