Today we’d like to introduce you to Cristina Damis.
Cristina, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I still miss sliding a single shiny copper coin across Mrs. Cortez’s counter in exchange for a single piece of bubble gum wrapped like a present. A quaint candy store, although I think it was more of an honest-to-g00dness general store, but as I child I spied with my little eyes aisles of confectionary treats from my first step into my favorite hometown shop. My mother would let my brothers and I roam while she was next door keeping up with her curls at Constance’s Hair Salon. Our noses picked up the scent of lunch around the corner as the smell of melting cheese on beer battered crust at the pizza joint luring us out next door. It was a smaller strip center but it was down the street from our home where we would amber about on a whim to pass the afternoon away, a source of real comfort in our primary years. Years later my father would invest in an abandon gas station where after remediation, he built his own strip center with a fairly substantial tenant mix. I was now in high school and saw the progress and was intrigued with the retail aspect of real estate that I believed in lending to this particular community building development on Earth, and so I did.
My love affair continued when I landed with a family organization whose leader passionately pursued to develop Pittsburgh’s first state-of-the-art lifestyle center that included retail, office, hotel and residential components along a riverfront. I worked closely with the assigned architect sharpening my knowledge of various building systems, safety & security awareness, construction & general maintenance of all operations. As a leasing agent for the company, it was essential that I was aware of budgets, vacant spaces, tenant build-out issues on a day-to-day operation in order to attain the proper leasing mix of the center and increase overall profits of the organization.
I then accepted an opportunity to be Leasing Associate and head of Tenant Services for another family run business. In addition to managing tenant concerns, I researched market information and compiled marketing packages for prospective tenants and brokers as well as prepared leasing proposals, letter of intents and reviewed lease language, prepared invoices and expense reporting for payment.
To this day, I have been passionate about connecting with business owners and discovering how they think, act and inspire the community. This path to connect has been imprinted on me and formed from my youthful days meandering around the spaces built of three sole proprietors from the community to be of service to the residents of the community. From this symbiotic relationship, I organically veered into and most recently started dabbling in the residential side of real estate and have enjoyed it more than I ever imagined. Something about the property search when it becomes personal and witnessing the expansion of my clients transition into one of their biggest and most impactful decision they will make in determining their future is so rewarding…it never gets old.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been playful and revelatory to be able to find the extraordinary in the ordinary and to make others the heroes in their lives…it’s the constellation prize to witness the beauty of finding that safe place for my buyers or the admiration I feel understanding the courage of sellers letting go something they built for decades. In my start-up, I have walked a challenging mile or two on some dark and strange roads mainly because it’s a transactional business and no one willing to shine their light on my path when I first hit that road. I had to drudge through each step feeling heavier and heavier not knowing when my next transaction would take place. I had to remind myself that there was always the one person to count on, me and that if I wanted something I have never had, I must do something I have never done. Taking incredibly challenging steps knowing I pushed myself, feeling sore and vulnerable yet, somehow, I survived because I didn’t dread the darkened path as it steered me into a visceral realm and by simply being me and keeping my spirits up which in turned aligned me with another opportunity, another person’s dream realized, and I never been bettered from each challenge but so were the others sharing the experience with me.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Adventure Awaits
I’m an innovative self-starter and I literally hold the keys to clients’ future. I don’t just buy or sell property, I offer opportunities for creators, thinkers and doers. By holding space for clients, taking time to listen to their story and creating the necessary allowance for discovery so I may learn what there is to achieve. I have a step-by-step strategy in finding the foremost property or preparing the property and marketing for the prime price and outcome. All along the way, speaking life into folks in need of words pact with much potential and power in supporting their ideas, encouraging their dreams, pointing out strengths and potential because sometimes all it takes is one person to remind you that it’s possible and you are worthy and knowing that the journey is going to lead you where you were meant to be. I’m that person folks turn to for guidance and cautionary tales and with my knowledge of the market, I determine how to fit them into the community or opportunity of their desire. In short, energy is everything, I’m the light that brings the vibes onto this guiding front–no matter how daunting and intimidating the process may seem, especially if life circumstances are currently unpleasant, I ensure that the journey is enjoyable, fulfilling and successful. It’s an honor to be able to aide someone in finding the place that feels right and safe to start a new adventure because nothing feels better than bringing a client home or to a spot to grow a business and build a legacy to elevate their existence and everyone around them. I’ve been extraordinarily fortunate to form relationships or organize relationships with folks over the years to live and work together and seeing what is possible in finding ways to persevere in tasks small and large that elevate and bring life to communities. I look forward to applying this energy toward the collective for our optimal possible existence and know that I must be the change I wish to see. With my small acts of compassion, kindness and intent to propel us there, I’m up for the adventure. It’s what I adored more than anything, an adventure since I was a young lass, better still an adventure with friends. And here I stand, in service to the community to orchestrate individuals and extend an invitation to walk with me on that path that ignites them from embarkment to a place to call their own. At the end of the day, we all love a safe place to call home. Building the foundation at home comes first and once established then expanding the version of ourselves into our surroundings is paramount to building a tightknit community. The community around it is our responsibility, how do we choose to live?
What’s next?
Blowing in the Wind
Figuring out not only how to make my own living but how to make myself all the while the world continues to change is revelatory. In scriptures, John advocates his view on blowing in the wind. John 3:8 “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it’s going. So is of everyone born with spirit.” The Greek word for spirit is the same as that for wind. No matter how unpredictable or mysterious, I plan on living authentically, embracing growth and discovering beauty in imperfection…it’s timeless work of art that will continue to shape my branding, motivate me to take action and stay on my disciplinary path of crafting effortlessly and achieving dynamic results because what makes me better is better for everyone around me. I look forward to more adventures with my clients, assisting in building and expanding their legacies and witnessing as they provide and protect a solid foundation while opening the gates where everything they create is achieved and outlasts our time on this planet for their progeny to continue cultivating and rebuilding. The underlying focus of my goal for myself and for creating in my industry is: It’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you, it’s what you leave behind you when you go into the wind.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cristinadamis.tpragent.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristinadamisrealtor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cristinadamisrealtor/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CristinaDamisRealEstateAgent/shorts
- Other: https://canvasrebel.com/meet-cristina-damis/
Image Credits
Photos were taken by moi