Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cristina Damis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Cristina, thanks for joining 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.
Twenty years ago, a contractor asked me to list his house. I had recently parted ways with a company specializing in leasing, parked my real estate license with a one-man show brokerage and a tall, lanky fellow that I had met from another acquaintance at the time mentioned that he wanted a project to work on. What type of project I asked, and he replied that he wanted to move into a bigger space and specifically mentioned that he didn’t mind a fixer-upper. I said, I could assist him and after listing his house, we received an offer in five days. There was a lot of hustling to find him his dreamy house in disrepair but we managed. Fast forward until now, after re-starting my career in real estate (prior to which I focused on raising three babies) I met with the same client and since decades past we grew to become friends and now we are on an adventure in finding a farm ranging from 20 acres up to 200 acres. It’s been quite the adventure and we have been documenting it, he’s taking meticulous notes, and I have blossomed into quite the land specialist as a result. However, because of his past experience with me, he dares not put his house on the market until he finds his plot of land whilst he works on tidying up his current charming abode. I have a feeling this one will present us with an offer quickly, will it break our five day record? Stay tuned and find out, the house is being prepped as we speak and it couldn’t be quainter.
Cristina, 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?
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cristina Damis, a mama of three who has been shaping my nest with wit, heart and sweat. Nothing falls magically into place without intent, gratitude and action. Give me a place to tend, to nest, to settle in and I’ll fill it with wonder. The affinity for discovering spaces and creating marvels has long been in my heart, deep and abiding and I am on a mission to achieve this with members in my community and assist in building legacies that outlast us. When I am not cultivating an air of harmonious living in my nest, I do so in my community, with my mastery of my work, I connect with clients and manage and guide them through the things that matter most to them. It’s a craft that’s been seasoning like a stew into a low oven, covered, to bubble through the late afternoon hours. It all began on a Sunday in the backseat of an Oldsmobile with my father behind the wheel. Also along for the ride, my siblings, to view the the vacant lots and dilapidating structures our father would point out that were contenders, making his list for further investigation for lots to acquire. With intent and follow-through my father became a landowner of various plots of land. It’s a legacy he passed down not only in physical property but in our hearts. Today my siblings and I are entrepreneurs, just like our father we set the tone for our day, for our family and for our community.
Prior to establishing my business, I worked for family businesses or ones that started out as such, mostly in commercial property leasing and management. As a result, I worked closely with a variety of tenants, and grew particularity interested in local business owners and how they think, act and inspire one another in the community to dream innovate and grow, myself included. The urgency to create and build something for my family overcame me…I needed to be the miracle for us. My work ethic isn’t only what I can achieve for myself but what I can achieve for my family, my clients and my community. My mantra is better and better, brighter and brighter. Falling into an dark and abysmal trench certainly feels daunting but when I chant better and better, brighter and brighter every morning in my prayers, moderately and tenderly this cheer continually guides me to the edge where I see a glimmer of light and eventually not only do I reach it, I go beyond what I could ever imagine because I aim for it every day. When I strive to grow better and better, brighter and brighter than who I am and what I stand for, everything around me becomes better and better with my contributions. It’s an infectious energy infusing talent into every experience. In the end the world doesn’t need more realtors, more transactions, more consultants…it needs more creators, more innovators, more action with purposeful intention and gratitude…individuals willing to reshape what is possible and re-imagine a better way of living. It’s not just work, or just a title, or just a member of an association…it’s an extension of what I envision for this world. What is important to me and how I can assist others in achieving it. It’s about demonstrating the impossible that I make possible and offering another perspective on doing things in another light.
I commit to my responsibilities, take accountability and master my craft. Every day I work at being so good that no one can ignore my abilities. I make it a point to be in communion with nature and I have always enjoyed engaging in arts, culture, being social and active in my community supporting each other’s dreams and desires to make it better and better, bright and brighter.
Remember what you are not changing you are choosing, choose wisely friends.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Starting conversations within my daily routine. It starts with talking kindly to myself because if I can’t feel love for myself then I won’t be able to radiate it unto others. Even when things are messy and even after a slip-up, I give myself grace, breathe and reset my expectations. Because even when rerouting my path, I still can reach the outcome remarkably sanguine if I remain diligent and genuine. When people see this about me they connect to my humanness, they want to find out more about me and my work. As I cultivate the foundation of self-love and self-respect (it can be a process), I’m in a position to do business and adhere to my core values and build upon that every day remembering that big people ask big questions with the goal of strengthening the community and deepening understanding through reflective conversations. For example: What do you do? Who do you help? What problem do you solve? What is your passion? The answers have equipped me with my mission to foster what I want to see in this world and as a result people gravitate to my commitment. With this foundation, I’m ready to greet the world, be authentic and start up conversations with people not only about my industry or services but about my interests and the interests of the community. Finally, once a common ground is established, I ask to keep in touch, clients are for life, even if an opportunity isn’t available with the person immediately, I stay connected and one day my services will be required, or a referral made on my behalf, and perhaps I may find their services or products to be vital for a situation life presents me.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Strength of character was heeded from an earlier age from observing my father climb to the top of his mountain with nothing but his grit. And even when he made the impossible possible, he never stopped searching and doing more for himself, for his family and for his community. When he came across a problem, there was a slight recalibration and an action that followed…action absorbs anxiety. He operated from this great place of intention and a place of gratitude and things mostly flowed. A flow state comes only when in performance, if you’re not performing you remain stagnant and the moment you stop improving is the moment you get stuck in the mud and mire. Carry on, hone your craft, embody greatness and God, and lift yourself up and establish your next steps. Chant better and better, brighter and brighter and the glowing light will appear, even crooked logs make straight fires. There is no one way to do anything, it’s not always linear so stop looking for perfection and do with what you know and what is available and if there is nothing, may your spirit be indomitable.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cristinadamis.tpragent.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristinadamisrealtor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cristinadamisrealtor/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cristina-damis-real-estate-agent/?viewAsMember=true
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CristinaDamisRealEstateAgent
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/thef0lia/
Image Credits
credit by moi, Cristina Damis, Greenhouse photo taken by my child and last one by Kezia Rivera