Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Darian.
Alex, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Strangely enough, my Real Estate career started after ending seven years in the Entertainment business~ After a stint with Universal and Sony, my Dallas office closed and I was stuck on what to do next. I was in my mid-30’s, felt fearless still, so I decided to just do what I wanted to always do – interior design. From there, it morphed quite naturally… I was hired to stage homes, saw what other agents were doing and thought, “I can do that!”… That’s what we all think! Reality check… months and months of schooling, grueling state and national exams and boom, here’s the license! And then, crickets.
How do I even start selling homes? The saying was, have six mos of savings. What I didn’t know was six mos of savings went buh-bye in six weeks! Cost of licensing, Realtor fees, membership dues, etc. Gone, baby, gone and I hadn’t sold a house yet! Back in 2002 when I got licensed, we didn’t have social media, limited computer use and everything was word of mouth, (yes kids, there was a time like this…) it was every man/woman for themselves. But when you are hungry, you don’t limit your thoughts. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. I didn’t have a convo without asking if anyone was interested in buying or selling a home, shoot, I’d even find you an apartment if that’s all you could afford! I was THAT desperate! I was smart enough though to start with Keller Williams Realty, the main office on Preston/Frankford, and I am there still! I got really good training and just promoted myself (it’s called Branding now!) And I got scrappy, I took on every client, hard to work with sellers, lots of 1st time home buyers, investors… I just did not ever say NO to anyone and wouldn’t take NO for an answer. And then it happened without even knowing it… I made Rookie of the Year at my KW office in 2003, and I never looked back!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Not so much easy, but I had obstacles, and I think my biggest obstacle when I first started was FEAR. My own self-doubt, not knowing what to do, how to do it. Mentorships weren’t a “thing” in the early 2000’s, so it was trial and error. But you get the mistakes out of the way early, you learn what NOT to do, in as much as what TO DO. And I watched other agents; listened to them speak; heard terms/words that I didn’t understand. I had to glean from experienced agents and figure out the rest on my own. But I wouldn’t trade the stumbling blocks or my dry periods because that’s what catapulted me from desperate newbie to driving hard and making the most money I’d ever made at that point!
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I’m currently at the very same KW office I started at in ’02, but now, I am on a team, HOUSED Real Estate. We have only eight agents and 2 Operations Managers; we are small, but we are mighty. I learned as an independent agent and doing ALL the work myself, it was not the best use of my time. And we know that time is money, ultimately.
I made a choice to join a team and knew that when Rach Potter & Kelly Wicker of HOUSED, gave me a bizarre personality test (yep!) and multiple interviews, they were onto something. This team is very eclectic – each Realtor has a niche of who and what they market to. In fact, my moniker is #SheSellsSanctuaryDFW and #RockNRollRealtorDFW. I often work with the “cool kids”; and to see someone with a band t-shirt and a pierced nose, does not automatically mean they can’t afford a home… don’t judge a book by its cover! I’m a little gritty, a bit scrappy, but ALL my clients know, I’m on the “safest” side of a transaction… you do NOT want to go up against me! I’m like a Lion, I’ll do what it takes to get the best deal for my clients. And on this amazing team, we take care of each other and each other’s clients. We can share listings within our team and within our office (700 agents strong) and there are no egos, just client satisfaction. And it doesn’t hurt that some of our team meetings include pizza and cocktails! Hey, we gotta eat and have fun, too!
What were you like growing up?
Looking back at my youth, I am in awe of where I am today!!! No joke, I was a serious honor student, but I was a Goth Girl! In the 80’s it was taboo to have a pierced nose, tattoos and of course, the makeup, colored hair and gothic clothes ! And frankly, though I am older, much wiser and a bit more mainstream looking, I still have that rocker chick in my bones! And I’m glad it wasn’t a “phase”. I stayed true to myself, but I also learned that you can keep your personality traits and what’s valuable to your heart, but you can also search for that in others. I learned to be much more temperamental and tolerant as others have done with me. It’s a beautiful thang! I love that I can be the cool, rock chick AND be a stellar advocate for my clients!
Contact Info:
- Address: Keller Williams Realty DPR
18383 Preston Rd. Ste 150
Dallas, TX 75252 - Website: housedrealestate.com
- Phone: 469-774-7585
- Email: adarian@housedrealestate.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexdarianrealtor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alex.darian.3726
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexDarianSells
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexdarian/
Image Credit:
Jill Rasco
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