| Facilitating thousands of American Dreams
F ollowing graduation from the University of Alabama Law School, Camille Brannon learned quite a bit in commercial real estate department at King & Spalding in Atlanta.
 “It taught me how to behave in the business world. It taught me how to think like a lawyer,” said Camille, CEO of Campbell & Brannon, LLC in Atlanta. “It taught me how to address really difficult and complicated title issues.”
It also taught her she preferred the residential side of the industry, where she’d be part of an emotional life experience for countless clients. Her decision to help a friend during the refinancing rush in the 1990s also helped her realize what path she’d follow.
“Someone is selling what they want to sell, and someone is buying what they want to get. In residential more than in commercial, it’s a little more emotional, it’s a life experience for people,” Camille points out. “It’s truly their opportunity to buy into the American Dream. It’s generally a very positive, pleasant experience.”
Camille has turned her legal expertise and excitement to be part of a client’s “major life event” into one of the most successful closing firms in Georgia. In 2018, the Atlanta Business Chronicle named her one of Atlanta’s Most Admired CEO’s.
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“If you take care of your employees, your employees will take care of your clients, and that will, in turn, ultimately take care of you.”
Camille Brannon
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In 1998, Camille decided to team up with Mike Campbell in what eventually would become Campbell & Brannon. She said much of the firm’s success started with and continues to be based upon Mike’s winning philosophy.
“Mike always had this philosophy and our whole culture has been built on that,” Camille says. “If you take care of your employees, your employees will take care of your clients, and that will, in turn, ultimately take care of you.”
“We’ve made our place a really good place to work. We have a lot of people who have [been with us a long time.]. That kind of consistency helps build the relationships [with others in the industry.]”
Campbell & Brannon started with three attorneys, one office and six staff members. Today, the firm consists of 32 lawyers, eight offices and 135 employees. Camille said another key to the firm’s success has been its measured growth, which helped it survive the market crash.
“We have been very careful about where we grow, how much leasing space we have for a committed period of time. We don’t go into a market unless we know we are going to have success quickly,” Camille explains. “We don’t overstaff, but we also do not work our people to the point where they burn out…We hire people and we try to keep them. We do our best to try to keep them.”
 Married with three, college-aged children, Camille said she enjoys hiking, going to the mountains and reading during her time away from the office and busy Atlanta. She and her husband Wade like traveling to watch their son who is a lacrosse player at the University of Massachusetts.
“It’s really fun and four years goes by really fast. I missed a few games, and every time I missed them I was sorry,” Camille admits. “That has taken a lot of time on our weekends.”
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