We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Devonté Dinkins . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Devonté below.

Alright, Devonté thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Born and raised in Prince George’s County MD and Washington D.C as a student athlete and entrepreneur (had candy store, sold t-shirts, snow removal, sold Christmas Trees, print marketing, etc), but also grew up going to church which I believe gave me a huge sense of humility and compassion. I had goals of making it to the NBA and using funds to reinvest into underserved communities and also help spur entrepreneurship in underserved communities where creative ideas are needed most. Injuries and several coaching changes throughout highschool became an issue with the recruiting process, jumped around to several colleges to attempt to live out hoop dreams. Finally came to terms that the NBA was not in the cards, decided to come back to Maryland and complete my goal of graduating in four years by taking 23+ Credits each semester of my senior year and self teaching myself real-estate investing. By the Grace of God I was able to secure an internship and then employment with a development company in Washington DC. I was then placed in rooms with Ivy League Graduates, and with my curiosity and entrepreneur mindset, was able to go from property management to Portfolio/Asset Manager of one of the fastest growing real estate development firms in DC. Through this time as a kid to an adult I also got to watch Washington D.C be gentrified, which I’m not against improving areas, but I believe those who started and built those communities should benefit and not be pushed out. This thought process led me to research markets that I believed had potential to be developed but would allow underserved people in communities to benefit if they had the knowledge. So, I purchased a three unit apartment in Hagerstown MD (lived in one apartment and rented the others, so I could live rent free), then Legit Management was created as a property management firm, which would help create income for me to sustain after leaving my job, but also have a underlying social impact initiative. With my background in real estate combined with my childhood, this helped me to come up with the Entrepreneur Campus idea. Which in short is creating a college style Atmosphere (walkable physical campus) of minority entrepreneurs that can be dropped in neighborhoods to help spur development, but an important factor is having entrepreneurs that also come from the community that the campus exist, which allows for the synergy of new entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs that already understand the needs of their communities. Entrepreneurs solve problems, it’s great to be in a booming city but coming to a place that you know has problems creates a challenge, but challenges create opportunity for small entrepreneurs to become elite in their problem solving field. So in 2016 I began to work on Phase 1 of what will be my personal largest development project called ” The Greenwood District Entrepreneur Campus”. The Entrepreneur Campus is located in Downtown Hagerstown and features a walkable community of several minority owned businesses, with plans of redevelopment into 500,000 square feet of mixed-use retail, office, outdoor event space, housing for entrepreneurs, artist, athletes, and the growing workforce in Downtown Hagerstown

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Two very important lessons that I had to unlearn: 1. Do not allow people to shift your business vision. 2.Only bring partners along your journey who completely understand your vision, goals, and culture.

Taking in advice and information is always great, but use that info to improve your vision.goals,and culture you don’t have to change completely. There have been times when people have convinced me to change a deal or maybe market a certain program differently than I envisioned. In those instances things never went as planned. When I started to be clear on what I wanted to see happen and how things should work and let my team just help me get there, that’s when things improved dramatically for my business.

Partnerships can be great as well, but again it is important that partners’ goals and beliefs are the same as yours. In deals where I was not clear or rushed things with partners, those situations never ended well, or reached the potential they could have. When partners are on the same page, our goals have always been reached and many times exceeded expectations.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy to growing my clientele has been simple: ” Be yourself always.” I am sure people hear about being yourself all the time, but since my business is about building and improving communities, I have found that by being myself I attract like minded individuals that believe in me and my vision, and who push the community further than you could ever do on your own. . This is extremely important in those hard times when tough decisions have to be made or processes may need to be improved. The conversations are easier because your clients know you well, and know at the end of the day you have their best interest in mind. Trust creates growth and referrals, your clientele should be part of your community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thelegitmanagement.com/projects
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theGreenwoodinitiative?mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devonte-dinkins-7b30ba58

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