Partners in Business & Life
/Working together in all facets of life has strengthened the love Yulin and Jerry Brewer have for each other
by Lindsey McMillan
Jerry and Yulin Brewer have been partners in business and life for over 30 years. They have raised a family, run a successful business, and consistently support the Texarkana community in various ways. The owners of NAI American Realty, the Brewers are active in the commercial real estate realm. They work hard every day to make Texarkana—a place they’ve each called home for over four decades—a better place to live and work.
Jerry is a native of Mountain View, Arkansas, and the tenth of 12 children. He graduated from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro with a bachelor’s degree in English and taught middle and high school before attending the University of Arkansas School of Law. He moved to Texarkana in 1972. His foray into real estate was joining his sister, Berta, and her husband, Fred Stotts, in their residential realty company, before transitioning to commercial real estate and founding NAI American Realty. Now 51 years later, Jerry still enjoys every aspect of commercial realty—particularly meeting others and training employees. “I love what I do and want to continue for another 50 years. I guess there is still a little schoolteacher in me, as I really enjoy training new agents and teaching residential agents to practice commercial real estate,” he explained.
Yulin and Jerry were married on August 26, 1989, at St. Edwards Catholic Church in Texarkana, Arkansas.
Yulin is proud to be an American, though she was born in Taipei, Taiwan. The sixth of eight children, her parents and three of her siblings fled Beijing, China, in 1949 in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War, in which her father had served as an Army Colonel for the Nationalist government. In Taipei, Yulin attended a specialized high school, where she learned the basics of accounting and finance. She moved to the United States with her mother in 1974, settling in Texarkana, while her mother visited other siblings in California. Yulin worked at Lone Star Ammunition Plant and then as a translator before moving to International Paper. Longtime friend Suzy Park, the owner of Park Place Restaurant, hired Yulin as a hostess and then server, where she remained for eight and a half years.
Yulin first met Jerry in 1980, when she was selling some furniture, and he came to look at it. Later on, he recognized her at Park Place. Laughing, he recalled how he didn’t think Yulin liked him very much for the first few years their paths crossed. Three years later, they began dating—a courtship which lasted three more years. Jerry proposed in 1986, and they remained engaged for another three years before marrying at St. Edwards Catholic Church on August 26, 1989. Three years later to the day, their daughter, Shannon, was born.
On August 26, 2019, the Brewers celebrated Jerry and Yulin’s anniversary and Shannon’s birthday at Saint-Emilion Restaurant in Fort Worth.
The Brewer family of three became a busy one. While Shannon was growing up, Yulin worked alongside Jerry at NAI American Realty as a bookkeeper and office manager. Shannon was an active child, becoming very involved in music and competitive swimming. She graduated as salutatorian of her Texas High School class in 2011. She earned a degree in Biology and Political Science from TCU and completed medical school at Texas Osteopathic College of Medicine. She is currently completing her Internal Medicine residency at UAMS in Little Rock. Jerry and Yulin have always enjoyed traveling to visit Shannon whether in Fort Worth or Little Rock. They are happy she hasn’t lived too far away.
Shannon graduated from Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine on May 8, 2022, in Fort Worth.
The Brewers love collaborating on their business and talking about how to make it better. “I am grateful for all the wonderful agents and staff who brought us to where we are today,” Yulin said. Yulin also spends a significant amount of time giving back to the community through volunteerism; her drive to serve others stems from being helped as a youngster by the Catholic nuns after her family fled China. She has been very active with St. Edwards Outreach Center, which provides people in need with meals every Monday in November and December. She serves with the Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary and is a member of both the Rose Garden Club and the Texas Council of Garden Clubs. She has also served on CHRISTUS St. Michael’s Friends of the Foundation. One of her favorite Bible verses, she said, is Matthew 25:40, which reads, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me.”
When asked how working together has strengthened their business and their relationship, their answers beautifully complement one another.
Yulin: “I appreciate how hard Jerry has worked to build our company and provide for our family. We get up and try again every day to do the right thing for our clients. Struggling with success and failure has made us closer, and our love has just grown stronger through the years.”
Jerry: “Working with Yulin has allowed us to explore different aspects of our character. We spent so many hours trying to make the best choices to build our reputation for integrity and good service. Truly listening to each other and respecting each other’s values has allowed our love to flourish, and it continues to grow stronger.”
When asked what their future goals are, Jerry and Yulin are in sync with one another: they want to travel more and live a healthier life. This last part is poignant, as Jerry suffered a heart attack five years ago and had to undergo triple bypass surgery in Plano.
Jerry and Yulin epitomize the image of a couple who truly love working with one another in career and in life. They are following their hearts and doing so with lots of smiles and joy.