Today we’d like to introduce you to Dave Culwell.
Dave, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started out as a musician of various instruments on the Los Angeles music scene back when I was in high school and thereafter. I settled on the acoustic (upright) bass and started touring with different jazz groups and avant-garde ensembles.
I got accepted to California Institute of the Arts and studied music formally with some pretty amazing people like Charlie Haden, Bobby Bradford, and Peter Rofé among many others. While playing a show in the Chelsea area of Manhattan, New York, I met a Texas girl who was also performing at the same venue.
Over the next few years, we talked about marriage and continuing to build a family. Being raised by a single parent, I knew I wanted to be around and be there every day. This led me to stop touring and start selling real estate in the Pasadena area of Los Angeles. My East Dallas girlfriend and I got married a short time later. About three years ago, our move to Texas ensued (as it was in my wedding vows to move her home). We now reside in Lake Highlands.
After selling real estate for several years, I ended up taking a leadership role for an international real estate firm opening and running 7 offices and coaching their agents into productivity. From there I joined a luxury real estate boutique, helping to build it from 4 offices to 21 offices statewide and growing their agent productivity to record numbers.
After coaching 1000’s of real estate agents one on one and in groups, and seeing agent after agent experience big increases in their business, I was able to identify a problem and then was able to solve it. A few years ago, I began coaching, speaking, training, consulting and presenting on a full-time basis.
Although my main body of work at this time is real estate agents, broker/owners, management and most anyone related to real estate, I have coached several people outside the industry from finance to the arts and everywhere in between.
Being I coach a lot of real estate agents from different backgrounds, different cities across the nation and with a varying amount of time in the business, it occurred to me that all high-level coaching programs were built for a certain kind of real estate agent and one on one coaching was the norm.
I have launched a program designed to reach more people, as I alone could only reach so many agents one on one. With the launch of my company, IgniteYOU®, I created Community Coaching, a virtual group coaching program built to reach a larger number of real estate agents and take the big financial strain and contractual restraint so many agents fear.
Great, 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?
Nothing great ever seems to come very easy. Getting into coaching while I was with a real estate agency (in an actual office) was great. I had people in my offices that needed my help. We would meet in person weekly; I would organize classes and constantly be in front of them asking about their action items and their “to-do’s.”
As I expanded my network to an international audience…to different markets, different brokerages and to people who I mostly haven’t ever met in person… connecting with my clients was challenging at first. Figuring out what is actually motivating them and relevant to them was a little more difficult than the one on one coaching in which I was accustomed to originally. Now, as I’ve been doing this, people love the different things going on through my new program. There’s something there for everyone. My goal everyday is to outpace the cost with immense value.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I am the President and Founder of IgniteYOU®. I coach real estate agents in growing their businesses. Most of the time that means growing their production, but sometimes it means growing their price point of the homes they sell. Sometimes it means doing the same amount of business but in less time, incorporating leverage through systems and models.
Sometimes it’s specific to other parts of their business they want to grow… social media, implement a solid CRM, sales language, etc. And sometimes they’re looking for an exit strategy, and we go through what that looks like and implement a plan and timeline. My specialty is connecting with people that want to grow… whatever that means to them. When you’re ready to give yourself a commitment, I can help you get there.
I’m really proud of the success stories that come back to me. Not just hearing about the growth in income (which is great), but when I hear of these agents that conquer a fear or knock down a barrier. Hearing about controlling their mornings, crushing a presentation we’ve been working on, seeing the benefits of their new social media campaigns, growing their teams or handling really tough objections; I love hearing the growth from all the different avenues of what I do.
The big thing that sets me apart from others in my field is that, like my competitors, I’m known for being a real estate coach, but I’ve coached people in many different fields outside of real estate… finance, small business owners, musicians, restaurant owners and management, tech, athletes, artists, and others. I feel this gives me a great perspective on people as a whole and I’m able to connect better with them, even (or especially) in a group coaching environment.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory from childhood was in the 7th grade when my (future) varsity football coach looked me dead in the eyes and told me that I had a legacy to live up to. He told me my senior year would be his last year coaching football and that I better make it his best, on and off the field.
He coached high school football to every young man that came through my family, starting with my dad back in the 60’s when he was an assistant coach and I was the last one. He was so inspirational and made me want to be a better person with every conversation… his game speeches would give me chills and make me perform my absolute best. He holds several of my favorite memories, but that conversation was my number 1. I’ll never forget it. It’s times like these that I look to create for others.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.igniteyoutoday.com
- Email: dave@igniteyoutoday.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/igniteyoutoday/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dave.culwell
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/daveculwell
Image Credit:
Ian Cole
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
