We recently connected with Andrea Fowler and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Andrea thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back at the decisions you made early in your career, particularly whether to join a firm or start your own, do you feel you made the right choice for that stage of your career?

I started real estate in November 2013. At the time, I worked for a non-profit housing developer in Dallas. Real estate was supposed to be something part time to hone my skills for real estate development. My boss was like, “Andrea, real estate is cut throat.” I didn’t believe her. I sold my first house and had my resignation letter on her desk because I had 3 closings in the pipeline the next month. I closed those three and had NOTHING for months. She convinced me to stay after the resignation later. I was so happy about that because it would have been “Struggle City”.

I decided to join a team while working full-time. I lasted a week. It was not for me. I liked being in control of my own destiny.

Those lessons took me to really transition myself from being just a real estate agent to a business owner. I perfected my craft during that time. By 2016, my business had really taken off and I could manage rollercoasters with finances in real estate.

I had a “come to Jesus” moment one late night because that’s when my best ideas come to me. I created my whole New Avenue Realty brand and never looked back.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m Andrea T. Fowler, Entrepreneur, a native of Louisiana. Ruston, Louisiana to be exact (hey 318!) I studied Business Management at LSU in Baton Rouge.

By senior year at LSU, I felt Dallas was the next best place for me so I moved to DFW to study public administration at the University of North Texas.

Currently today, I am the owner of New Avenue Realty Group at Keller Williams (residential real estate business), Seven21 Properties (real estate investing business), and Noire Beauty Supply.

During grad school at the University of North Texas, my focus was always on Community/Economic Development. I wanted to help low to moderate income families build wealth through homeownership. The goal was to do this with city policies and programs. I worked an internship and one of the managers suggested real estate as an option. It never came across my mind to do residential real estate.

It took awhile before I transitioned. At that time, entrepreneurship wasn’t in my dreams. I decided to start at the nonprofit level of development. I knew that would be more hands-on and a direct involvement with the community. After a year of that, I decided to shift my gears in real estate.
I took real estate classes and decided I was going to teach generational wealth through homeownership on my own terms.

For me, real estate isn’t an emotional thing. It is financial. Yes, emotions are tied to it but the financial piece is always at the core. I teach my clients to pay attention to development. It happens years before you physically see it.

I’m usually proud when my clients can regurgitate the game I’ve given them to building wealth and watching them walk away from the closing table with hundreds of thousands of dollars from buying and selling homes.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for me is social media. It is an easy way to connect with people. I sometimes believe that people forget the keyword to it: social. You have to be social with people in order to grow your business using it as a tool.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I’ll share the story of a new business I’ve recently opened.

My main business is real estate. However, in 2019, I got the bright idea to start a beauty supply store in the burbs (Prosper, Texas specifically).

I had NO CLUE what it would cost me and truthfully, I start out under capitalized which happens with black owned businesses such as beauty supply stores.

Well we all know what happened March 2020 just when I was ready to take business plans to banks and ask for money. PANDEMIC. SHUT DOWN. DON’T PASS GO.

It took me 3 months hearing no or completing long applications just to hear that funding has been on hold with funding startups that are specifically for small minority businesses.

Remember, my best ideas come late at night. I’m a firm believer of using local banks. I decided to connect with a local bank in Prosper and a local bank I already had a relationship with. Credit wise, I knew I was great. I had funds to put skin into the game. I just needed more. The hardest part was explaining the needs of black hair care to white men and why it mattered. It just so happens that one of the people in the room was a black woman who understood my pitch. It was her guiding that helped me get a bank loan for $100K to open my store. Now, I needed way more unbeknownst to me at the time. It was hard getting contractors out to give me a quote and some would never send anything after meeting me. I got a lowball quote that made the $100K just enough for construction. I had to pay for inventory and payroll out of my own pocket.

When funding a business, especially brick and mortar, always go in higher and don’t submit any quotes until you have 3-4. I actually learned that from one of the bankers. By the time I learned the lesson, the loan was being processed.

Lesson here: Talk with multiple banks especially local ones that are near your location. Get multiple quotes and understand the timing it takes to get things done in a pandemic.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.NewAvenueRealty.com
• Instagram: @NewAveRealty
• Facebook: FB.COM/newaverealty
• Youtube: Youtube.com/c/newavenuerealty
• Other: My beauty supply store is Noire Beauty Supply located in Prosper, TX. 2381 E. University Dr #60 Prosper, TX 75078 You can follow us on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram at @noirebeautysupply.

Image Credits
The photographers of the photos are Isha Gaines and Tanesha Renee.