We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Cynthia Davis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Dr. Cynthia, thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
The word ALERT continued to take resident in my mind. ALERT, ALERT, ALERT! I would hear those words all the time. As I continued to think about, meditate on, and inquire of the Lord about, I realize that ALERT was the name of my company. Soon after that revelation, I also realized that it was an acronym. ALERT stands for Abundant Life: Education, Renewal of the Mind, Teaching and Training. At the time I was a real estate associate aspiring to become the owner of my own brokerage. I began the process of opening my company by first obtaining my broker’s license, which is a requirement to own my own brokerage. After successfully completing the class and passing the state exam, I was on my way for sure at this point. My affiliation at that time was with another brokerage. As things would happen, I was conducting property management business through that brokerage and the owners made a decision to no longer allow property management services to be offered by the associates. That meant either I stopped conducing property management services, or I open my own brokerage and continue business under my own wings. I took the leap and I have been flying on my own since that time. You see, I was accustomed to taking leaps of faith because the same year I decided to work my real estate business full-time was the same year my oldest son graduated from high school. It was new beginnings for not only my oldest son but my other two children as well. I had been teaching in both the private and public sectors of education prior to the separation to full-time real estate. As a single parent, knowing what was require for my children and myself to live not less than we were accustomed to, failure was not an option.
You could say I was on a mission at this point to move swiftly. It was critical for me to stay focused and within budget, and I did. Finding an office, joining the local MLS services, joining the local Board of REALTORS, which also provided me membership in the State of Georgia and the National Association of Realtors. Next membership I desired was to join the Chamber of Commerce because I wanted to be connected to my community and position myself to be a source of information while adding value to those whom I crossed paths. My thinking was, being a small brokerage did not mean I was missing the tools needed to remain productive and successful in the real estate business. I did not want to miss a beat in my business while making the transition to owning my own brokerage. Slowly I added sales associates to the brokerage and began to train and mentor other agents. The training and mentoring were exactly what I was aspiring to do, so it was very rewarding and fulfilling to help others grow their business. At this point I am beginning to see how the name of my company is who I am. ALERT Enterprises, LLC is the parent company, and the brokerage is ALERT Properties. The tagline line is “Real Estate from the Heart”. Realizing that I had to be mindful of what was in my heart as I would be doing business from my heart, my focus was to connect with real estate associates for the brokerage who were of like mind or was wanting to be mentored to do business from the heart. People first.
The brokerage is continuing to move forward and serve our clients and customers through buying, selling, and leasing real estate. I am grateful for the associates who trust me to provide them with the skills and tools needed for them to move forward in their business.
I became certified by the Georgia Real Estate Commission as an Instructor because of my strong commitment to teaching, training, and adding value to others. ALERT Enterprises, LLC now has another business, and it is ALERT Real Estate School. The school offers classes for aspiring real estate professionals to meet the initial requirement to obtain their real estate license; classes for those desiring to go to the next level in real estate and obtain their broker’s license, and continuing education classes. Adding value to others has continued to burn within my heart, now positioning me to teach for the Georgia Association of Realtors school, Partners in Education, as well as, teaching some National Association of Realtors classes. My goal is not only delivering content but to enlighten students on the value of growing themselves and staying current in the market of real estate. I teach throughout the State of Georgia both in-person and virtually. Teaching, Training, Leading, Equipping, Speaking is always done with the goal of helping all contacts achieve their Abundant Life. This is my life mission.
The opportunity to continue moving forward and upward in my passion led me to become a certified Teacher, Trainer, and Coach for the John Maxwell Team. This amazing opportunity has afforded me the opportunity to touch more lives and widen my offered materials and tools. Being an advocate of education, this opportunity has provided me with additional opportunities to sharpen my own personal tools and fine-tune my mindset as well. Providing leadership training, diversity awareness sessions, and leadership enlightenment sessions is my focus. These services are offered through my company, The Enlightenment Institute.
This entire process has been one of discovering who I am and what I bring to the table. The table set before me might be real estate or it might be leadership and training. The common thread is that I am always learning, discovering, and growing myself so assure that I am prepared and position to help others do the same.
What I have realize is that there have been multiple launches from my first business launch. It is amazing and beautiful all at the same time.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am not sure if I found real estate or if real estate found me. It began with a phone call from a relative over 40 years ago…Have you ever thought about doing real estate they asked? Truly, I had not given it any thought. However, once they said the word real estate, I could not shake it from that point. I pursued the requirements for obtaining my license and I guess you could say the rest is history. I have worked both part-time and full-time in the business and I have even taken breaks and not worked the business at all. But, as previously stated, real estate always found it way back to me. When I was not working the business of real estate I was teaching in other capacities. I have taught both math and music in the public-school sector and offered private piano lessons as well. Tutoring math students was another form of teaching, training, and adding value to others’ lives for me.
My life before obtaining my real estate license was providing customer service as a flight attendant. As I look back today, I see how the training of providing excellent customer service is an intricate part of my now business. Often times, my clients’ comment on and refer me because of the personalized service I provided them and my attention to details about their transaction. Helping others maintain a peaceful and knowledgeable position throughout the real estate transaction is paramount for me. I want them to understand, learn, and growth through our time together.
Now I am to the point that I write my own continuing education classes and receive approval from the Georgia Real Estate Commission to teach the courses for CE credits, Additionally, I write and teach biblical studies, continuing to add value to others. Recently, I have opened a brokerage in South Carolina to widen my span.
I am most proud of how I clients and customers continue to be the main focus of my business. Staying true to who I am is truly rewarding.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source of new clients for me has always been and continues to be referrals from previous clients, family, and friends.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
The advice I offer for managing a team and maintaining high morale is to first, know what I expect from myself, model those expectations, have clearly defined policy and procedures for operating and conducting business. Provide a safe place to maintain a healthy and open relationship with team members.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alertpropertiesre.com