From PhD Psychologist to Milwaukee Realtor | De Fortner’s Story

De Fortner (00:00)
This diagnosis completely knocked my world. Larry was incredibly supportive, as well as my brokerage. I owe a debt of gratitude to both Lannon Stone Realty and to my partner Larry for keeping me motivated. Everybody at the brokerage has been so supportive as well. And it’s just been not allowing myself to get stuck in the poor me.

Not allowing myself to spend a day in bed. There’s always something that can be done. Get up, go to the gym, go for a walk, do something. And I fully believe that’s why I’ve recently gotten my all-clear diagnosis, but I’m still then in the after treatment plan.

Issa Hanna (02:19)
Welcome back to another episode of *The Real Estate Pros Show*. I’m your host, Issa Hanna, and today I have De Fortner with us to share her knowledge. De, welcome to the show.

De Fortner (02:26)
Hi, thanks for having me.

Issa Hanna (02:27)
I am super excited to have you. It’s not every day we get somebody with a PhD that comes on and you’ve pivoted into our business, which is real estate. As a former very large real estate agent in the Chicagoland area, I’m very moved by your story. But for our viewers at home, can you kind of give them a rundown of what market you’re in right now and what kind of listings you’re taking on and clients you’re taking on in the Milwaukee area? In the Milwaukee area. Yeah.

De Fortner (02:53)
We’re in Milwaukee. My partner Larry and I cover all of southeastern Wisconsin. We sometimes go as far up north as Door County and then all the way down to the border of Illinois. We are currently mainly residential, but are really excited. We have our first two commercial listings that we just taken on, which is part of our expansion program for next year.

Issa Hanna (03:14)
Amazing. And that’s part of your future plans now is to actually start taking on, make that jump into commercial and be able to take on those commercial clients. Can you kind of give us a little bit more about how you plan on going about that and then why you’ve decided to, I’m gonna do residential, but I’ll also do the commercial as well.

De Fortner (03:31)
I think a lot of agents having a little bit of a background or knowledge of the entire business is good. And we were getting requests for, I might have a commercial property to sell, what can you do? And we were passing those on as referrals and missing a few kind of opportunities ourselves. I was lucky enough to find an amazing mentor through my brokerage, his name is Guntes.

And he’s been able to walk me through things, take me under his wing a little bit. And I’ve been very fortunate to be able to learn from the best of the best in the business.

Issa Hanna (04:03)
Amazing. And finding a good mentor, especially when you’re starting out, you guys, is super important. My guy was the owner of my brokerage, Adam Mendez. I can definitely relate. They can—they can teach you a lot of things that they’re not gonna teach you in real estate. Real estate school will tell you how many acres are—or how many square feet are in an acre, but it won’t tell you how to deal with contracts, how to be human with the clients.

And certain problems that arise in the field that a mentor can really help you put those fires out before they even start. I’m glad you brought your mentor up and shout out to the mentors in the game because you guys are the ones that let the next generation thrive. I want to rewind a little bit midway. You got into this during COVID. You lived in England for twenty years and you decided to

come over here back stateside and rock the real estate world. Can you kinda give us a little bit more about your decision and why you’ve decided to hop the pond back over here?

De Fortner (04:57)
Well, I am originally from Milwaukee, born and bred. I went to school, to high school the arts, I went to college at UWM and I lived over in England for twenty years. And as some marriages fail, my marriage failed. I was separated from my partner and kept thinking, “Okay, co—we’re in the middle of COVID. Do I jump ship? What do I do? I sell my business?” I loved what I did, but it was ultimately time to come home.

And that’s what I did. I have always had like a real estate bug in me. I always wanted to learn more about it. And when I started come back, it’s—you’re from a divorce, you sold your business, you’re starting all over. What do you want to do? It was exciting because I was able to kind of reinvent myself to some extent and find what I wanted to do, no more dictating what people think the best for me. Like when I was doing my own business, it was great.

But now it was time for me to learn things that I wanted to do. I interviewed with several real estate brokerages looking at operations director roles and various other roles, and was lucky enough to find a role with Homestead Realty as their operations director. I was able to learn real estate from the best of the business there. I’m very grateful for what I did. I was able to help other agents increase their business as well as expand

brokerage that I worked for. I really enjoyed that time, but I had the real estate bug. I had my license. My partner decided to get his license. And, we both were very active and wanted to be more active. And with the role I had, working the hours as an ops director, I didn’t have the time for real estate. My partner and I, after a long decision, decided to

try a different brokerage just for like a fresh new beginning because we were starting our own team versus starting at the old brokerage where I was known as an operations director. I wanted to do something mainly to help him grow his business and then possibly be a part of it as well. The idea was always for—it was kind of I was gonna be in the background or help with marketing. And as things progressed, we became more of a team. And that’s where we are now. We’re an exciting time. We’re

changing the business name in the next month or two to Wisconsin Home Values. And we’re going forward and expansion plans for next year to definitely offer commercial and residential. We have a variety of clients from your first time home buyer to multi-million dollar investors or, people looking for that type of property. And then also commercial, a lot of our investors are looking for both.

Issa Hanna (08:18)
I love that. I mean you guys have to have the plan laid out, and that’s a huge important thing in real estate, you guys. You have to have that roadmap laid out. Yeah, and you have to be able to get on there. Now, some things put a little bit of a damper, pump the brakes. You had a health scare in the midst of doing all this.

Yeah, definitely scary. Can you tell our viewers about your health scare and then how you’ve been able to overcome that and move forward? It—it’s such an inspiration when I read your story that I want you to share it to our viewers. Thank you.

De Fortner (08:49)
You.

So Larry and I were plugging along, building our business through with Lannon Stone Realty. And last September, I’ve had a variety of smaller cancers, some large. I’ve had ovarian cancer, I’ve had, things with my kidneys. And I thought I was all clear, going for your regular checkup. And they said, “We want to do a bone marrow biopsy.” And I kind of looked at them

like, okay, let’s schedule it. Here I’m thinking still, I’ve been clear for so long, I don’t have to worry about cancer anymore. And lo and behold, I got a leukemia diagnosis. And it knocked my world. My uncle, who I admired the most, which is again part of the real estate thing, he had a slew of investments. And while I was living in England, he had a leukemia diagnosis and unfortunately passed away.

This diagnosis completely knocked my world. Larry was incredibly supportive, as well as my brokerage. I owe a debt of gratitude to both Lannon Stone Realty and to my partner Larry for keeping me motivated. Everybody at the brokerage has been so supportive as well. And it’s just been not allowing myself to get stuck in the poor me.

Not allowing myself to spend a day in bed. There’s always something that can be done. Get up, go to the gym, go for a walk, do something. And I fully believe that’s why I’ve recently gotten my all-clear diagnosis, but I’m still then in the after treatment plan. So it’s never like you’re one and done. It’s the continuing treatment after that.

But the support I have is amazing and

I don’t let myself wallow in misery. It’s just kind of wipe yourself off, get up and go.

Issa Hanna (10:38)
Truly, inspirational as somebody whose mother received a diagnosis and has been in remission for quite a long time. I can definitely relate to how scary that is. Yeah. Being confronted with your own mortality sometimes is just—it will floor anybody, and in real estate you do have to have a clear mind, to help others and it is a stressful job.

I can only imagine. I do want to congratulate you on being clear right now. I pray and hope that you continue to thrive and do good and now you can focus all your energy on growing this new business. And you’ve made a jump into the real estate field that not a lot of people with your level of education and then your professional field from previous do. You’re a licensed psychologist with a PhD. Can you kind of tell us more about that journey?

De Fortner (11:24)
Yeah, I mean I never practiced psychology professionally until recently. It was always something that I had in the background, but I had my business degree. I had, Six Sigma Black Belts. I just kind of plotted along in business and had a very successful company. And one day when Larry and I were talking after I—we made the move and we’re starting to build our business, I was like, “What do you think about this?”

“What do you think if I, become—after how many years of being done with schooling, try and find a job with this, make sure I’m fully licensed and qualified.” And I was fortunate enough to land on my feet. And the best thing I feel that I’m doing right now is giving back to my patients. I run two groups for—one for cancer warriors and also people that are in recovery. It’s giving back to the genre.

And then, getting my foot wet a little bit with the psychology aspect. Yeah, I’ve got a PhD and I’m a psychologist.

Issa Hanna (12:23)
Truly an inspiring story. And now I kind of want to pick your brain. You have built some successful businesses, and—and you’ve been able to just maneuver so well in different, worlds that I—my viewers would probably not—not like it if I didn’t ask you the question I ask everybody. Business relationships, right? Almost every business

depends on them, right? Growing your network, growing your sphere of influence. If you had to give the young person that’s just starting out one piece of advice on how to start establishing these business relationships and growing their networks, what advice would that be?

De Fortner (14:00)
Don’t stop, don’t let yourself stay, keep, don’t keep yourself back. Just do something, join groups, join internet groups, join in-person groups. There’s so much that networking that can take place that without it your business could fail. And it’s also having that network behind you to support you and give you ideas. And that’s what networking is all about.

And don’t stop until you’ve reached your dreams. Make sure you’re—I believe in dream boards. Get it out there and tell the universe that you’re gonna be successful and follow through every time there’s a failure. Don’t listen to—look at it as a failure, look at that little bump in the road and climb over it and keep going.

Issa Hanna (14:40)
Love that advice, guys. And guys, all our successful people that come on here say almost the same things in their own beautiful, eloquent words. Right? You keep chipping away at that wall, and it—you will succeed, right? You don’t take no for an answer. I mean, I just—every piece of advice that came out right there was this golden—De, I—it’s truly refreshing to have you on the show. I want to talk a little future now.

I look you up in five years, we can all look up realtors and on the websites will say, “Done this many deals, that many deals.” Where am I gonna see you at?

De Fortner (15:13)
I want to see my clients happy. I don’t mark success on a number like feel money wise, but as far as how many people are happy and what’s going on. Besides building our business, yeah, absolutely. Millions and millions and millions fine. But it’s also about growing and understanding. Larry and I have two kind of different offshoot businesses. Where

Larry has a business where he helps people, especially in our winter season, where their houses might be, example, hoarder homes. Larry’s business comes in and helps clean, does some painting. And then my business that I do on the side, I still help fellow agents or people with other careers. Like I’m helping our current cleaner. And

help them grow their business and I really thrive off of seeing other people’s success as well. I definitely want to see our business successful as real estate team. That’s why I want to grow it and mentor some of the agents to thrive and, lack a better term, thrive and be alive. Really in five years, have some kind of a very successful real estate team. Then

Larry’s company growing more on the side and then my business helping people market, which I may just naturally have depending upon what our team is. But if we don’t grow our team to the maximum amount, then I would love to help more agents grow their businesses.

Issa Hanna (16:35)
Amazing. I mean, the first thing you said, “I want to see my clients happy in five years.” That right there is the mark of every successful real estate agent because we don’t chase commission checks. The ones that stick around in this game, guys, we truly care about the clients, right? We’re gonna get into the best home and it’s a source of pride for us when they’re happy and they’re thanking us for getting them into their dream home.

I just wanted to point that out because that is one of the largest keys to success in our business. I—somebody who’s never spent a dollar in advertising, every client of mine came from word of mouth. That’s exactly how I got my clients and that’s exactly how I bet you guys are getting your clients and you’re building the right foundation, one hundred percent. And I can see in five years you guys being one of the largest real estate teams in

the Milwaukee area and market. I want to give you the floor now. If they did want to get the best real estate services you can possibly get in Milwaukee or just get involved with one of your many other businesses, where could people reach you at?

De Fortner (17:40)
Our website is wihomevalues.com for Wisconsin Home Values. Alternatively, they can send me a text. Telephone number is 414-334-5031. And we’re happy to help, point in the right direction or hopefully help us help you ourselves.

Issa Hanna (17:59)
Definitely. Guys, make sure to contact De. Make sure to contact Lannon Stone Realty because they are definitely very knowledgeable already and hardworking agents, and then they bring integrity into the game. They’re not going to be a car salesman. They’re going to do what’s best for you. Make sure you contact De. If you’re in Wisconsin and you’re listening to this and you want to buy a home,

wanna list a home, commercial properties, she’ll take it all on, and she’ll do the best job with it.

De Fortner (18:29)
And if you’re an agent in southeastern Wisconsin and want to join our team, contact us too.

Issa Hanna (18:33)
Definitely. ‘Cause you can definitely learn a lot on how to operate the right way from De and her partner Larry. De, thank you so much for coming on the show. I’m all out of time for today, but it was a truly inspiring and refreshing to have you on. Thank you so much for coming.

De Fortner (18:49)
Thank you. Thank you very much. It was a great time. Thank you for having me.

Issa Hanna (18:52)
I enjoyed our conversation and to our viewers at home, if you enjoyed my conversation with De and want to see more like it, make sure to hit like and subscribe. I talk to people every day that could bring us different knowledge on every aspect of the real estate industry. Until next time, the Real Estate Pros are out.