Denise Williams

When Denise fell in love with real estate, it was honest. Money was not the focus. In fact, back then, if she had a dollar she was certifiably rich, even if only for a day. She is the third youngest of six siblings and was raised in quaint a house in one of those highway towns you stop in for gas on your way to somewhere else. As you can imagine, sharing a room with two younger siblings was not always a walk in the park. As a young girl, she would dream of having her own room. As she grew a bit older, she did not just want her own room; she wanted her own house. Her desire grew from wanting her own house to wishing for the biggest house in the neighborhood, so large that no one would know she was home unless she wanted them to; she needed space!

She graduated with a degree in Finance and chose to find a job in Atlanta, GA in 2011. The following year, while Denise was attending Clayton State University for graduate school, she got licensed as a real estate agent. While in graduate school, she gained experience as an Agent Services Coordinator for a large brokerage and only worked as a REALTOR on a part-time basis. It was in the agent services role that she was able to learn the ins and outs of how a successful brokerage should operate. She must admit that the experience left her torn. There she was in a dual degree graduate program (for both International Business & Supply Chain Management) processing paperwork for REALTORS who were making twice as much or more than she was expected to rake in after graduating with two MBA degrees!

After graduating, Denise still decided to try her luck in Corporate America. She was not yet ready to take entrepreneurship by the horns, and in hindsight considering the student loans, she felt as if she had just bought a really expensive pair of heels and needed put them to use even if they were not the perfect fit. She accepted a position at a wood forestry company as a Port Operations Manager. As the role’s tentacles spread across her schedule, it became extremely demanding, as it required quite a bit of bi-coastal travel. Her real estate business began to suffer.

Though it was a phenomenal opportunity, the job was restrictive and it rekindled the yearning for space that she had felt as a young girl. She wanted to pursue her dream of real estate full-time. In 2016, Denise decided to take a leap of faith and quit her corporate job after relocating to Florida. She hit Florida in stride and returned to real estate school to obtain her broker’s license. Although she was now on the right track, it did not come without its own hurdles. After becoming a Broker, she worked on a team for a while before moving back to Georgia. Upon her return, Denise accepted a full-time position as the Associate Broker for an Atlanta-based real estate startup. In that role, she learned sales, recruiting, management, training, and got a chance to pull from the organizational toolkit she developed in graduate school. As a result of her efforts, the firm quickly developed to be one of the fastest growing real estate brokerages in Atlanta.

After a year and a half of work and lessons, it was time to start her own firm. Denise took on a business partner, but only a few months passed before she learned why seasoned CEOs are so keen on due diligence when it comes to human capital and partnerships. Yet again, she had to start over, but she refused to interpret a delay on her entrepreneurial journey as denial of her purpose. What happened next? Williams & Co. International Realty was born! In less than a year, she hired and trained over 25 agents, started a joint venture in the new construction space and began the process of opening a second Williams & Co. location, slated to launch mid-year 2019. She is extremely proud of her brand and what it represents.

If Denise had to give advice, she would say this: there is water in the valleys. In them, you can re-evaluate, refresh, and regroup. Do not skip the lows just because they are not pretty. Do not bypass the tight places just because they may be uncomfortable. The journey is a part of the gift, and it all adds color to your big picture. She now has a chance to custom-build the life she always wanted. It is a chance to create and fill the space she yearned for as a child. She is a resilient spirit, blessed to own a growing business, and that is something she would not change for the world!