Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brandon Dukes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Brandon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The first dollar your firm earns is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.

I had just started my Realtor career. When you first start there are a lot of unknowns but quite a bit of eagerness. I had no firm clients yet but my peers certainly did, so I decided to see if I could shadow an Open House which basically means you]re there to observe and talk to the other Realtor but stay in the background. I was very excited to attend my first Open House even if it wasn’t my listing. It was a great learning opportunity. While there the listing Realtor began to get extremely busy so I began to help in a manner that still showed a secondary role as it wasn’t my listing. I began to speak to an Open House attendee. While talking, we found out that we both had experiences with the military. He gave me a card first and then I gave him mine. He called me about 15 minutes later and said “Brandon I’m looking to sale a couple of my portfolio properties.” I said “sure my sister and I (who has six years experience) would be happy to set-up a time next week to discuss.” We set an appointment, had a discussion and six weeks later we ended up selling his entire 10 property portfolio!! The moral of this story is create your opportunities.

Brandon, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Decatur, Ga. Throughout my childhood sports and competition were at the forefront. Upon graduating high school, I joined the United States Navy as a Submariner and Cook. During my four year enlistment, I garnered many awards and travelled the world. After receiving my honorable discharge, I pursued my passion of food & beverage by enrolling at The Culinary Institute of America where I garnered a Bachelor Degree. After graduation, I began my career with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. I instantly made a stellar name for myself mostly by being consistent and having a willingness to learn. I worked for them in Scottsdale, Az and Guanacaste, Costa Rica where I continued to live for six years. Moving back to the states, I continued my F & B career and began to dabble a bit into entrepreneurship by starting my t-shirt and hat company which I had for five years. I left the rigorous day to day of operations and started my career in education by teaching at Le Cordon Bleu as a Chef Instructor, which was one of my favorite gigs. During this time, I began my private Chef business and later my pop-up business called Dukes Delicious Dogs. I would pop-up at breweries all over the city. This concept will become a restaurant one day. As my creative and entrepreneurial spirit continued to grow and real estate began to be a the top of my mind, I decided to become a Realtor. My family has had a long line of successful Realtors from my Father and Aunts to more recently my sister and I. I work for an amazing brokerage firm called Berkshire Hathaway. We provide services in leasing, buying, selling and commercial real estate. As I continue to grow my brand (Kennetic Realty named after my father Kenn) within their brand. I stand on four pillars: Consistency, Integrity, Knowledge and Service. These four pillars will help me to continue to grow my brand and also create a bit of separation. I’ve only been a Realtor for a year and I’m headed to and plan to surpass 5 million in sales. The Kennetic Realtor “Bringing People Together”

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

My most effective strategy for growing clientele is by creating a memorable and lasting impression on my clients which in turn their word of mouth and written reviews will help me garner more clients. My goal is to create clients for life which means my service was impeccable and I continue to keep in touch even after their real estate goal has been achieved. The relationship grows and lasts that way.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I’ve built a stellar reputation within my market by continuing to put my client’s needs and goals first. When you work from a position of genuine service the stellar reputation should follow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://brandondukes.bhhsgeorgia.com/
• Instagram: @thekenneticrealtor

Image Credits
Dwayne Boyd Photography