Dave Umphress’ team name, Flourish Collective, is aptly chosen, since his purpose is to help agents, staffers and the communities they serve flourish, while also making it possible for global causes to flourish through the team’s generosity. His background in non-profits and education has helped him develop an impact-driven business that he’s passionate about.
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“We are firm believers in the Good and Well Principle,” Umphress said, “that we can’t just be about doing good or doing well. We need to be 10/10 at doing good, being generous, and raising funds and awareness for our causes, but we also need to be 10/10 at doing well, running profitable, professional, best-in-class businesses that serve our clients at the highest level possible.”
Umphress believes that a community-focused brokerage model is “the future of the industry. There are a lot of agents out there who need to know how hopeful and life-giving it can be to tie your business to a cause, and let both your impact and your business grow together. Think of the good that’s just waiting to be done!”
Find out how Umphress and his team are changing the world, one transaction at a time.
Name: Dave Umphress
Title: Owner
Experience: 12 years
Location: Hubbed in Denver, Colorado, with partners all over Colorado, Florida, Washington and Idaho
Team name: Flourish Collective
Team size: Roughly 40 partners
Transaction sides: 258 in the past 12 months
Sales volume: $1.6 billion career, $141 million past 12 months
Awards:
- 2022 National Emerging Leaders by Real Trends
- 2023 Rising Star by Housingwire
- 2020 Community Service Member of the Year, Denver Association of Realtors
- Holder of the World’s Longest Open House record
How did you get your start in real estate?
Like all good things, my real estate journey started on Craigslist. I responded to an ad for a “Career Night” almost talked myself out of going, hit it off with the team leader, got hired on to his team as a buyer’s agent and, eight months later, had quit my job as a teacher mid-year and become the No. 1 agent on this team.
When I said to him, “Hey, there’s this organization that does great HIV/AIDS and Clean Water projects in sub-Saharan Africa; what if every time someone bought or sold, a portion of our commission went to them?” he quickly shot down the idea.
I knew that the only way I was going to be able to create the type of change I wanted to create was if I was the one who got to make the philanthropic decisions — if it were my business.
How did you choose your brokerage?
After 12 years of climbing to the top of the Keller Williams ladder (including owning the brokerage, which was the largest real estate brokerage in town, Gary Keller’s private mastermind, 200+ person profit share network, etc.) I made the decision to move Flourish Collective to REAL Broker (and pay a lot of money to get to do so).
The biggest reasons for the painful unwinding and move were:
- Trajectory of the company: It’s obvious that the reason REAL has been the fastest-growing publicly traded real estate company for the last two years is its innovative model and incredible culture. We wanted to go to where the puck is going, not stay where it was 20 years ago.
- Great financial model: This includes the Pro Teams model, where my agents are on a $4,000 cap, and revenue sharing, where agents are making a shocking amount of residual income every month.
- Seamless nationwide expansion: Our dream of affecting human flourishing in every city in the country is significantly more possible outside of the “territory franchise model.”
What are 5 things you’d like readers to know about you and your team?
- I believe that the purpose of business is to create the world you dream of. For me personally, I dream of a world where limitations to flourishing are removed and communities can thrive.
- I have the BEST business partners in the world, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them.
- Our internal 501(c)(3), Flourish Alliance (FA), is what drives us, defines us and gets us out of bed in the morning. Flourish Collective just sells real estate; Flourish Alliance changes the world. Someday, I’ll get to focus all of my time on FA and have my incredible team drive the sales team.
- Real Broker removed the bureaucracy, boundaries, constant fees and red tape that prevented us from growing, and so much of our recent growth can be attributed to them. The feeling of freedom is difficult to articulate.
- Probably most importantly: Our ongoing metric for our business is to ask the question, “If our business disappeared tomorrow, would our community miss us?” and we wake up every morning working to say “Yes! They absolutely would!” If every local business operated under that question, communities would flourish.
Tell us about a high point in your career
Part of the problem with my personality type (and probably a lot of entrepreneurs) is that the “high point” is always in the future, something we’re working towards, and until I get there, I won’t say “I’ve made it!” If I had to pick a moment that I really paused and said, “This is worth it,” it would be the following:
I’m in a remote region of northern Ethiopia on an annual trip to visit some of the projects and partners we have there, and we’re escorted up a hill into a community by a few casually dressed citizens with AK-47s (in the middle of civil unrest). We spend a few hours eating and hearing stories of how their lives have changed in the past year since our new well went in.
The sun is setting, we’re driving back across the African plain bumping on dirt roads, and this thought hits me: “The reason I’m able to be a part of this work is because of the real estate business,” and I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude (and the burden of responsibility and stewardship to continue to scale to whatever level I’m given the ability).
What’s your top tip for newly formed teams?
Get so crystal clear on the vision of your company, and talk about it all the time. People don’t join you or stick around for leads, splits or training. They’ll run through a brick wall with you for a compelling vision.
Ask how you and your partners are going to change the world, come up with a dream with your team and remind them constantly. A team that’s also a tribe of world-changers will stick together and ride out hard markets, challenging life situations and constant industry recruiting.
