Meet Amika & Salustiano Berrios | Licensed Real Estate Agents

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amika & Salustiano Berrios and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amika & Salustiano, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We started a business together with the hopes of being able to spend more time together as a family. It is ridiculous that most of us spend more time with our colleagues than we do our own families. We knew that we wanted to prioritize our marriage and our children and that meant a huge sacrifice and leap of faith in beginning our own business so that we could put each other first.

What should our readers know about your business?
I (Amika) started as a family therapist working within the juvenile court system to help teens and their families. This was such a rewarding career but often proved to be dangerous and when we had children, we decided that it would be best for me to begin working at home. At that point I started my own business as a virtual assistant helping artists around the country with their day to day tasks.

Salustiano worked as an elementary teacher. When COVID hit, it changed everything. Many teachers were meant to scramble to figure out a new way to teach. Ultimately, his greatest desire was to focus on his writing as he is an author of 5 novels. Since having left his job as a teacher he has published several books and has several novels in queue. Right now he is actually editing a Young Readers book that I (Amika ) wrote several years ago.

Our previous careers, and our strong desire to be with family is what makes us work hard. Our reputation in our work in real estate is everything. We know that if we continue to do great work together, we will continue to be able to spend more time with our family as this business helps sustain us all.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We are originally from New York and moved to the Houston area almost 3 years ago. Whenever we have family and friends over, we have a long list of itinerary and we almost never get to see and do it all. Firstly, the food here is some of the best we’ve ever had. Our favorite little hidden gem is La Calle in downtown Houston. Some of the best birria tacos we’ve ever had in our lives. We love taking the kids to the Houston Zoo or to the Waterway in The Woodlands. There are so many different parks where we can bring the kids to hang out. We’ve never been into bars or nightlife and our idea of a hot date is a trip to the bookstore with our favorite being Buy-The-Book in the Woodlands. Salustiano will join them for his author book signings every month as well.

Houston and the surrounding area has so much to offer! You name it, they’ve got it, and they probably do it better than any other place you’ve ever been to!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Our children deserve the most recognition for pushing us to get out of our comfort zones and to start our own business. When the market stalled shortly after we had become agents, knowing that we were doing this so that we could spend more time together is why we kept going.

Website: https://www.berriosre.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/berriosrealtor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berriosrealtor

Other: www.wiselivinggroup.com (team website)