Last Thursday, the Kenai Peninsula Association of Realtors held their annual membership meeting and celebrated longtime Soldotna resident Febra Hensley as the 2019 Realtor of the Year. Henley spoke to the Clarion on Friday and said that the award came as a complete surprise. Hensley was actually spending time with family in Iowa when she learned the news, and her daughter Torri accepted the award on her behalf.

“My daughter kept telling me to make sure I was available to FaceTime, and I just couldn’t figure out why,” Hensley said. “It was very surprising … but I’m deeply thankful to be able to do what I love here in the community where I grew up.”

Hensley’s family moved to Alaska when she was 8 years old, and she has been a realtor for nearly two decades. She credits fellow realtors Kelly Griebel and Dave Keating for getting her into the business. Hensley said that she and Griebel have been close friends since childhood, and Griebel, who was already a realtor at the time, suggested the idea to her in 2002.

“She told me: ‘Feb, you gotta get into real estate,’” Henley said.

Seventeen years later and “Feb” hasn’t looked back. When asked what she enjoys most about the business, Henley said it was the fact that every day of work is different from the next and that being a realtor means being involved in what is often the biggest purchase of people’s lives.

“We are an industry of service. Some people are buying a home for the first time, and some need your help to get out from under financial stress,” Hensley said. “Whether they buy or sell through you, you’re a part of their journey.”

Recently, Hensley has taken on a more active role in the political side of real estate, specifically through the Realtors Political Action Committee and the National Association of Realtors. Hensley and other members of NAR recently pressured lawmakers to ensure that the National Flood Insurance Program remained active during the federal government shutdown in January.

Hensley said she is frequently in contact with Alaska’s legislators on the national level and was in Washington, D.C., as recently as last May “supporting bills that support homeowners.”

“Without us being there … thousands of people’s voices wouldn’t be heard,” Hensley said of her political work.

Hensley is a realtor with Jack White Real Estate and works with clients across the central peninsula, from Kasilof to Nikiski to Funny River.