Anne Dorman is a ball of energy! She first caught my attention on Facebook as the co-founder and administrator of Fairhope Now. I admired the group for its quick, witty promotions of small businesses in the area, entertaining photos of beautiful sunsets, and consistent content without the… let’s just say, unnecessary catty responses that often ruin the moment.

When we met last week to talk about “her story” I wasn’t sure where this would lead. At the end of our two-hour visit, I left wishing we had another two hours to delve deeper into some of the subjects we touched upon.

Let’s start from the beginning. Anne was born in Mobile, the youngest of five children. “It’s good to be the baby,” she said. “Everybody loves the baby, and no one says no to the baby, so they took me everywhere.”

Her father, Skip Barker, a lawyer and cotton farmer in Selma, has a family farm where he had the best cotton yield ever this fall. Growing up, Anne and her family would head to Selma on weekends in the summer while her friends all went to the beach. “We swam in the creek and pretended we were at the beach.” She grew up planting pine trees, and her dad took Anne hunting and fishing as a child. “We stalk hunted, and he always said I was too loud and made too much noise walking through the dry leaves. But he kept taking me.”

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Anne’s mother, Patricia Horn, grew up in Bayou La Batre. Both her grandfathers passed away before Anne was born, but her maternal grandfather was 6’4” tall and couldn't be missed while walking down the street. “He was a big guy in a small town.” Anne learned to water ski in Mobile Bay, local rivers, and even the Gulf of Mexico. It’s still a passion today.

She graduated from St. Paul’s in Mobile and attended the University of Alabama Birmingham for two years before chasing a boyfriend back to Mobile, where she graduated with a degree in Psychology from the University of South Alabama. While in school, she worked as a server at The Bakery (now Red or White), and one day she waited on a table of guys. When it came time to settle up, one particular guest, Lane Dorman, left her a tip larger than his bill. “He was a smart man,” and they soon married and moved to Clemson so he could earn his master’s degree in Environmental Science. 

For the next ten years, she and Lane moved from Clemson to Kennesaw, GA, and Raleigh, NC for his work overseeing groundwater contamination remediation projects as a Hydrogeologist. Along the way, Anne earned her master's degree in Psychology at Mercer University. Anne was a trauma counselor working with abused children as a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist. “We had a very manageable caseload that led to an 85% success rate,” she’s proud to say.

With large families in Mobile, the yearning to return home grew stronger and stronger. Lane was offered a position with an international firm, Geosyntec Consultants in Pensacola, to manage the office there. Anne accepted a position in Mobile with a large community mental health organization. They decided to split the commuting difference and settled in Fairhope. After three years of commuting to Pensacola, Lane opened an office in Daphne, and life is good.

Anne stayed in Mental Health for three years but was overwhelmed by the caseloads and became more and more frustrated with the lack of results. “If you have a hundred patients, it takes too long to see them all regularly and have effective results. I was burning out. Big changes need to happen in Alabama regarding mental help.” Lane recognized that she wasn’t happy and suggested a career change. “He’s so observant and aware,” she says. “He knew I wasn’t content and he’s always so supportive.”

Anne had never worked in a sales/commission job but in 2016 decided to get her real estate license and began working with a large firm on the Eastern Shore. “We had a great team, and they were very helpful. Buying and selling a home is stressful for clients, and my psychology background has been a big advantage. It’s all about relationships,” she says. “I received a lot of encouragement. It was healthy competition and I love collaborative work.”

One day, a few of her close agent friends asked, “What if we start our own company?” Alison Ward was the qualifying broker and when she became available, it wasn’t even a thought. “We all knew this is what we wanted to do,” and Mobile Bay Realty was born. “Alison is a treasure. She’s patient, kind, methodical, and aware of the legalities of real estate,” says Anne. “She doesn’t do sales, so she is a non-competing broker, and we all work well together. Alison is the cornerstone of the group.”

The other founding realtors are Jill Delamore, Carrie Mackey, and Laurie Weber. Mobile Bay Realty is two and a half years old and has 26 agents. “We don’t recruit agents at all,” says Anne. “It’s all about ethics, character, and professionalism. We are in a small space, and we need to like the people we work with.” 

Anne could never have expected the frenzy of home purchases during the pandemic. “People were moving here from all over the country, all the offers and negotiations were over asking prices, then the roller coaster ride of higher interest rates and inflation coupled with inventory shortages. None of this could have been predicted,” she says. I thought 2021 would be my biggest year, but I have helped more families find homes this year than last.”

Anne works both sides of the Bay and throughout Baldwin County, along the beach in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and down Fort. Morgan Road. “We are still writing offers and closing deals,” she says. She goes on, “We don’t want to become so big as a real estate brokerage company that we don’t know everyone’s kids’ names.”

Back to Fairhope Now, she was approached by John Oldshue about starting a “positive” Facebook group to highlight small businesses, community events, and local talent.  The group is now three years old and has 30,000 followers, and Anne serves as its administrator. “It almost runs itself now,” she says. “I still have to police it every day to catch the negative stuff.” 

In the beginning, there was pressure to create content and post, but now she has several reliable and trusted friends that contribute useful and entertaining content. You will see posts by Kelly Allen and Walter Wise of beautiful sunsets on Mobile Bay and other sites around Fairhope. Lynn Oldshue, who produces Our Southern Souls, a collection of random interviews of people from all over, posts as well. “Lynn is an incredible writer,’ says Anne.

“There is so much going on in Fairhope,” she says. “I love being involved in the community.” Fairhope Now grew more rapidly than ever expected. Anne somehow finds time to do short, entertaining videos, some with her three daughters, ages 17, 13, and 10 years old. Fairhope Now is a great ambassador site for Fairhope. Members must be approved, and Anne is adamant that the content is positive. I like that and feel the same.

I asked Anne how she does it all. “I saw my parents work hard, invest and give back to the community.” She has served on several community boards involving her church, education, and organizations serving the disadvantaged throughout the community. Too many to list here. She says, “I’m hyper and have lots of energy. I sleep well and pray a lot, so I’m not a worrier or anxious.”

In her spare time, she enjoys gardening and boating. Her daughters are learning to sail at the Fairhope Yacht Club. She still likes to hunt, fish, and water ski. “I killed a deer last year and took it to Farm Fresh Meats for processing. We still have a lot of venison in the freezer.” Lane got his pilot’s license and joined a plane club, so we do like to travel with the family.”

Anne is a difference-maker. She is a ball of energy and delightful to visit. I’m sure there is more to tell about her impact on the community but she’s too modest to toot her own horn. It is refreshing to have families like the Dorman’s in our midst. It makes the Scenic 98 Coastal communities a wonderful place to live.

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