Today we’d like to introduce you to Leanna Moss Bowles.
Leanna, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. Self-taught and hard-fought success stories, my dad along with his brother and Pop built a multi-million dollar utility business without the benefit of college degrees or well-connect parents. They ran their ditch-digging enterprise on a legal pad, the story goes. Even today, if you ask my father what somebody needs to know about running a pipe business, he’ll plainly state that “Shit runs downhill and payday is on Friday.” Tell me that isn’t cool! These guys were the legendary figures of my youth.
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to find my own niche as a business owner. This, I thought, would afford me the freedom to work with members of my family (but only the ones I really like!) and curate a lifestyle I could be passionate about living. The trick was going to be figuring out exactly what I had to OFFER the world as a professional and who in God’s name would pay me for it! I was by all accounts a pretty sharp kid but didn’t much like school work or sterile fluorescent lighting. After struggling through my last high school years with budding alcoholism and dropping out a months before graduation, I found a recovery community which continues to be a great joy in my life and I began to take hold of the real possibilities ahead for my future.
In my early twenties, I took a big step forward by signing up for some online courses obtaining my Texas Real Estate license. My broker (also my bonus mom) immediately passed on to me some wise concepts that would go on to become building blocks for future success: Work your sphere first; don’t worry about the money – just help everybody you can; be yourself. That initial experience in property sales also taught me more than a few lessons which nobody had articulated to me before. An especially important one would be this: You have to tell folks about your business nearly a million times because most aren’t listening and the ones that heard you already forgot. Another would be that economic recessions can really put a damper on a new real estate career. Who knew!?
Of necessity, that last one launched me into my next business venture in storm restoration sales and project management. After a very brief jaunt under the tutelage of an old friend, I took the most rudimentary understanding of residential roofing into partnership with Steven Bowles (now my husband) and together we founded Rhino Roofing & Construction. Honestly, it was kind of the Hail Mary to end all Hail Mary’s but that was part of the fun. We opened a new business account at Extraco Bank with a $100 bill and then ordered $70 checks! So yeah, we were basically just running on dreams and Ramon noodles. Armed with a box of VistaPrint cards, some corrugated yard signs, a crew foreman named Delfino, and a quirky relationship with a local supply house then called Shelter, we set about canvassing neighborhoods on foot and offering free roof inspections. (Side note- Everybody should have to knock doors for a few months as a young adult. It’s way more brutal than waiting tables but so good for breeding a tenacious spirit and a sense of humor.) A few roof sales turned into happy customers and solid referral funnels as a result of honest business practices and responsive relationship management. Rhino found quick favor among a growing network of local residents, industry vendors, and new friends in the community. At the time, we still did not use any kind of credit or trade lines so our finances were run on a complete cash basis. In order to protect and stabilize cash flow, Steven and I agreed to save and reinvest 75% of our Net Profit and live off of only 25% – one of the best decisions we ever made for our financial future. I remember my mantra then because I said it all the time. “Just work hard and treat people right- God’s going to do the rest.” Boy, did He ever.
Business was good and we happily started a family with the unexpected adoption of our daughter Dixie in 2013 and the also unexpected birth of our son Keaton a year and a half later. In retrospect, I count our business and the flexibility it offered as proof of God’s great provision for our family ahead of our kiddos’ arrival. Truth be told, the rhythm of our lives didn’t really skip a beat with the addition of either child. I can’t imagine what challenges we would have faced if Rhino hadn’t been what it was by then. In our fourth year of business, we bought our first home and relocated Rhino to Wylie, TX in order to be closer to family in Collin County. This move also allowed me to return to the real estate industry, an old flame still smoldering with possibility.
While restoration has stolen me away from time to time over the years since I have continued to develop as a skilled REALTOR with an emerging niche in NE Collin County large land investment sales and acquisitions. Of course, residential real estate all over North Texas still occupies a majority portion of my time with The MOSS Team at DRC and I am all the happier for it. Real Estate really became my business. With an insatiable drive toward all manner of excellence, I have approached each professional effort with a commitment to do “one more thing one more time.” (I will make one more call, try one more crazy idea to make a deal work, spend one more hour building content more my website…) My realty practice has become an evolving, creative masterpiece in my life and an ever-changing obstacles course of opportunity. I discovered a long time ago (like middle school maybe) that I am a natural-born leader. I love advocating for others, coaching them through challenges and overcoming adversity by partnering in the work of problem-solving to achieve big goals. So, any business which allows me to jump hurdles for the immediate good of others is sort of my jam. Now, in real estate, I get to pair the art of positively influencing others with a healthy taste for friendly competition. Factor in my deep sensitivity for the major life changes inherent in the client experience and BOOM- I found my passion!
Thankfully, I have met with success in a field I really enjoy. It is a resulting privilege to indulge fully in my children’s lives, my husband’s thriving business at Rhino Roofing, and my endless clamor for travel and adventure. That old hand-me-down daydream of entrepreneurship has come full circle by way of individual intentionality, cultivation, and curation of rich person choices, and a bountiful harvest for which I give our Creator all the Glory. I hope to encourage all those I encounter in real estate and in life toward this single purpose – “Move To Live Well!”
Oh, by the way, somewhere in that winding story Steven and I were finally married in a perfectly awesome wedding in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with 42 of our most favorite people on earth, all of our loving parents and both of our children in attendance. Somebody read a little Thomas Merton, we ate some delicious Coconut Shrimp and Cielito Lindo played while we danced on the Playa. Exactly when all that went down doesn’t much matter – we were together. I forgot the rest.
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?
The challenges have always been primarily a head game, I think. Very few bumps in the road really have the ability to knock us down unless we start to doubt ourselves. One of the assets AND liabilities of my personality is that I don’t second guess myself often (which sounds awfully arrogant as I say it out loud). But I think of life a little like a gymnastics routine – the flips, twists, and jumps are definitely important but it’s all going to work out alright as long as I have pretty good form and make sure to stick the landing.
To answer more directly, some of the big challenges had to do with Rhino’s move to Wylie. Being so far from our former customer base and dividing our efforts to rebuild two businesses simultaneously required a grueling work ethic and laser focus. I was literally working my butt off. With a full plate as a working Mom trying to raise two little ones, our restoration business was hit with a surge of urgent customer needs resulting from catastrophic hailstorms in the local area. This pushed Rhino into the immediate need for a larger staff- a problem turned to bless as things calmed down. Growing pains are no joke.
Being spread so thin between my family and two professional loves, it was hard for me to finally surrender our restoration business into the care of my husband completely so that I could whole-heartedly invest in my true passion in the real estate field. It took time to settle into the conviction that it was finally the right time to move on. I think giving myself permission to be imperfect in my professional transition was all the grace I needed to put one foot in front of the other toward a new chapter as a REALTOR and just as a person.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with “The MOSS Team at Diversified Realty Consultants” AND “Rhino Roofing & Construction” – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
The Moss Team at Diversified Realty Consultants is a family-owned boutique real estate brokerage in Collin County specializing in residential real estate, unimproved land sales and acquisitions for experienced or novice realty investors. I am personally known for my engaging marketing campaigns of premier local listings and expert contract negotiations. My clients say they appreciate how I am able to provide an experience which is clear, simple and profitable by anticipating their unique needs and pro-actively overcoming a variety of challenges. They also love working with my Dream Team of Preferred Vendors who do business the same way I do – with integrity and enthusiasm!
I am extra proud that my team is staffed almost exclusively by North Texas natives with rich professional experience in fields related to the real estate industry such as commercial development, construction, real property investment. insurance, and finance. This makes us one of the most dynamic realty firms in all of North Texas with seasoned team members prepared to services a host of real estate clients!
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Personally, I am pursuing a strategy to advance my own real estate investment portfolio. It is my view that the financial opportunities available to me as a young person in Collin County are out of this world and I have no intention of squandering the strength of this market under the weight of uncertainty or intimidation. I may not achieve every goal I set but if I stumble, at least, I will fail high!
Professionally, I want to formalize a training system which will help new and experienced agents develop their own brand by identifying and maximizing personal strengths and opportunities within a niche market. My background makes me uniquely qualified to mentor new sales professionals. It is my goal to empower other agents with the skills necessary to be more than proficient real estate professionals but masters in relationship and communication.
Also, life will happen on its own too. So, I’m kind of excited to see how that adventure unfolds.
Pricing:
- NO COST Buyer Representation
- FREE Real Estate Investment Coaching & Consultation
- $1000 Broker Discount on Premier Listing Services ( Promo Code: VOYAGE)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.LeannaRealty.com
- Phone: 469.500.8871
- Email: Leanna@DRCTexas.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/leannarealty
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.
