Today we’d like to introduce you to Desiree Rios.
Hi Desiree, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story begins in Texas, about eight generations before I did. Those roots gave me such a deep love for this state and the land we call “home.” It carries stories, legacy, and the memories of people that came before us.
My Dallas story begins with my grandma who came here from Corsicana. She told me this story”
“I looked up at the Pegasus on top of the tallest building in Dallas. It was the biggest thing I had ever seen in my whole life, it looked like it was flying over the skyline. Looking at all the skyscrapers now, it’s unbelievable.”
What stayed with em wasn’t just the Pegasus above the city, but that child’s sense of wonder. It taught me that people can build and shape what we believe is possible.
That was what made me realize that I wanted to be a teacher. I attended the University of Texas at Austin where I studied Philosophy, specifically Philosophy of Mind. Seems far off from real estate and construction, but I was fascinated by the science of people and what we knew to be true.
How do we form meaning?
How do we understand ourselves and the world around us?
What is the true power of a story?
My career did not unfold in the way others thought it would. At one point even education looked like a backwards step. Major plot twist, I had actually been working in legislative research, civic advocacy, and public policy then did a double-back into the classroom a few times.
It really taught me that life moves in a circle to tell you who you are. Your experiences shape your life into meaning and if you look back all roads truly lead home.
I loved my career, but it showed me that more than a teacher, more than an advocate, I was a builder. I wanted to build something people could touch, but even more importantly, build a life for themselves. In my work now, I dream of doing that at the largest scales as an aspiring developer and town builder.
These days I tell people that my story will one day be told on the Dallas skyline, and across Texas. Everything up until this point, was a corner stone.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, not smooth but meaningful. I’ve lived through deep personal loss and seasons that required me to rebuild from some very dark places. Those places were where an infinite hope truly took root, and I get to share that hope with others.
Without disclosing too much, I am clinically diagnosed with both CPTSD and PTSD, I’m a survivor of trauma, betrayal, and loss. Everyone knows me as a strong person, but it took humility to face the pain to heal. It is how I know healing is possible and it’s given me empathy, compassion, and meaning for what I do today.
Jesus Christ has been my refuge through all things. Faith didn’t make those seasons painless, but it kept me going to continue writing the story and trust the pen in the hands of the author.
It shaped how I serve people navigating their own journey whether that’s grief, housing insecurity, addiction, or high-pressure decisions when they feel most lost. Urgency or feelings of isolation can make people feel powerless, and it means so much to be able to say, “I’m here, you don’t have to go alone.”
It is also how I incorporated the trauma-informed aspect into my work. I have formal training as a trauma-informed preschool and k12 educator, and my lived experience has given me the empathy to communicate with people under stress without taking away their dignity and agency.
The road has made me humble, kind, and with a deepened capacity to serve others. The same places you thought you were buried in, can teach you how to help others see the light in the darkest of places.
As you know, we’re big fans of Olive & Flint Co.. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Olive & Flint Co. is a mission-rooted real estate, residential construction, and property strategy company serving the North Texas region. I provide licensed real estate representation through eXp Realty while Olive & Flint is the larger company I am cultivating around homes, construction, land, and residential development.
My work begins with helping people make clear, informed decisions about properties and homes, especially when the situation involves more than a conventional transaction.
That may mean guiding a buyer with unique hurdles to homeownership, restoring and marketing a house for sale, guiding a family facing foreclosure, or helping to steward land deals through due diligence and specialized services.
The goal is building a better Texas as a place where individuals and families can accomplish their dreams through homeownership and generational prosperity. That’s what real estate and homebuilding truly is to me. We are writing stories together that will survive long after we are gone.
My mission is to establish legacies through what I do at Olive & Flint Co. It’s more than homebuilding, selling, or buying; it’s helping others see the horizon with hope.
I’m a systems thinker due to my background in public policy and community advocacy. I integrate compassion into all that I do, but I see the intersection between the physical landscape and social architecture of the broader community. The social architecture is often missing from this work, but it’s central to what I do.
We don’t see a house or transaction in isolation, or land as merely a blank canvas. Every property exists within a family’s story, a public system, a natural environment, and is interconnected.
The name “Olive & Flint Co.” reflects the balance at the heart of the brand. The olive represents peace, healing, and restoration. Flint represents strength, resolve, and the spark required to rebuild. My mission is to rebuild homes and lives, empower others through their most consequential decisions, and strengthen communities.
Today, Olive & Flint Co. is focused on residential real estate, construction and single-family homebuilding, and land property work.
Long term, I am building toward responsive development and land-stewardship projects that are fortified, economically viable, and respectful of the people, hopes, and dreams already rooted in a place.
I am blessed to build the brand does not ask people to choose between compassion, professionalism, and competence. They deserve both. Clients also do not need to arrive with a perfectly organized problem. We can begin by identifying what is known, what must be verified, and the next responsible step.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memory is the day my baby brother Matthew came home from Methodist Hospital in 1996. I was five years old and I was so excited to have a baby to love on.
I really thought Matthew was my baby and my mom just let me pretend. She still laughs and says, “You thought he was your baby! Like he got delivered to you or something.”
A few years later, he asked my mother for a house and she made it happen. Against the odds, to be honest.
For months we would take real estate brochures from the plastic bins at the grocery store and circle houses we liked. I’d lived in a few places up until then but those were the happiest years of my life.
But seeing our house for the first time and running through the hall picking out our room was something truly special.
I learned something very important from those experiences. Walls, bricks, and a roof don’t matter as much as the love that they protect. Home is people who make you feel safe and loved. It’s where we get to truly be who we are, share life, and memories live.
That’s really where this whole thing began, I guess. That is what I fight for. I fight for the joy of a dreams come true. I often say, “Home is an answered prayer, we fight for that.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.oliveandflint.com
- Instagram: @oliveandflintco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/desiree.rios.231683/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desiree-rios-932040402/
- Other: https://desireerios.exprealty.com/
