Meet Divine Katoure | Commercial Real Estate Leasing Director and Founder of Learn Commercial Real Estate

We had the good fortune of connecting with Divine Katoure and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Divine, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
There were so many struggles entering commercial real estate. The learning curve is enormous, and it’s important to find a really good mentor, and this is where the problem came in. Commercial industry professionals are not keen on openly sharing knowledge and information with outsiders or newbies. Commercial agents have the potential to earn life-changing commissions on one deal alone. It takes a lot of time and effort to mentor and guides someone to be great in commercial real estate. So the knowledge can be guarded as it takes working many deals over time to truly be great. Statistically commercial real estate is an industry-led by middle-aged white men. Women occupy only 36% of commercial real estate professionals. The most alarming numbers surround the lack of diversity in commercial real estate. Less than 6% of commercial real estate professionals are BIPOC. This is due to many factors.

My business provides an opportunity for women and BIPOC to gain entry into commercial real estate leasing by learning the steps it takes to be able to become a deal closer in their market. I share and show real estate professionals the fastest way to find clients, close deals and get paid. I teach them how to fish and feed themselves. I expose all the secrets and tips that I have learned from others and the multitude of gems I learned from making mistakes. It is extremely rare for a commercial to reveal the secrets of the trade.

This effort will give more women and people of color an opportunity to enter the commercial real estate industry and begin creating generational wealth. Historically, commercial real estate has been dominated by a small percentage of the population. It is a small industry, where who you know and what you know matters most. I go around all of that by laying it all on the table for my tribe.

What should our readers know about your business?
My career began over 8 years in San Francisco as a commercial real estate leasing and sales agent in industrial, retail, and office properties. I climbed up the ranks over many years to get a position where I have market share and a reputation for excellence in a region that has one of the toughest real estate markets in the world.

My personality and personal best practices that I have implemented in my life give me a leg up in really enjoying serving the commercial real estate community.

As a single mom working in an industry created for and by men, not being able to make the networking events or golf trips dampered my prospects a bit. I adopted social media efforts early and focused on getting my name out there through action, and showing myself working deals, touring properties and writing contracts. The vunerability and transparency worked. Commercial clients began to see me as the boots on the ground agent who would go the extra mile and really have the market knowledge they needed.

Commercial leasing is my passion. I am so fortunate to love what I do and be able to share and teach commercial leasing strategies and best practices with others while I am actually doing the work is really awesome. It is so wonderful to see the real estate professionals working with me at Learn Commercial Real Estate closing deals and getting clients. To see them getting commission checks because they learned a new skill by using their real estate license. it is really amazing to see my community win.

I am obsessed with building an army of women and Bipoc commercial real estate professionals who can provide opportunities for themselves and their communities. Representation matters in commercial real estate.

Has my journey been easy? Absolutely not. Commercial real estate is one of the toughest industries to work in, but it also yeilds high returns.

Every day I am boots on the ground,working on closing deals and helping others do the same.

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?
For anyone visiting, we would go to James Harden restaruant 13

Doshi House on Emancipation

The Gents spot for a haircut and happy hour.

MAD

Waters Edge Wine & Bistro

The Heights Neighborhood Library

Bissou

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to recognize Michael Halpren with the Hawthorne Group , who gave me an opportunity to work in commercial real estate. Luckily, I have a great support system and group of friends.

My siblings have always been an inspiration to me.

Gabriel Walters
Rachel Walters
King Walters
Shelleree Twitty
Lah Walters

My Mentor – Mark Tollison

My son is the driving force behind my focus.

Books
I really enjoy reading and adore books in general.
These are a few suggestions

Donald Miller Business Made Simple
James Clear Atomic Habits

Website: www.learncommercialrealestate.com

Instagram: dkbythebay

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/divinekatoure

Twitter: @dkbythebay

Facebook: Divine Katoure

Youtube: Learn Commercial Real Estate

Other: divine@learncommercialrealestate.com