Paul Sawyer

Paul Sawyer is a founding partner of Whitetail Properties. He leads the company in three primary areas: marketing, digital and start-up initiatives. For Whitetail Property start-ups, Paul sets the mission, creates the brand, seeds the market and leads the launch. 

Paul, along with the company’s other founding partners, started Whitetail Properties in 2006. This Illinois-based land company was the beginning of what Paul set out to do as a young man in his early 20s: By age 30, the aim was to replace his current income by doing work focused solely on the outdoors. He knew, above all else, he wanted to do work he was passionate about. 

Paul started out in mortgage lending in 1996. He had success early on, which culminated when he made partner a few years later. Soon after, Paul left the company to start Referral Mortgage. Built entirely on repeat and referral business, branding was critical. And it was during this time that Paul confirmed what he had already suspected: While he wasn’t passionate about the mortgage business, he had an affinity for building a business from the ground up and developing its brand identity. 

During these early years, Paul also learned the importance of personal ethos, the character and spirit of a company and how critical making the right hires is to business culture. For Paul, it’s never been about the number of workers, but the quality of people who make up the workforce. Each employee has to be the best. And the best is defined by the intangibles of a person’s character and resolve: body language, manner, innate and unspoken confidence. It’s this hiring standard that has been critical to Whitetail Property’s success, and Paul’s contribution to that success. 

Paul is certified as a QDMA Deer Steward Level 1 and QDMA Deer Steward Level 2. He’s been named to the St. Louis Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, a publication honoring 40 professionals under the age of 40 who are leaders and innovators in business and community. Springfield Business Journal, a publication that selects its own 40 innovators under 40, also named Paul to its list. 

Whitetail Properties is the apex of Paul’s life experiences. Not just his work experiences, but everything he’s about: his upbringing, his rural life, his passion for and connection to land. 

Today, Paul and his fiancé Rebecca own property in three states: Illinois, Missouri and Iowa. He knows all too well the financial commitment a land buyer makes; and he understands what goes into selling a piece of property. But he’s also experienced the rewards of land ownership: what it’s like to find purpose and personal investment in managing and improving a property.

For Paul, land is everything. It’s how he feeds his family, and it’s the investment vehicle he’s chosen for his retirement. But there’s something else too. Land is a source of great joy. It’s what he does for fun. It’s about being outdoors and away from the world, alongside Rebecca and his young daughter Willow, enjoying time with his girls.