Today we’d like to introduce you to Devonté Dinkins.
Hi Devonté, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Born and raised in Prince George’s County MD and Washington D.C as a student-athlete and entrepreneur (had a candy store, sold t-shirts, snow removal, sold Christmas Trees, print marketing, etc.), but also grew up going to church which I believe gave me a huge sense of humility and compassion. I had goals of making it to the NBA and using funds to reinvest into underserved communities and also help spur entrepreneurship in under-served communities where creative ideas are needed most.
Injuries and several coaching changes throughout high school became an issue with the recruiting process, jumped around to several colleges to attempt to live out hoop dreams. Finally, came to terms that the NBA was not in the cards, decided to come back to Maryland and complete my goal of graduating in four years by taking 23+ Credits each semester of my senior year and self-teaching myself real-estate investing. By the Grace of God, I was able to secure an internship and then employment with a development company in Washington DC. I was then placed in rooms with Ivy League Graduates, and with my curiosity and entrepreneur mindset, was able to go from property management to Portfolio/Asset Manager of one of the fastest-growing real estate development firms in DC.
Through this time as a kid to an adult, I also got to watch Washington D.C be gentrified, which I’m not against improving areas, but I believe those who started and built those communities should benefit and not be pushed out. This thought process lead me to research markets that I believed had the potential to be developed but would allow underserved people in communities to benefit if they had the knowledge. So, I purchased a three-unit apartment in Hagerstown MD (lived in one apartment and rented the others, so I could live rent-free), then Legit Management was created as a property management firm, which would help create income for me to sustain after leaving my job, but also have an underlying social impact initiative.
My background in real estate combined with my childhood, helped me to come up with the Entrepreneur Campus idea. Which in short is creating a college-style Atmosphere (walkable physical campus) of minority entrepreneurs that can be dropped in neighborhoods to help spur development, but an important factor is having entrepreneurs that also come from the community that the campus exists, which allows for the synergy of new entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs that already understand the needs of their communities. Entrepreneurs solve problems, it’s great to be in a booming city but coming to a place that you know has problems creates a challenge, but an opportunity for small entrepreneurs to become elite in their problem-solving field.
So since 2016, I began to work on Phase 1 of what will be my personal largest development project called “The Greenwood District Entrepreneur Campus”. The Entrepreneur Campus is located in Downtown Hagerstown and features a walkable community of several minority-owned businesses, with plans of redevelopment into 500,000 square feet of mixed-use retail, office, outdoor event space, housing for entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, and the growing workforce in Downtown Hagerstown.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Starting as an entrepreneur is never easy, especially when flushing out ideas.
We always have a huge vision, but it’s a day-to-day struggle and process to fine-tune and execute those ideas, there were times when I was down to my last few dollars, but your passion and energy seem to always create opportunities for you.
So stay consistent, when people know exactly who you are and what you do, it’s easy for them to pinpoint opportunities that can help take your business to the next level.
We’ve been impressed with Legit Management, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Legit Management is a proper management firm based in Maryland, with the goal of being the largest globally known proper management and investment firm. We specialize in mixed-use and multi-family commercial real estate.
What sets us apart is our underlying social impact we don’t always make the decision that is most financially beneficial, but the one that will have the biggest social impact and can create financial benefits for multiple individuals. I am most proud of the wealth we are creating for minorities through strategic partnerships.
If you are willing to come to Hagerstown Maryland to help grow the entrepreneur campus we have super affordable housing, business facilities, athletic and artist opportunities that can help you take your business and brand to the next level. We currently have in place the infrastructure to help start any business ideas that you maybe have.
We have offices/space as low as $200 per month and live workspaces for $1000 that give you access to the entire campus and we are open to partnerships that will help take the campus to the next level and allow us to redevelop and expand.
We also encourage real-estate investing so we can help you purchase an investment and then our firm can manage it for you and help you build wealth while you work on growing your business and ideas.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is honestly creating a world where people actually do what they love to do. When people do what they love to do you see a different side of them and they are naturally driven to be elite at what they do.
Unfortunately, systems have been created to make it financially difficult to just do what we love, because it becomes a financial burden. Our goal is to create the infrastructure to change that, we can’t do it alone and are open to strategic partnerships and ideas to cultivate happier and healthier people, which will exchange, literally make the world a better place.
Pricing:
- $10 per month membership Greenwood District.
- $200-$3000 for different types of spaces, we encourage collaboration to keep costs down.
- Living at the campus $1000 per month.
- Management Fees for investment properties 5-10% of collected income depending on portfolio size.
Contact Info:
- Email: devonte@thelegitmanagement.com
- Website: ThelegitManagement.com
- Facebook: https://fb.watch/b1-S_CPPnt/
Image Credits
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