“What is Bill McAfee doing here?” Ashley Bush stormed to her boss’s office after passing Bill on the way out of their building. “I cannot stand him.”

It was the second time Ashley had encountered Bill. The two first met in 1996 at a Certified Closers luncheon; Ashley was the President of the organization and Bill was the speaker for the event that day. “I didn’t like him,” Ashely recalls. “You could even say, I hated him at first sight.”

Ashley’s boss, the Director of Stewart Title, had invited Bill in for an interview. Bill was the top sales rep for Associated Title at the time and Stewart Title wanted to bring him aboard. “I’m considering hiring him,” her boss replied. Ashley glared but her boss had already made up his mind. Bill was hired and there was nothing she could do about it.

“My first day,” Bill describes, “it was like walking into a saloon in an old western movie. I opened the door and everyone would go silent. They would glance at me out of the corner of their eye only to ignore me for the rest of the day.”

“I got everyone in the office to dislike him before he even started,” Ashley says. “I wanted him to feel as unwelcome as possible so that, maybe, he would leave.”

It lasted for weeks. But Bill went to work; he brought over a lot of business from his previous company. With Bill silent and shunned in the office, Ashley coincidentally grew less irritated by his presence. She started accepting some of his deals. In a short time, Ashley became Bill’s designated closer.

It may have taken her a while to admit it, but Ashley began to like Bill. The two became friends. They even stayed connected after they both went to different companies.

“I always liked Ashley,” Bill says. “She’s a hard worker and we have a lot in common. Though it did take a while for her to warm up to me. I don’t know what that was all about.”

In 2020, Stewart Title purchased both Empire Title and Legacy Title. Bill, who led Empire, and Ashley, who led Legacy, started checking in with each other. Takeovers are always challenging and both cared so much about their companies. Plus, Bill already had retirement on his mind.

The two teased the idea of Empire Title and Legacy Title merging. “If I were to retire, I would need someone I was confident could carry the company on without me,” Bill says. “And I knew that person was Ashley.”

To their surprise, the managers at Stewart pitched the idea of the companies merging. What began as a whisper would become a reality.

Merging Empire Title and Legacy Title was an ideal outcome. Empire had the majority of the resale business and Legacy had the majority of the builder business. It came at the perfect time. As the post-pandemic real estate market slowed, the merger saved both Bill and Ashley from having to lay off large numbers of employees.

The merger came with its challenges. “It was like blending two families together,” Ashley says. “Every employee is unique; they have different needs. Nothing is a one-size-fits-all solution.”

Looking back, Bill will never forget the blessing of making a living doing what he loves. His original vision for Empire Title was to create a company that didn’t have a corporate feel. “We wanted to create a culture where people would work hard but also have fun in the process. We wanted our team to be comfortable enough to be their true selves.”

The high points of Bill’s career were every time he was able to help both clients and employees get through their personal and professional challenges. “There is nothing like helping people who were financially devastated get back on their feet,” he says.

The low point came in 2020, during the pandemic when people grew divided and friends lost faith in one another.

“If I were to leave a legacy,” Bill says, “it would be that you can do things right, with great character, and still be successful. It’s the act of giving and helping others that makes you great in the end.”

In retirement, Bill will be getting involved with the non-profits. There are so many he is passionate toward but he never had much time of his own to give to them. He intends to serve on the boards of Reclaiming Hope, whose purpose is to help survivors of human trafficking at the time of their recovery, and Venture Off, whose purpose is to take underprivileged kids on outdoor adventures.

Bill will be staying involved as a consultant with Empire Title. He will also continue to support his other companies: Short Sale Solutions, Assumption Solutions, and Pikes Peak School of Real Estate.

And in his retirement, Bill will be working on forgiveness. Real estate is a challenging industry where some people are loyal and others say they’re loyal. “I’ve always been good about not taking the stress of the job home,” Bill says. “It’s just business after all and you cannot control everything.” As a man of faith, Bill lives by the Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. In the end, the hardest person to forgive, Bill admits, is himself.

August 31st, 2023 was Bill McAfee’s final day as President of Empire Title. “It’s like I’ve raised a kid and now I get to pass it off to Ashley. I look forward to seeing the style and brand she puts on Empire Title. I have absolute faith in her.”

“My vision is not a whole lot different from Bill’s, only my ways are more correct,” Ashley says with a wink towards her business partner and lifelong friend.