Today we’d like to introduce you to Phillip S. Calloway.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Phillip. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My career has been a true intersection of business and education. I started as a substitute teacher at the Cushman School, in Miami, FL. Cushman is a small private school founded in 1924 on the principles of Courtesy, Industry, and Responsibility. During the six years that I spent at Cushman, growing from substitute to Assistant Athletic Director, I can honestly say that I learned as much as I taught.
While at Cushman, I earned my Masters in Sports Administration from Barry Univerisity and began interning at White Glove International. White Glove was a ticket brokerage and concierge service and was the official partner of the Miami HEAT during the Big 3 Era. We sold everything from courtside and premium tickets to a HEAT game to premium and exclusive tickets for the Super Bowl, the World Cup, the Grammy’s, etc. Over the course of four years, I traveled the globe buying and selling tickets to some of the most exclusive events. But all good things come to an end, and one day, my boss told me that he couldn’t afford to pay me anymore.
Just before that conversation, I had recently been a guest lecturer in a course at Johnson & Wales University. The professor happened to be the college chair at the time and offered me the chance to take on a class of my own. So in December 2015, I return to the classroom. Teaching wasn’t going to be enough, so I decided to get my real estate license as well, and thought to myself, if I can sell a ticket for $15,000, I can sell a house. It took me about three months before I closed my first deal, but once I did, I never looked back. I worked for a small independent brokerage, and my broker gave me the resources to launch a successful career. In my third year of real estate, I decided to open up my own firm: Influencers Realty Group.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The summer after my first year teaching, my car got repossessed right at the beginning. Just before my 25th birthday. I spent that whole summer with no car, and this was before Uber or Lyft. Heck, this was before iPhones even came out. I spent that summer on a bicycle. I had a bicycle and a bus pass. It was a really tough time, but I made it through.
Real Estate has not been smooth. Deals fall apart. People change their minds. Things happen, and you don’t get paid unless everything goes right. Sometimes, it feels like you’re the only one who really wants the deal to go through. It took me three months to make a dime in real estate. Three months. That’s three months with NO money coming in. But in those moments, I remembered being car-less and eating ramen noodles and easy mac. I think back to the discipline it took to pull myself out of that mess and knew that I could overcome what was simply another challenge to be faced.
Influencers Realty Group – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Influencers Realty Group, LLC is a boutique, independent real estate brokerage specializing in South Florida real estate. At our core, we are a real estate company that helps clients buy and sell real property, but this company is so much more than that. Being that my passion is education, my focus is providing clients and agents as much information and knowledge about the industry. Educated clients are happier clients. And our goal is to please our clients.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
As a realtor, you’re in the service business. We are helping people find their most sacred space. I find great joy in some of the experiences and the stories behind the deal. Accordingly, my proudest moment was a recent sale. I was helping my client sell her home of 31 years as she packed up to move to Kansas. At the same time, I received a call from a different client looking to purchase this home for his mother. My client lives in Portland but wanted to buy this house for his mother to live in, because she had never owned her own home. At the closing table, the young man broke down into tears as he signed the documents and I gave the keys to his mother. It’s moments like that, the joy on her face and pride in his heart, that makes all of the hard work worth the effort.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.influencersre.com
- Phone: 3059266706
- Email: broker@influencersre.com
- Instagram: @the.realestate.professor
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/th3.realestate.professor
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/theREprofessor
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