Meet Our Team

Ernest Johnson is a Nashville native who graduated with an Honors Diploma from Hume Fogg Academic High School and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Tennessee State University. Ernest became licensed as a real estate Affiliate Broker in July of 2006, and is the President and Principal Broker of Browning-Gordon & Co. While Ernest’s strengths were in customer service, sales, and business development, he found that those skills were easily transferrable to property management in 2018 when he joined Clearbrook Realty, LLC as President.

Clearbrook Realty (www.clearbrookrealty.com), the parent company of Browning-Gordon & Co. since October 2021, is a boutique real estate firm encompassing a specialized maintenance, administration, and management team with over 16 years’ experience. CBR currently manages over 1 million square feet of commercial real estate, and Browning-Gordon & Co. manages over 450 residential homes, all in the greater Nashville Area.

Ernest is an active Board Member of the Nashville Chapter of NARPM – the National Association of Residential Property Managers, serving as Chairman of the Vendor and Membership boards. In his pastime, Ernest enjoys photography and videography, and holds an FAA Part 107 Commercial Drone Pilot’s License, which he finds extremely helpful in his real estate field.

Shelly Hopkins has been in Middle Tennessee since 1983 and started her property management career in 1994 on-site in multi-family management. Shelly has been a licensed agent since 1998 and came to work with us in 2000. Shelly manages a portfolio of approximately 275 units. She markets and shows properties, negotiates new leases and renewals, makes new owner presentations, and works directly with the owners. She attended MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University). Shelly is active with the local chapter of NARPM, having served as President of the Board of Directors in 2009 and again in 2017. Shelly also received her RMP® (Residential Management Professional) designation from NARPM in 2009.

Teresa started with Browning-Gordon in 2008 as Assistant Property Manager. She soon earned her real estate license. In 2015 Teresa was promoted to Property Manager. She manages a portfolio of approximately 200 units. She markets and shows properties, negotiates leases and renewals, and works directly with the owners. Teresa is also active with local chapter of NARPM and has served on the Board of Directors since 2016.

Barb has lived in Nashville since 1996, and has worked in the property management industry since 1999.  She has extensive knowledge and  experience in the management of both multi-family and scattered-site properties.

 In 2005, Barb joined the team at Browning-Gordon as bookkeeper. Initially, her job responsibilities included the handling of all rent collections and payment arrangements, as well as processing monthly owner statements. 

In 2006, Barb attained her State of Tennessee real estate license, thereby enabling her to assist company property managers with showing properties, as well as acting as an alternate for lease signings.

In 2019, Barb was designated as the Executive Assistant to the President. While continuing to function as company bookkeeper, she added the following responsibilities to her schedule: providing daily administrative support to the President; entering all new owner, property, and tenant information into the company database; processing all vendor invoices monthly; and, coordinating with vendors to ensure that their insurance certificates were accurate and current. 

In 2020, Barb completed her 30-hour broker management class and is now a broker for BGC .  

Most recently, Barb moved into the position of Assistant Controller - continuing to assist the President with the review of all new leases, lease renewals, and management agreements. 

Kim was our bookkeeper in 1996-1997 before she left to raise her son, and she returned to us in 2010 as our receptionist/administrative assistant. In 2021, Kim was promoted to Office Manager for Browning-Gordon. Kim is still the friendly voice who answers the phone when you call our office. She can answer your general questions, route your calls to appropriate staff, and is critical to the effective communication between staff within our office as well as our clients and tenants.

Kim is integral in assisting the bookkeeper with collections and navigating our online payment system, in addition to keeping our vendor’s insurance files up-to-date. She handles all of our administrative duties within the office, from keeping our supplies stocked to coordinating the distribution of our incoming mail to all employees, as well as handling the updating of our advertising websites daily, managing the office calendar and maintaining the weekly property availability list.

Cori started to work for us in the beginning of 2018. She is a graduate of Oregon State University and has been in Nashville since 2013. Cori is Shelly’s assistant and primarily works with the tenants and vendors to process maintenance requests and coordinate make-ready work between tenants. In 2019, Cori became a licensed agent and can show properties when needed.

Dave hails from Washington, New Jersey where he lived with his parents and six siblings until he graduated from high school and made the decision to join the United States Navy.

Dave spent 13 years serving in the US Navy traveling the world serving as Petty Officer First Class. In 1989, Dave was awarded a Joint Service Commendation Medal by H. Norman Schwarzkopf for meritorious service for the Armed Forces of the United States.

In 1993, Dave moved to Largo, Florida where he began his career in property management, managing apartments, condominiums, and commercial properties. In 2000, Dave moved to the Middle TN area and continued his career in property management, managing a portfolio of nearly 300 scattered site homes and managing a team of leasing agents.

Dave previously served on the Board of Directors as President of the local Nashville chapter of NARPM (National Association of Residential Property Managers). Dave joined the team at Browning-Gordon in January 2023, and is Teresa’s Assistant and Maintenance Coordinator.

Beverly Browning is a Nashville native and graduated from Harpeth Hall School in 1978 and Auburn University in 1982 with a BS in Business Administration. Since that time, she has been in the property management industry. Her background includes multi-family and condominium/HOA management, but she found that managing scattered site residential rental properties was her favorite form of management. Beverly earned her Affiliate Broker's License in 1985 and her Broker's License in 1990.

Beverly is a charter member of NARPM (National Association of Residential Property Managers -1990) and she also helped to form the local chapter of NARPM in Nashville, Tennessee. She served on the National Board of Directors from 1992-1995 and has served on the Board of the local Nashville Chapter for several years. Beverly is the only property manager in the state of Tennessee that holds both the CPM® (Certified Property Manager-1994) designation and the MPM® (Master Property Manager-1993) designation.