HaysDraper Realty LLC -- Great things come in HD.
A child of Kansas City's Northland, Jill Hays grew up mere blocks from Metro North Mall and witnessed up close its birth, heyday and eventual demise. She has an uncanny sense of geography in the KC metropolitan area (her friends say there's not need for a GPS when you have a JPS) and a strong appreciation for local history and the amenities that make her hometown so special.
At an early age Jill was exposed to several family home remodeling projects and quickly learned a wide variety of carpentry skills, including cutting ceramic tile and hanging drywall. Later she would lead multiple remodeling projects of her own, often setting the pace with a tenacity and determination that left a lasting impression on those who dared try to keep up.
As part of her studies in real estate and business strategy at UMKC's Bloch School of Business, Jill:
◦Graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in entrepreneurship, including significant focus on commercial real estate.
◦Was a key member of a team that won the prestigious Business Strategy Case Competition.
◦Traveled to Europe as part of the university's International Study Abroad program.
She continues to maintain a relationship with UMKC as a mentor in its e-Scholars program and as a business plan judge, competition judge and semifinals judge for the 2016 Regnier Challenge.
Jill also is a Grapevine member for Operation Breakthrough and has donated more than 150 hours since 2015 tutoring troubled young women at Amethyst Place.
Integrity and respect are cornerstones of Jill's approach to both life and business. She still holds onto the old-fashioned notion that a person's word means something, and has proven time and again that she's willing to go to bat for her clients with the same passion as she would for her closest friends.
Several years ago Jill took an aptitude assessment that indicated her ideal career was in real estate. Instead of jumping into that field, she chose to focus on earning an entrepreneurship degree with the goal of creating and running her own business. Not long after graduation it became clear that running her own real estate company made absolute sense and in a few months HaysDraper was born.
Jill and her sweetheart of nearly eight years Bill Draper were married in a July ceremony that many people called the coolest wedding they had ever attended. Currently a reporter for The Associated Press, Bill brings high ethical standards, an appreciation for deadlines and mad research skills to the HaysDraper team. His calm, confident demeanor provides the perfect balance to Jill's intensity, while his ease with communicating – especially in writing -- complements his partner's charismatic out-front presence very well.
