If Christine Gagliardi hunted wabbits, she would give Elmer J. Fudd some serious competition. Lucky for Fudd, Gagliardi”™s target is in the form of clay, not Bugs Bunny.
Gagliardi, senior vice president at Benchmark Title Agency in White Plains, a title insurance company, finds stress relief in her passion, sporting clays. An alternative to golf, which is a popular sport among business professionals, sporting clays is a game of shooting at “birds,” or clay discs. Participants do not shoot at animals. Gagliardi was introduced to the sport while working in sales.
“It (seemed) that golf was the big entertainment for sales people,” said Gagliardi. “And I tried. I took lessons, I tried. I can hit the ball straight down the fairway, but I can”™t go more than 50 yards. So I gave up after a year and one of my colleagues who is an avid sporting clay shooter told me about it and said, ”˜You know, I think you”™d be really good at it. I think you should try; take some lessons.”™ And he gave me some literature on it and I read it and decided to do it.”
For Gagliardi, it was love at first fire.
“I remember standing there and it was pouring rain out,” said Gagliardi. “I had a poncho on and I thought they would cancel (but they didn”™t) and this guy started pulling these targets and saying, ”˜Fire! Bang!”™ You know, it threw me back because these are shot guns, but I hit the first target. And he continued to have nine other targets come at me and I shot 10 out of 10. And I knew then that this was what I wanted to do and this was my passion.”
From there, Gagliardi continued to take lessons with an instructor at Orvis Sandanona shooting grounds in Millbrook. Learning everything from gun safety to how properly to hold and shoot, Gagliardi came to realize that this was more than just a way to relieve stress; it was a way to network and entertain her clients.
“People like new things,” said Gagliardi. “People like to experiment with new things and this is something that is so competitive and if you learn and you”™re not afraid of guns, it”™s an enjoyable sport and I like it because of the competition.”
A round of clays is 100 discs. Currently, Gagliardi can hit 50 to 60 discs out of the round with her 12-gauge shotgun, the heaviest gun with the biggest shells you can use in the sport. “That”™s the final gun, unless I start shooting with Uzis!” said Gagliardi.
In 2006, instead of duffing through an annual golf outing, Gagliardi and her colleagues decided to have a blast and try a sporting clay outing for their clients.
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“When doing a golf outing, all the same people come,” Gagliardi said. “But when you say to someone, ”˜We”™re going to have a sporting clay outing,”™ most people don”™t shoot, have never shot ”¦ and everybody”™s willing to learn.”
The group of 30 to 35 clients was broken into groups and was given a half-hour lesson on gun safety by the professionals: how to a hold a gun and how to stand when shooting at the shooting club. After the lessons, the clients ate lunch, then formed groups of five and went out to shoot some clays.
“(Afterward) we go back to lodge to look at our scores,” said Gagliardi. “It”™s a fun day. It”™s competitive. I think it”™s a wonderful way to network as well.”
Gagliardi and her clients also teamed up for the Jack Robertson National Sporting Clay Shoot. Of the 20 groups that competed, Gagliardi and her team came in third place, earning them a duck plaque that hangs in a conference room in Gagliardi”™s office.
When Gagliardi isn”™t shooting clays, she is in White Plains working on her other passion: title insurance.
“Benchmark is a venture that started in June of 2005, but I”™ve been in the industry for 15 years,” said Gagliardi. “My partners and I have all worked for a major underwriter and we came from there and we formed Benchmark. June 1 will be our three years in business.”
Benchmark provides information on residential and commercial properties and works with lawyers, developers and financial institutions to insure titles.
For Gagliardi, getting into the title industry was a fluke. Originally she took a job as a typist at a small firm that did title insurance on Long Island (where she was living at the time) because she needed the income. After a few weeks, she was promoted to coordinating the transactions closing department.
“I coordinated the whole area, got everything up and running. I learned the business from the ground up,” said Gagliardi.
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Gagliardi is also an active member in several organizations, including the National Realty Club in New York City; she was just nominated to its board of governors, the only woman who sits on their board. She is also a member of the Urban Land Institute.
Whether it”™s on the shooting ground or in the office, for Gagliardi both of her passions are about creating and maintaining strong relationships with her clients.
“I”™ve cultivated my relationships,” said Gagliardi. “I don”™t just take their business and say thank you. What I do is I make introductions and I kind of network people together and I try to help them grow their business as well.”
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