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

Nia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.

Hindsight is 20/20 so being a visionary, working with the end in mind and being willing to venture out afraid is how I would have gotten here faster and with less cash.

When I became a licensed Realtor 2007, I relocated my family into the Historic West End community. I had visions of living within a community similar to what I left behind in Brooklyn. The brownstones, the cultural diversity and accessibility.
However, shortly after, literally within a few months, the market shifted and we had an economic crash plagued with mortgage fraud and my zip code was “ground zero”..
It was during this time, I had to swiftly pivot and shift business practices from mostly assisting first time homebuyers in their purchase of a median priced home to assisting homeowners avoid foreclosure and selling homes to investors at unthinkably low prices ($10K).

If I were starting over, I would focus on acquiring as a means to preserving the aspects I thought unique about the community and ensure future affordable housing.

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 am a native New Yorker (Brooklynite). I relocated my family in 2001 to Atlanta for opportunities the city would offer my children. At the time, architecture was a passion but, technology captured my heart. Well, the money in technology captured my heart. Upon relocating, I had the privilege of working with Diebold Election systems in rolling out the voting touchscreens across the state of GA. During this process I learned much about the South, cities, counties and governing laws. I also learned about the City of Atlanta and noticed the contrast in living conditions from city to city.
What was most jarring was the contracts and differences of services received in minority neighborhoods, which were mostly occupied by renters and absentee owners.

The experience shifted my thinking, and traveling back to Brooklyn, seeing first hand the changes and effects of gentrification motivated me to want to do more for my underserved community. While at Diebold, I began studying for my Real Estate license with the intention of helping renters become owners to improve their living conditions.

Area West Realty,LLC was formed in 2012, established as a minority, 100% women owned Brokerage to support local residents. Our goal and purpose is to educate and increase homeownership within minority communities as well as advocate inclusivity of our Senior neighbors.

We specialize in longterm planning, ensuring our clients are acquiring property that will benefit them now and their future aspirations to leverage Real Estate as a means to generational wealth.
By partnering with our clients and community, we establish relationships beyond the transaction, this is what set us apart from other Brokerages. We live where we serve and have broadened our services to provide a need in spaces beyond Real Estate, which have included hosting Senior Socials, teaching community Yoga classes and motivating our Team and their families to make wellness a priority.

We take “owning where you live” literally- be it owning a physical dwelling or the embodiment of this principle in your being.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I met my business partner, Jerilyn Lewis, at a local Coffee Shop. The Grounds Coffee shop was run by former Real Estate investors who too were on a mission of community development in the early 2000’s (I actually bought my current home from them). While chatting about the condition of our community, Jerilyn over heard and the rest is history!

Jerilyn is the perfect Yang to my Yin.. – if you catch our IG Live’s you will see what I mean. She is straight to the point, where I try to be a little more “go with the flow” .Our balance makes a great team.

How did you build your audience on social media?

When I began, I maintained an online WordPress Blog to bring exposure to the community, resources and challenges our company solved. Being consistent in posting, authentic in expressing my opinions and transparency helped me to build relationships and become a trusted resource. My advise is to be consistent and although it can be difficult to keep up with “treads” or “fads” it is beneficial to know and use the basics. Another word of advice is to not be afraid to try new things and fail.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.areawestrealty.com
• Instagram: @areawestrealty, @nia_george
• Facebook: @AreaWestRealty
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@areawestrealty

Image Credits
Mista Funn