Fashionable Flipping: Meet Brandon Lewis, The Dapper Agent
Meet your neighbor, Brandon Lewis. Read on to learn a bit about his life and tune in next Wednesday for Episode 3 of the Max Loves Midland Show for a deep dive! It should be easy to watch because you've already gone to YouTube and subscribed to our channel, right?!
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Max
Watch Episode 3 of
The Max Loves Midland Show
In His Own Words:
I'm entering year ten with Ayre Reinhardt Real Estate Partners, but arriving at this place is an interesting story. Before settling back in Midland, where I graduated from Midland High, I lived everywhere. I lived in Chicago, LA, and even went back to Flint, where I lived before moving to Midland in the fifth grade. My wife and I were starting a family and were torn between Chicago and Flint. That's when I said, "Let's go back home." After all, my wife, Katie, and I are high school sweethearts, and this place is our place.
That was the beginning of doing the 'Midland Thing.' I nicknamed it 'The Blueprint.' And I love 'The Blueprint,' I'm not even going to lie. 'The Blueprint' is simple - you have a kid, you move into a house, and you work at Dow. I really do love 'The Blueprint.' It's a great life, but I wasn't sure that I could sit at the same desk for the next how ever many years. It just didn't feel authentic to me.
I don't want to necessarily say I went on a journey to 'find myself,' but that's kind of what happened. I started looking at different things and keeping my eyes open for other options. One of my regular podcast listens was The Breakfast Club, and I remember this was early in the show. At that time, it was very new and outlandish. They had a reformed dude who recently turned into a realtor as a guest—I'm not even lying— he made real estate sound so cool. He was dropping names like Odell Beckham and others. I couldn't believe it, but I thought, "That's kind of cool." Those were the good Twitter days, so after the interview, I followed him and shot him a message. I said, "Hey, great interview. That was kind of inspiring. Any tips for me?" He actually wrote back and suggested some books. He told me to go for it, to jump in. So, I started reading the books he recommended and thought, "Maybe I will do this."
My inlaws, who have experience in real estate, had already encouraged me to enter the field. My wife was very supportive, too, but I had to put together a plan. We had a small child at the time. The security of the regular paycheck is much different than real estate. In real estate, you have to go after your paycheck. It's a grind. I took my class at Delta College and committed to the field. When it came time to get a job, I went to the same place I went to with my mom when we moved here when I was in fifth grade - Ayre Rhinehart.
I took my own path in the field. I quickly developed my own brand, the "Dapper Agent." I had to wear dress clothes to work when I was with Dow. When I transitioned into a realtor, that's what I had. Most realtors are in polos and khakis, but I was always dressed up. Miss Ashley Bromley, who's a retired realtor, was always dressed to the nines. And she was like, 'You always look so nice, so dapper.' And, you know, you get a compliment or a head nod from someone who puts on like that, it's always a good feeling. So, that's kind of how it started. It was the dapper thing, and then I told my wife, who is the Communications Director for the Country Club, that I was going to make a logo. And she giggled because I don't do art at all. Some fooling around, and I finally came up with something. I shouted to her, and she went, 'Who made that?' I was like, 'That was me.' Since then, I've been known as the Dapper Agent.
As a dad with two kids, it's cool to see my kids spend time at places with their friends at the same places I used to - like the Midland Mall or the movie theater. Some of the spaces we all like to spend time in as a family are Dow Diamond and the Commons in Downtown Midland. It's cool seeing the entire community gather. Downtown opening up to more festivals is a great thing to see. We're opening up that 'Midland Bubble,' and that wasn't always the case. Midland has a reputation for being a 'God bless us and no more' type of town, but I think it's changing. Sometimes I compare us to the Dallas Cowboys - we had a heyday, but we need a championship, and inclusivity is a great start. What makes Midland great is the people, and having people of all ideologies and backgrounds sharing spaces makes us even better.
Moving forward - I think success leaves clues. We've seen what works in other places, and we can apply that knowledge here. There are other places that have done a very good job of transforming into what's next, and as we talk about them, you know, they go from monoculture to local businesses and high-density with walkability. Small businesses are the backbone of the community. They make a community unique. I think we're on the right road to making this town the best it can be - after all, we're Midlanders. We can smile a shake a hand with the best of them. I hope we keep shaking hands and inviting folks to be here to move our County forward.
Do you have a Midland County story you would like to tell that aligns with our vision?