8 minute read
COVER STORY A Talk with Makeda Smith
Atalk
WITH MAKEDA SMITH
BY JENNIFER STREAK; CREATIVE DIRECTOR, MELISSA HIBBERT; PHOTOGRAPHER, CARL ANKRUM; MAKEUP ARTIST, BRITTANY CORRINE
MMakeda Smith has charted her own course to success. Her company, Savvy Chicks in Real Estate®, was born out of her love for real estate and marketing, and guides women in the field on how to maximize their online presence and create additional streams of income. Makeda has been a multi-million dollar real estate producer for over 18 years and is known as an educator, digital marketer and business wealth strategist. With over 100,000 followers across social media, she has helped female agents scale up their businesses through e-books, masterclasses, courses and guides – and now, with the current mortgage interest rates and a looming recession, her expert advice is even more important. HOPE Magazine spoke with Makeda about her journey to success, her goals for the future as well as the financial advice she has for homebuyers in the face of this uncertain economy.
– Makeda Smith
Q: Makeda, how did you get your start in real estate?
A: I got started as an entrepreneur in 2004 when my husband suggested I get my real estate license. At the time, I was working for a Cobra insurance company as a customer service representative and I didn’t see real estate as a business opportunity for myself. However, my husband thought I would do well in real estate, so I went ahead and got my license and I haven’t looked back since.
Q: You have been in the industry for a while now. What has been your strategy for standing out and staying competitive and how would you advise others?
A: My first real estate brokerage firm was Century 21. I had a mentor who had been in the industry for over 30 years and I was able to learn how to build a real estate business from him. The first step I took was to partner with neighborhood housing programs. These programs, similar to NACA, would send me business once the clients had gone through their counseling program and that helped me close my first seven deals in real estate. Today, having an online media presence is huge in terms of standing out and growing your business and that is what I teach agents who work with me now.
Q: Tell us about the Savvy Chicks in Real Estate® community.
A: Savvy Chicks started in October 2017 because I had realtors sliding into my DMs and responding to these questions was becoming a full-time job. It was something
I really enjoyed doing, so I thought about how I could help fellow realtors as well as how I could monetize it.
I opened the business as a marketing agency and a business consulting firm. Once the agents started buying my courses and booking appointments, I realized this was a viable business. Then in January 2018, I decided to build a community and launched a membership program. I call it Savvy Chicks Social Penthouse®. When we started, I had less than 10 people join the community, but now, just four years later, I am proud to say that we have over 200 members and have helped so many agents build six and seven figure incomes. What I am most proud of is the fact that they do not see each other as competitors but as a sisterhood, lifting each other up in business.
Q: How do you define Black wealth and luxury?
A: When I think about Black wealth and luxury, it is really about freedom; the freedom to be able to enjoy life and go places that you normally would not have thought about.
Understand, I grew up on the West side of Chicago in an apartment where my brother, sister and I all shared a room until we were teenagers. It was pretty cramped. Now, I’m able to offer the next generation, my children and my grandchildren, different options. It’s mind blowing.
It’s also about knowing how to handle your money. When I made my first six figures, I did not understand about filing my taxes and I ended up having to get on a payment plan with the IRS to pay off back taxes that I owed. Even at seven figures, you need to upgrade those who handle your money. At this level, you need a strategy and advisors around you to help you keep more of what you earn. Now, I tell business owners these are the things you go through when building a business that most won’t tell you about.
Q: Because of rising inflation, gas and grocery prices, financial literacy is now top of mind for so many people.
When should we start having those conversations about money and building wealth?
A: I think as soon as possible, from the time you are sliding that dollar bill under your kid’s pillow for their missing tooth. I have fellow agents who tell me they are taking their kids with them to work to show them how the money is being made in their respective households and
I think that’s great. For a lot of us, all we knew growing up was that bills were paid, but we did not know how or even what some of our parents did for a living. With the economy we are living in right now, it’s vital we start having these conversations early with our kids and even family members. Show them how the money is made, how bills are paid and how to save.
Q: In this housing market, there are still those who want to purchase their first home. What advice would you give them?
A: I would advise anyone to find out how much purchasing power they have. People wait until they are ready to buy a home to get a copy of their credit report and that is too late. Know what is on your credit report before you try to get a mortgage loan. The law gives you access to a free credit report every year; you don’t get your credit score, but you will be able to see what is on your credit report and make any corrections if necessary.
Q: What are a few of your proudest moments as an entrepreneur?
A: I am really proud of helping people achieve their goals. I was excited as a real estate agent to see my clients be able to buy, sell and generate wealth. I remember helping an elderly couple in their 60s buy their very first home. I think about a personal friend of mine, Attorney Rosezena
Pierce, and I am very proud of the fact I helped her build her multi-million dollar law firm early on. I help my clients grow bigger and better and I am very proud of being a small piece of what God is doing in their lives.
Q: What is next for your business?
A: I remember Master P saying that products will outlast you. So, my next goal is to create more products for Savvy
Chicks in Real Estate®. I am 47 and I want to retire when
I want to take my brand global. I often say the world is a playground and we are not limited to our backyard and the local area. That is the next step for Savvy Chicks – global accessibility. I now have my real estate license in the
Dominican Republic - it’s just the first country where the opportunity makes sense.
My husband and I recently had an opportunity to speak internationally in Dubai at a business retreat. What I took away the most from this trip was the audacity that one man had to build a man-made island. That island has some of the most expensive real estate in the country. Sheikh Mohammed, Prime Minister of the UAE of Dubai, assembled a team of experts to help him make their country one of the #1 destinations in the world. People told him it couldn’t be done but he proceeded with his vision. He is the epitome of someone who turned around to the naysayers and said let me show you how it’s done. Game on. As I build my global brand, I’m moving with this mindset.
Q: Is there anything else you want our readers to know?
A: Yes. When it comes to Black wealth and luxury, I believe that if you are not taking somebody with you, you’re not really doing anything. There are three women I would like to highlight who I look up to and are doing big things in our community. They are not celebrities, but they are influencers making a huge impact and have us thinking differently about what is possible to build wealth.
The first is Alexis McDowell, a Chicago-based attorney who has built a hard money lending company to help investors invest in the Black community. Next, is Cassandra Cummings, the founder of The Stocks & Stilettoes Society. She is a financial planner who is showing other women, especially Black women, how to invest and trade within the stock market. And finally, Davonne Reeves, who just left Chicago a couple of weeks ago on her hotel property tour and I will say I would’ve never thought as a Black woman (and even for my husband as a Black man) that we could invest in and own a hotel. Davonne now owns three hotels and she has shown through her crowdfunding program how other people can own and invest in hotels. I have learned so much from these women. Z
