Instructor Highlight: Loraleen Durbin

Loraleen-Durbin

If you’ve ever had a reason to call customer support at Arizona School of Real Estate & Business or Hogan School of Real Estate in the past two years, there’s a good chance Loraleen Durbin was on the other end of the phone or trained the person who was. Loraleen has been the Customer Service Team Lead since March 2022 after serving as a Student Services Specialist for over a year. Her passion for helping others shines through in everything she does, whether she’s lending a supportive ear to her team, helping students navigate their account, or speaking words of motivation to a future real estate agent, Loraleen lives to help others.

“You really get to know these people you’re talking to. When I feel I’ve made a connection and that person feels down, I remind them not to give up on themselves. They chose this for a reason and they are capable of doing it!”

Loraleen shares that her favorite part about her job is helping other people succeed. She enjoys hearing the success stories of people who felt like giving up. 

“Hearing the excitement in their voices when they’ve done something they didn’t think they could accomplish, that’s my favorite part.”

Prior to her current role, Loraleen was, of course, helping people. She worked in healthcare for 12 years at the county hospital and served in every department from family practice to the emergency room. She traveled to multiple facilities, even in the same day, whenever she was asked to do so. In another role, Loraleen helped others working at the HomeDepot contractor customer service counter, where she not only supported customers, she also oversaw the “Homer Fund,” which provides financial assistance to Home Depot associates facing unexpected hardships. The majority of the Homer Fund contributions come from store associates and every dollar donated helps a co-worker in need. Loraleen helped raise donations and ensure community needs were met, whether it was a store associate, the Boy Scouts, or Habitat for Humanity. Since 1999, Homer Fund grants totaling nearly $215 million have assisted over 157,000 associates. 

Loraleen started working when she was 15, and hasn’t slowed down since. She’s supported her family, at times working two jobs, and constantly strives to help others be the best version of themselves. She’s accomplished all of this while dealing with an MS diagnosis, too. But it’s helping others and seeing them find success that gives her joy and keeps her going. 

When Loraleen does have free time, she enjoys crocheting, riding bikes, kayaking, captaining her family boat, camping, and wildlife. She also loves spending time with her children and four grandchildren.