Real Estate Developers Need This Before Building Their Next Project

John David (00:00)
It doesn’t have to be a ridiculous plan, but that you have a plan in place where you start to look at what you’re where you’re where you’re kind of soft underbelly is where you’re vulnerable and then also have a have a plan of attack. and then also to to look at a ways of being a little bit more active and and reaching out versus waiting for things to come for things to reach ahead. So really the ounce of prevention is probably the biggest thing, think think about this before it gets really bad.

Quentin Edmonds (01:59)
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds, and I am super excited to be here today. I have another fantastic guest. he’s in the he’s public relation and crisman crisis management expert. Gentleman’s been in the game for 30 years. He is the

president of the David PR group. I am so excited that we get a chance to peek through his lens, learn from his experience, take the seeds that he’s going to give today. And so I am so honored to introduce you all to Mr. John David. Mr. John, how you doing today, sir?

John David (02:37)
I’m doing great. Doing great Q. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

Quentin Edmonds (02:39)
absolutely. So glad you’re here. So glad we get to do this together. And sir, I’m the type. I like to dive right in. So I would love for you to tell the people what’s your main focus these days. Give us a little bit of an origin story, kind of how you got to where you are. And tell us what markets you’re operating in, sir.

John David (02:55)
Sure. Great, great question. Thanks again for for being here. So I’ve been a public relations and marketing consultant for 30 years, as you kind of referenced. and in the real estate world, I mean, I’ve done everything from representing, commercial developers, who, promo, promoting transactions and, getting publicity for for developers and things like that. but where I’ve kind of spent most of my time in the past in the past few years is been dealing with

crisis situations for real estate projects and real estate developers. So everything from unhappy neighbors who are not looking forward to a tower going up where, and and obstructing their view, ⁓ to neighbors who are not happy about, grow increased density and their fear of more cars and their fear of more trucks coming in. To

the identification of indigenous artifacts on a on a on a parcel that have to be dealt with in a very delicate manner. so I’ve and and then kind of everything in between. so sometimes just things like, there’s problems at a there’s problems at a at a building or, a a rental project, there’s some issue, I’ve gotten calls in the middle of the night, there’s

bullet hole in the side of the building, there’s r a rat infestation over here. There’s there’s somebody somebody, something something really bad happened to someone, for example, what do you do? How do you handle it? So it’s all it’s like sort of kind of any any time the media will might be calling is is when I’m is when I I I become engaged.

Quentin Edmonds (05:17)
Yeah, yeah. Where did the passion come from, sir? Like how did you get to this point? Like where did that passion come from for what you did?

John David (05:23)
So I’ve been a a PR consultant my whole career. I studied journalism when I was in college and then I came out of but I got a I have a public relations degree from the University of Florida, but it’s through the college of journalism. And so I took, journalism classes and I’ve always been a writer. And and I my career I began as a traditional publicist. I was out trying to get ink for my clients. And so we would, back, when I started in in, the early nineteen nineties, some time ago.

the landscape was dominated by newspapers and television stations and local magazines and things like that. and I think the national newspapers had a lot more influence than they did than they do now. and so, I was out trying to get clips and trying to get publicity from my clients. And then as I got more experienced, I started to deal with, I would get calls from my clients and they would say, This is happening. We don’t know how to handle it. What do you do? And and and

once you have sort of experience working with the media, you get you you how to how to respond and how to how to handle it. And and so that’s that’s th that’s that’s been the evolution for me.

Quentin Edmonds (06:25)
Yeah. I love it. Thank you. Thank you for taking us through the journey, telling us what you are, kind of kind of the passion, how you got to where you are. John, I often say destiny has no wasted moments, right? Like as we journey through our careers, throughout our life, throughout business, we’re building momentum to the people that we are today, right? And we’re borrowing from every leg of the journey. So I would love to know throughout your journey, throughout your career, what has these moments taught you about yourself?

Has it made you more disciplined, more humble? Has it increased your tenacity? Like what is these moments in your journey taught you about you?

John David (06:58)
Well, I think I think I like your overall premise ’cause I think there’s I always say, there’s no there’s no such thing as a bad experience. I mean, every experience you either learn from something, and then you le you learn one way or the other. When I was in college, I spent a summer, in this internship program in the retail world. And so I went worked in retail and I was kind of like a, store manager trainee kind of guy for a summer. And

was, I I I what I learned from that was that a retail, that retail environment was not for me. Right. And so I always look back on that as a good experience because I learned something. I learned that that wasn’t the ma a fit for me. Right. So I’m a big believer in that. And so for during my career, what’s really I’ve just learned over over time how like the news business works, right? And what drives stories and what drives motivations. And then at the same time

I’ve learned that you don’t have that when when you when I first started my career, I was really, always playing playing offense, right? I was always playing offense. I was always trying to get coverage for my clients. And ⁓ when when you’re when you’re doing that, you’re you have a certain

I don’t know, I you take you take a certain stance with with journalists. That’s you really you don’t wanna you wanna piss them off, right? You’re trying to you’re trying to get them to cover your client. Yeah. And so now when you deal with a crisis situation, you can’t really have that attitude anymore. You have to have the attitude of I gotta protect my client. We have to I have to educate these this these journalists about what’s happening. They have to they have to play by the rules of engagement. And sometimes we have to push back and be and be tough,

and so one of the things that I’ve learned is that it’s it’s a lot it’s a lot easier to be tough when you’re also not at the same time trying to be nice. Yeah, Yeah. So so now I’m not saying I’m not nice. I’m just saying is that I’m not trying to curry favor with a reporter, because when I was a day-to-day publicist, my relationships were currency, And so I I didn’t really get in fights with reporters because I might need tomorrow. Yeah. And now as a cr doing as crisis communicat doing a cr crisis communications, you really just have to like

be all in with your client and have to just say, listen, if these we have to we have to go to war a little bit, we have to go to war a little bit and if that hurts my relationship a little bit, then I guess that’s that’s the problem. But I’d rather have I’d rather have the good relationship with my clients than have than than be beloved by by a bunch of re by by reporters, even though I try to do both. Yeah.

Quentin Edmonds (10:00)
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, John, for that reflective answer. I know that that answer alone sows a lot of seeds. Cause I always say, the one constant in the middle of our business is us, the business owner, right? And so I thank you so much for that reflective answer. I know some people are really gonna gonna be able to take that answer and really grow from it. So let me ask you this. I’m gonna get into a little bit of some operational question. Well, at least one operational question. Okay. what’s one operational thing?

you’ve put into place the last two years that’s made the biggest difference in how you run your business.

John David (10:31)
That’s really good question. I mean, I think that yeah, I’m not it’s an interesting thing because I’m not I’m not a like an active real estate investor, at least I don’t I’m not really here to talk about that sort of thing. ⁓ I mean I would I’ll be honest with you. I think that probably the biggest thing that’s helped me operationally has probably been AI. Yeah. I and that the when it comes to writing and communications.

Quentin Edmonds (10:43)
I think

John David (10:56)
I mean, I I I’ve I had a I’ve been a PR PR consultant for a long time and I had a a shop for a while and I had people working for me for a for a long time. And, I used to have a guy who worked for me and I would meet talk to him in the morning and I’d say, Okay, listen, here’s this article we need written for our client, and it’s I need eight hundred words, by the end of the day tomorrow on this topic, and go online, research it, but here’s your outline. I want you, c I want you to cover X, Y, and Z and

Two days later I’d have a draft, Well now I can sort of dictate that conceptually into, chat GTP and I I have an equivalent piece of communication in twenty seven seconds. So I think that that’s probably the biggest single thing is that it’s helped help people communicate more cleanly. I still the jury’s a little bit still out on I think some people overdo it. I think we’re getting,

I th I think we’re getting a lot of like really long, super detailed emails that are that that are covering more bases than I need to cover these days. But I think generally AI has probably been the biggest single thing that’s helped me operationally.

Quentin Edmonds (11:59)
Absolutely. Love it. Love it. So what’s next for you, sir? What’s the next real goal? What are you looking to solve or scale next? What’s next for the business?

John David (12:08)
I

think there’s a lot going on in the in the real estate world. I think developers are having I think they have they have they have some really interesting tools now that that are at to their disposal, like the live local acts that are out there in states like where I am in Florida where you can now f you can you can get things up get basically a project approved that you couldn’t otherwise approve if you can if you can add in an affordable housing or a workforce housing component.

but I s but you’re still you still have to be, I I think that developers still have to strive to be good neighbors. and they have to communicate, with neighbors and they have to communicate their plans with local government and things like that. And they also have to, deal with the inherent, communications challenges that come when you’re when you build. So for me I think it’s just I I think what what what I’m looking at looking ahead at is that I I

just believe that developers need to have a communications plan as part of what they’re when they’re when they’re gonna work on a project, particularly if it’s if it’s big, particularly if they’re changing, if they’re looking for changes in in zoning or density or things like that. And if they think they’re going to fall back to, this to an option like like like the Live Local type act. Yeah.

Quentin Edmonds (13:17)
Yeah, love it.

I am going to love asking you this question. I ask everybody this question that comes on. And you being a public relations and crisis management expert, I want to ask you about relationships. Like, I want to hear your philosophy on business relationships, on just building healthy relationships within business. some of the people maybe that’s that’s in your corner that that’s helped you, thrive and be successful. So, Mr. John, please talk to us a little bit about your philosophy when it comes to relationships.

John David (14:28)
so I have a a friend of mine who right he’s written several business books and he he was the his most recent book is essentially talks about how you should be ridiculously easy to do business with. Like it’s like it’s the whole concept, right? And so I I believe that you should be easy to work with and that’s my that’s really my whole philosophy. most of my clients have been with me for, decades.

basically, I have clients that have been with me for, ten plus, fifteen plus years. And and I I obviously I want to believe that I do a good job and I believe I do a good job for my clients and I represent their interests. But I also think that part of it is is that, over time you become friends with people and you understand them and you work with them and you go through the tough times together. and you’re

easy to do business with. So that you make it so like for me, I’m I’m a I’m really a a handshake kind of a guy when it comes to business when it comes to transactions. Yeah. when my contract became two more than one page, I was very unhappy about that. I really don’t I’d rather not have like long, crazy agreements. You have a meeting of the minds and and then you go do the work, right? Yes sir. So I think I always like it to be, that that

that f if you if you work with me that that I’m I’m easy to work with. Yes sir. I I I do things with a smile, I have a sense of humor, I’m I have perspective, I’ve been around the block, I’m I’ve I’ve got the hair loss to prove it. That’s my big philosophy, is be easy to work with.

Quentin Edmonds (16:03)
Yes, sir. I love it. Well, Mr. David, Mr. David, but Mr. John, yeah, I say we’re kinda we’re co-collaborators here, right? And so is there any question that I have not asked?

that didn’t prompt you to kind of say maybe if there was something on your mind like maybe you came in here with I wanna make sure I land this message with the audience or land this message about my business. I kind of just want to open up the floor that way you can make sure you land and stick that message if you feel like there’s something that we might

John David (16:31)
Appreciate

that. I appreciate that. I would think the one thing that I would communicate with is that communicate for for folks in the real estate world is that it’s sort of announced when it comes to communications and it comes to dealing with, if you’re dealing with a with with tricky issues and and and all those things, if you have to go before your, local town council to get a change, or you’re going before a

the historic preservation board in your community or you’re having to, lobby local government. or if you just know that you’ve got, a bunch of neighbors who are going to be unhappy that your building’s going that you’re putting this building up. An ounce of prevention is, I think that it that you that you develop a plan.

It doesn’t have to be a ridiculous plan, but that you have a plan in place where you start to look at what you’re where you’re where you’re

kind of soft underbelly is where you’re vulnerable and then also have a have a plan of attack. and then also to to look at a ways of being a little bit more active and and reaching out versus waiting for things to come for things to reach ahead. So really the ounce of prevention is probably the biggest thing, think think about this before it gets really bad.

Yes.

Quentin Edmonds (17:43)
Sir.

Yes, sir. man. John, Mr. John, thank you, sir. I really appreciate your insight. I really appreciate you taking time out. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, how can I get in contact with you, sir?

John David (17:59)
Sure, the easiest way is by my website. so my name is John David and my website is davidpr.com. Simple enough. my company’s called David PR Group. as I’m pretty easy to get a hold of. My phone number is on my website. I have a way for you to make an appointment, put a meeting on my calendar on my website. have a contact form on my website. So it’s fairly easy if you think of you want to reach out to me. If it’s two o’clock in the morning, you can

Send me a note and, answer my own phone. so I’m I’m available to to to assist folks in any way that they can. So yeah, it’s davidpr.com. Yeah.

Quentin Edmonds (18:34)
Well, Mr. John, I want to say three things to you sincerely, sir. One, thank you for your time. I think time is our most precious commodity. So thank you for taking time. I can’t do this podcast by myself, right? And so thank you for taking that time and and giving us your time. I think it’s very valuable. Secondly, thank you for your stories. Thank you for showing up as your authentic self and planting seeds. That’s really gonna take root in people. Appreciate that. And lastly, sir, thank you for your mindset. Thank you for the way you think and bringing that mindset to this platform.

I greatly appreciate you coming on today, sir.

John David (19:05)
Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

Quentin Edmonds (19:06)
Absolutely. So listen, y’all heard Mr. John. Please look into the show notes. His information is there. Please get in contact with him. But definitely make sure you’re subscribed here. Cause I promise you, we’re going to continue to bring up amazing people, just like Mr. John. So, sir, I say thank you again. And everyone else, y’all have a fantastic day.