This CEO escaped a terrifying abduction to build a successful real estate firm

Lisa Grant is an award-winning real estate agent and an author. She is the founder of Charleston-based See Wee Homes, which combines her passion for real estate and home décor. By venturing into real estate, Grant has joined the few women opening real estate brokerages across the Southeast region.

See Wee Homes, which has been in business since 2016, is a boutique real estate firm that specializes in luxury homes while also offering a wide variety of real estate for personal, family use, and investment purposes.

Through See Wee Homes, a firm she named after her childhood street name, Seewee Road, Grant is assisting many prospective homeowners to realize their dreams. Her real estate firm, described as a game changer by industry players and located at 8636 Dorchester Road, features handcrafted mosaic and Peruvian artwork, banana bark craft from Tanzania, handmade textile throw pillows from Turkey, and local Charleston-made home goods.

A firm believer in giving back to her community, Grant supports a number of charities, including United Way, Dee Norton Society, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, My Sister’s House Inc, March of Dimes and International African American Museum.

When the pandemic struck, Grant made a $1000 contribution to My Sister’s House (MSH) – a dedicated domestic-violence shelter and victim advocate that has worked to help families in the Charleston area for over 40 years.

“Since the pandemic started, domestic abuse has been on the rise,” said Grant in a press release. “When we talk about abuse, people often think about what they see in a movie or TV. Domestic abuse takes a variety of forms including emotional, mental and verbal abuse, and any of it can lead to domestic violence. When you’re in that situation, it’s difficult to focus and recognize the toxic relationship for what it is.”

Grant was born and raised in South Carolina. She grew up in the rural town of Awendaw. Grant was abducted at gunpoint near a female dorm at Hampton University in Virginia during her sophomore year. As her kidnapper asked for directions, he forced her into the car, held a gun to her head and drove off campus. But Grant was able to jump out of the moving car onto a busy highway.

“Being a victim of a crime is stressful, it stays with you forever and at times my anxiety level is still unmanageable. I never thought in a million years I would be an entrepreneur working in the service industry. I am a servant leader and helping others is the way I help myself,” she said.

After the terrifying incident, Grant went on to receive her Master of Science Degree from Charleston Southern University and in 2021 was named a Top 40 under 40 by Charleston’s Regional Business Journal.