Laura Martin, Owner and Counsel
After living abroad in Rome, Italy, Laura went to paralegal school and began her career in the real estate industry as a real estate paralegal in Wilmington, NC in 1991. Her first son, Giorgio was born in 1993. Later, Laura went back to college at night and obtained an Associates Degree in the Arts from Wake Technical Community College. She then went full time to NC State and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor Degree of Arts in Spanish in 2001. Her second son, Alex was born in 2002. Encouraged by the attorneys she worked with she decided to fulfill a lifelong dream of attending law school. She accomplished this goal by attending the evening program at NC Central University School of Law so that she could continue working full time. In 2008 she obtained her Juris Doctor and was admitted to the bar in 2008. Her daughter Emma was born in December of that year. Laura’s motto has always been “never stop learning.”
She has enjoyed providing excellent customer service as a licensed Title Insurance Underwriter since 2003 and serving as Counsel since 2008. She has worked with attorneys and real estate firms in all of the major markets of Eastern North Carolina including Wake, Durham, Johnston, New Hanover and Cumberland counties.
Laura is married to Ken Martin and together they have three daughters, two fine young men, and four very spoiled cats. Laura enjoys entertaining her friends and family and when she isn’t working you can find her in the kitchen, reading a good book or on the golf course with her husband.
Email: laura@magnoliatitlecompany.com
Call or Text: (919) 696-3067
Denise Lee, Marketing Manager
Denise Lee is originally from Eastern North Carolina, and she came to Raleigh for college where she attended Peace College (’84) and Meredith College (’86). She also received her paralegal degree from Meredith.
Denise worked as a real estate paralegal until 1998 when she moved to the title insurance business. She worked in a variety of positions beginning in marketing and transitioning to underwriting and management.
Denise is married to Raleigh native Lee Ott. When they are not being bossed around by their basset hound Bailey, they enjoy golf, the beach and grilling out.
Email: denise@magnoliatitlecompany.com
Call or Text: (919) 606-2055
Janna Whitt, Senior Underwriter and Director of Operations
Janna is a North Carolina native. After attending Appalachian State to study music, she bounced around the southeast for a while, living as far south as Louisiana then moving her way back up through South Carolina & different parts of NC before ultimately settling back in her hometown of Clayton.
Janna began her adventure in Title Insurance in 2006 and feels incredibly lucky to have grown & learned so much and developed such wonderful relationships with the amazing people in this industry.
Janna & her husband Michael share a large family of 9 plus one heavily spoiled grandson. Their mutual love of animals has also led to a pack of Siberian Huskies and other small pets in their home. When she isn’t playing Ring Master, she loves exploring all that western NC has to offer from Charlotte to the Appalachians.
Email: janna@magnoliatitlecompany.com
Call or Text: (919) 437-1289
Jackie Nevins, Senior Underwriter and Social Media Manager
Jackie Nevins is a licensed title insurance underwriter for Magnolia Title Company, LLC. She assists with issuing commitments, final policies, policy revisions, and oversees the company’s social media presence, engagement, and effectiveness on all platforms. She also covers company events on social networks.
Prior to joining the Title Insurance industry in 2018, she was a Real Estate Paralegal for a North Carolina Law Firm. Her passion for Real Estate has allowed her to grow and expand her knowledge and skills.
Outside of all things title, she enjoys the simple things in life. She loves reading, music, the beach, theatre, travel, and spending time with her son, her significant other, her 2 rescue cats, close friends, and family.
Email: jackie@magnoliatitlecompany.com
Call or Text: (757) 401-3550
Shannon Griffith, Senior Underwriter
Shannon began her career as a Title Search Paralegal in 1991 and became a NC Certified Paralegal and in 2009 she furthered her career by becoming a licensed Title Insurance Underwriter. She worked for Guaranty Title from 2009 until 2021 when she made the move to Magnolia Title. Shannon has worked with many law firms in the area and is happiest when she can provide the best customer service possible.
Shannon has one daughter and a very spoiled Beagle. She was born and raised in Raleigh and has made Johnston County her home since 1997. She enjoys beach trips with her girlfriends and trips to see her family in the mountains.
Email: shannon@magnoliatitlecompany.com
Call or Text: (919) 720-5549
Anne Edmundson, Underwriter
Anne worked as a Transaction and Social Media and Real Estate Marketing Coordinator in the Real Estate Industry for 15 years across North Carolina and Virginia. No stranger to learning new things, she decided to embark on a career in the Title Industry in 2020 and became a Licensed Title Insurance Underwriter. She enjoys boating, traveling to the beach or mountains, spending time with her family and reading. Originally from Emerald Isle, Anne has lived in Raleigh since 1997. She enjoys all the benefits our great state has to offer!
Email: anne@magnoliatitlecompany.com
Call or Text: (919) 345-3633
Vickie Benton, Underwriter
Vickie comes to us with 18 years’ experience in real estate law. After working for a Fayetteville, NC attorney for 15 years, she decided to switch things up. After only a few months with Magnolia Title, she became a licensed underwriter.
In her free time, Vickie, and her husband Lane, reside in the Fayetteville community with their dog Kimber. They also have two wonderful, grown children Nick, and Emily. When not working she likes to read, spend time in the mountains and enjoys planting, orchids, and bonsai, specifically.
Tania Gayle, Underwriter & WNC Marketing Manager
Tania was born into the real estate field. From the young age of six playing around with her mom’s microfiche machine looking up property taxes to working through high school as an assistant to several Real Estate Professionals. She started her career off by obtaining her real estate licenses in both North Carolina and Florida. She became a NC licensed underwriter in 1999. It was then that her love of real estate evolved into learning everything she could about title insurance, while building relationships with paralegals and attorneys. She helped springboard a WNC title company into a successful business that is still going strong in the industry today. During these years and by the age of 26, she also had the honor of having three beautiful boys.
Eventually, Tania decided to take a break from all thing’s real estate, and moved into the non-profit sector, helping those in need of clean water and education. She even had the opportunity to travel to rural Uganda and made some friends across the globe too. Back home, she continues to help others whenever she can. One of her favorite quotes is “We rise by lifting others”. This extends not only to community, but also to her business relationships. She tries her best to find a solution even in the most difficult of circumstances.
The services that Magnolia Title Company offers to their clients align with those that Tania wants to bring to her folks in WNC. Joining Magnolia Title as they extend into Western North Carolina is her next adventure in life.
Email: tania@magnoliatitlecompany.com
Call or Text: (828) 280-4885
Stephanie Padgett, Administrative Assistant
Stephanie has been with Magnolia since January of 2020. Our work from home model works well for her so that she can work and stay home with her 4 adorable cats, Paolo, Juno, Tuxey and Smudge. Before coming into the title insurance realm she helped her mother who is a top Real Estate Producer in Wilmington, NC. She is a trained caregiver with a CNA designation. She is the most compassionate, caring person and we are so happy to have her. Stephanie comes from a large Greek family and even got her sister Zoie to join Magnolia when we needed her most back in the summer of 2020.
Zoie Padgett, Administrative Assistant
Zoie came on part-time in summer of 2020 to help with policy lookups and other administrative tasks. Like her sister Stephanie, real estate must be in her blood. She gets all of her tasks done efficiently and without delay. Zoie is such a great asset, so we were thrilled when she transitioned to a full-time member of our team in 2021.
Samantha Sloan, Administrative Assistant
Samantha Sloan, is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a degree in Political Science. She furthered her education at Johnston Community college and obtained her General Law Office Certificate. She then became a North Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal and was employed at a local law firm for 4 years. Samantha has enjoyed the career switch to the title insurance industry. She presently resides in Clayton with her husband and daughter. When she’s away from the office, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, going to the beach, reading and watching movies.
Julie Uzcategui, Bookkeeper and Finance Manager
After over 15 years assisting builders and homeowners design show stopping living and work spaces, Julie is putting her extensive knowledge of business finance into helping Magnolia with all aspects of the business side of running a title company.
Julie and Laura have been inseparable since they met in high school at John T. Hoggard High in Wilmington, NC. Julie has lived all over, from Atlanta, Georgia to Aspen and Beverly Hills to Northern Italy, and finally ended up in Raleigh in the late 90s. Julie has a son here in Raleigh and a daughter, a son-in-law, and 2 adorable grandchildren that live in Italy. Julie loves to read and spends most of her free time down at her place on the Cape Fear River in Wilmington with her husband, stepdaughter, and sweet MaltiPom named Sophie.
Fun fact, Julie hand-drew the Magnolia logo which is so near and dear to our hearts!