The Intersection of Leadership and Real Estate with Dennis Mark

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:00:56

Okay, fantastic. Everybody, I am so excited to be here today. I amJaclyn Strominger, your host of the Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight podcast.

And we have an amazing guest today. We have Dennis Mark Interdonato, and he is here and hailing to us from all over.

Well, from my case, it's from the other side of the country because he's in New Jersey and I'm almost in the west Coast. Well, Reno, Nevada. And so just to give you a little background. So first of all, we have to truly thank Dennis Mark for his service.

So just give you background. He is located, you know, he's a local of the Jersey Shore. He grew up in Monmouth county and now now resides in Ocean County.

After graduating from high school, he attended Ram Ramapo College of New Jersey, where he graduated with a bachelor's of science in Business Management and a concentration in marketing. And all while performing his duties as a soldier in the U.S. army Reserve.

And in: 2007

And now, after experiencing working with a family business in construction and building and building homes, if I got that correct, he also is a real estate, like, major, amazing professional. I was gonna say magnet, but I guess that's too true. And he's about to embark on a new journey.

So welcome to the Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight podcast and so glad to have you on. So, Dennis Mark, please share with us a little bit about kind of like how you got to where you are, but really from the standpoint of leadership.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:02:47

Well, first of all, thank you for having me on the show. This is wonderful. Super excited about it, and I guess we'll jump right in. So leadership for me has always been a thing.

Even when I was a little kid, I was always one to just take charge, take the reins, and it just came naturally. High school, I was always like the leader of my group, the military. Even when I was in my initial training, I was a squad leader of basic training.

I was a squad leader in ait. I was an honor graduate. And then I became a drill sergeant and it just kind of continued. In college, my fraternity, I was master. I was rush chairman.

I was always taking the reins to just be somebody at the forefront, because like I said, it just came natural and it felt good and it felt right, and people seem to flock to me. So why not? Right?

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:03:40

Right? Right. Why not? You know, it's funny, you know, taking on leadership roles.

I'm curious, when you go back, was there something you Know, because it's inherent in you. It's part of who you are. You know, what about how you were growing up actually, you know, that you could.

Is there a point where you could say, this helped me become a leader or, you know, my mother, father, brother, whatever, somebody in your family. Uncle was a role model.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:04:12

My father for sure is my absolute hero, mentor and role model. That didn't start happening with me, though, until I actually started working with him in the family business, which started around 22.

Prior to that, my father was always an entrepreneur. He's a self made man. He grew up with nothing and made a life and a family on his own back.

Seeing that through the years, that's what instilled the work ethic in me and my brother. To just go out and take what's yours.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:04:46

Right? That's, that's. It's great to have those role models, you know, in your, you know, in your upbringing. Now you obviously spent time in the military.

And I'm curious, like, what impact, you know, I think about military and leadership and structure, what impact did that have on you, you know, in your, in your style, your leadership and how you are right now?

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:05:11

The army completely changed me. I was 19 years old when I went in. I went in because I was bored. Like I needed, I just needed a change. I wanted to get out from where I was, didn't.

I just didn't feel comfortable in my life. And I said, what can I do? What can I do to change something? I went into the army and I came out a completely changed person.

You know, they say you go in a boy, you come out a man. The mentality is true. And when I came out, I was completely driven. I had direction, I wanted to fulfill things, I had goals.

And I was ready to essentially, you know, quote unquote, take on the world. Looking back on it, I clearly wasn't ready, but I thought I was. But it, it definitely helped me move forward.

It pushed me through college because I did not want to go to college, but I got through college and that was huge. Meeting my fraternity brothers, my fraternity was a very, very big part of my whole college experience. I always tell people I didn't learn.

I didn't really learn much in college as far as the academics, but what I did learn was how to run a business because of my fraternity, which is, you know, something a lot of people really don't talk about, but great experiences there. And that helped shaped me for actually coming into the family business with my dad and helping transform his business into what we made it.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:06:43

You know, it's, you know, I love what you just said. You know, obviously, the, the experience in the military has such a huge part, because it's, it does make you a changed person.

And you talk about goals, and it's something that, I think that, that so many of us growing up, you know, in high school or throughout our lives, I mean, even if we're in sports, it's not necessarily where someone says, okay, did you set, Are you setting goals? You know, what are you trying to achieve? You know, maybe if you're, you know, a runner for something like an individual sport.

I mean, teams have goals, but that individual goal, I totally, you know, I can see where that comes out in the Army. Yeah. But what you said about your fraternity. I was in a sorority, and I, I think what you said is so true.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:07:34

Yeah.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:07:34

You learn. See so many things. When I look back when that first job and, and curious of how this was for you, too.

That first job that you get out of college, when you're putting your experience down on your CV and it says, you know, what have you done? And I was able to put down, similar to you, rush chairman or I was the social chair.

I mean, those two things require skills of recruiting, selling, organization, leadership, all things that help you be successful at work.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:08:19

100.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:08:21

And I just think that is so. What you just said is so, you know, obviously, Firm believer in it.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:08:28

Yeah. The, the irony in the whole fraternity, sorority thing is people think, yeah, all you do is party.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:08:33

Right.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:08:34

And, you know, don't get me wrong. And, you know, it. We did. It was. It was certainly part of the experience, but I don't remember all of that.

What I do remember was the takeaways of how we ran that fraternity for the four years that I was in it.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:08:49

Yeah. Right. Because it has to run.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:08:51

Yep.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:08:51

Right, Right. And that's so true.

So let's talk about where you are now, because before the show, we were talking about, you've got a transition that's happening, and thankfully, this is not airing right away because nobody knows yet. Nobody knows yet, but you've got a big transition.

And so I wanted to sort of talk to you, hear from you, where you are right now and what's kept you there and the leadership that is, you know, where you are now. And then we want to talk about where you're going.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:09:31

Okay. So where I am right now, I am what people would consider a local realtor or real estate agent or realtor, real estate professional.

I have built my business up to have a small team. And when I say a small team, it's. It's myself, it's my assistant, and it's my transaction coordinator.

And between the three of us, we run my business. And it's been great. I also do additional things within the office that I'm at now because I'm.

I'm still currently with Keller Williams amazing company. I have nothing but good things to say about this company, and they're this. Whoops.

I am right now, my plans for: 2025

And in order for me to do that, I, I need, I need a certain amount of push and mentorship. The opportunity that we spoke about earlier, which is going to be my new venture, everything I am looking for is in that opportunity.

Now, I wasn't looking for the opportunity. It actually came to me through a mutual friend and it was just pitched to me as, hey, would you, would you sit down with this person?

And I said, sure, I would be foolish not to entertain anything that might be better for my future. So, lo and behold, it turned out to be something pretty great that I think is pretty great.

And as I said to you earlier, I'm in a position in my life right now where I'm willing to take the risk to see where it's going to take me.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:11:16

Right. So let's go back where you are right now. How has the leadership at your current office helped mold you?

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:11:32

Good question. Tough question. So let's take it back five years when I first joined Keller Williams.

n licensed as a realtor since: 2006

When my dad retired, I retired the business with him. Long story short, I ended up at Keller Williams because of, I guess, the, the, the trail that I was following.

I needed to supplement my income, remembered I had a real estate license and said, let me take a shot and see if I can make an extra 20,000 a year. So while this was happening, I had another job. I was working for the sewer department in Howell Township, which is a town I grew up in.

So while I'm working full time for the sewer department and bartending and bouncing, I start doing real estate. So I Can stop bartending and bouncing because I'm killing myself on the weekends. So it ends up working out.

And now I'm doing the two jobs and I don't know what I'm doing with the real estate. I'm just doing what I think I'm supposed to be doing. Because when I came to my office, there was nothing presented to me to help me move it forward.

So I did what I thought I needed to do to educate myself as what they call a dual career agent. YouTube was a huge catalyst for me.

I would, I would spend hours and hours, my weekends, my nights on YouTube, looking up things, learning things, negotiation tactics, learning the new system, learning the CRM, because I didn't even know what that was. For the first two months I was a realtor. Never had one, never used one. Everything was brand new. So podcasts were also a big thing for me.

Different types of real estate podcasts, leadership podcasts, motivational podcasts. And I became like this sponge where I just wanted to soak in as much as I possibly could. So fast forward to today.

These last five years have literally been me seeking out every avenue of education I possibly could find. Now I've done coaching with Keller Williams, I've done coaching outside of Keller Williams with an outside marketing coach.

I've taken leadership courses, I've read numerous books.

So a lot of it really has just been me trying to figure out what my path is and then meeting a lot of people along the way who are like, way beyond where I am, but where I want to be in life and using them as like outside mentors that they, you know, they don't even know that I'm taking breadcrumbs from them, from their lives.

Listening to people speak, going away to educational summits, you know, like out of state, attending, you know, multi day summits, things like that, listening to guest speakers, all very, very valuable.

All these things that I have just soaked in for the last five years and just taken bits from this and bits from this and just put it into my life to move myself forward to where I want to be.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:14:49

That's. So was there any one person at Keller Williams that was like, okay, hey, Dennis, Mark, I see this in you. I wanna, I'm gonna take you under my wing.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:15:06

No one, there was really nobody that really took me under their wing. But I do, I do want to recognize my current team leader. His name is Rob Booth, and I hope he sees this when this airs.

Well, I know he's going to see it because I'm going to send it to him.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:15:19

Yeah, Right.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:15:19

But Rob and I are very similar, and we're very close in age, but Rob has been in the industry for a lot longer than I have, and he took on the team leader role in our office at a time where our office was in a little bit of turmoil. And not only did he turn the office around, but he was a very big influence for me. He was a great go to.

Always had an open door, always, always listen to what I had to say, talk me off the ledge a couple times, you know, was a voice of reason, probably more times than he thinks. And I truly, truly value the relationship and the friendship that I have with him.

And he was actually the one thing holding me back from making the decision to leave. It was my loyalty to him because he has done so much for me, and I felt like I was letting him down.

But at the same time, I couldn't let that be the one thing to hold me back from possibly moving it forward, which is why I made the decision. But if you're listening, my man, I thank you so much. You don't know how much you've done for me.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:16:28

Right. No. That's beautiful. And it's so important to, you know, and I think this is something that's really important.

I think, you know, no matter where you are or if you are, you know, the owner of a real estate branch and. Or you're the owner of a company, I. I love, you know, your. Your guy Rob. Right. Like, that's like a huge thing. Yeah.

But it would be really great almost to be able to have that one step up where it's.

Let me take, like, to really know where you want to go and to have that, like, know what your vision and mission is in life, not just the vision and mission of the company and how those two can meet together. Which now kind of brings me to what we talked about before, because I'm getting the impression that where you are going, that comes into play.

You know, you said you're making this move, so would you agree with that?

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:17:29

Is that I would. And the.

The reason why I'm making the move is because the opportunity that was presented to me, that opportunity is not available where I am right now.

And as I said earlier, I wasn't looking for this, but opportunity knocks sometimes, and I would be foolish to not see this through, to try and make it work.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:17:54

Right.

And so talk about a little bit about, you know, you have this opportunity, and from what we were sharing, there's a great leader that you're going to be working with. So talk about how that, how that that has an impact for you.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:18:14

So where I'm going, the company is Roman Balandin Realty. He is a luxury boutique brokerage here in New Jersey. And excuse me, Roman is also a self made man. We're very similar in age.

His drive is like my drive. He's been in the industry significantly longer than I have.

And everything that, everything that my business is missing, his company has and vice versa. Because we've had conversations about this. His method of generating business versus my method of generating business are like water and olive oil.

But the two combined, we're both excited to, to see what this is going to do. Two different ways of generating leads, generating business, two different forms of marketing.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:19:16

Right? That's interesting.

But I'm also gathering that when you've had those conversations and had those conversations, would you feel like, you know, that he's captured a vision in you?

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:19:36

Yeah, absolutely. He absolutely has. You know, it's funny, sometimes people, you know, you hear that saying like you never knew you wanted it until you heard it.

And when I started talking with him and he was telling me what he wants to do with his business, I'm listening to him, I'm looking at him and in my head, jeez, I keep hitting my microphone and I'm saying to myself, in my head, this is the ideal situation. This is everything I ever wanted for a real estate career room to grow, ground level opportunity.

I'd be, I'd be essentially his right hand man that if this were or when it works out right. You know, like I said earlier to you, this is like a five year plan.

So there are goals within the five year plan that we will need to hit in order to make this happen. But it's, it's Roman and myself, like we will be doing this together and can't pass it up. I just can't pass this opportunity up.

I have to see, I have to try and see if we can make this work right.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:20:50

And you know, I think something that, you know, that you just said, I think is really important for listeners to hear and understand because you are super successful right now and you don't necessarily need to have this.

But one of the things that's that, that I think, you know, true leadership, you know, if you are, whether you're leading yourself and I and, and I am a firm believer, each and every one of US are the CEOs of our own lives. And we have to be the leaders of ourselves and think of ourselves as a business.

But where you are, is you have now, you know, a leader, a great leader is going to share this, their vision and mission for the company, which Roman has done.

And asking you what your vision and mission is for Dennis Mark, you know, your personal and business mission align that and talked about something that you are looking for in your life, which is growth. I mean, you know, instead of just pushing the button, the same buttons every day, you get to have growth. Oh, I get to learn, I get to experience.

Right? So you get to learn. So leaders, great leaders, find out where people on their team want to go and grow.

Obviously, presented this opportunity to you, helps you feel part of a team, that you are going to be building something. There's something greater out there and created a plan and obviously with goals around it.

And I think, you know, that whole picture is probably one of the best game changers for any business to do.

Whether you're leading the company with multiple employees, many employees, whether you've got 10 employees, five employees, or you're just the employee of one, having those things down are so important. Right? So, absolutely.

so before you said, you know,: 2025

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:23:04

So the goal, the goal is to still double the business, but the goal is also to help build the Roman Balandin brand within the.

Within the parameters of the responsibilities that I'm taking on so that it affords us to move forward with the additional opportunities that we're looking forward to three years and five years down the road. Because if it doesn't work within the first year, then years four, two through five don't happen.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:23:38

Right.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:23:39

So a little bit of pressure. A little bit. But I'm excited, I'm stoked. I'm ready for it.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:23:48

So, okay, so here's my crazy question that's kind of burning in my head. You as Dennis Mark, have a great brand. How is that brand going to work with the Roman brand? And is like, how are. How do you see that working?

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:24:09

Great question. I actually asked him that because it was very important that my brand continue because I have spent the last five years building it up.

One of the reasons why he wants me is because of my brand. He loves my brand. It is in line with the expansion where he wants the business to go. Everything that I do, the, the.

The logo, my marketing, my social media, my. My.

My digital media, things like this, like what we're doing right now, the creative side of What I bring to the table is what he was looking for that he currently doesn't have. He's one man wearing many hats.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:24:56

Yeah.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:24:56

So now I just get the opportunity to take a couple of those hats and put it on this head instead of his.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:25:01

Right, right. And, you know, there's always ways to brand where it's like Dennis Mark, you know, a. You know, a Roman company. Right, right. Or something.

It's like as you do with Keller Williams. So it's just changing that little slogan, I think that's so important.

And, and key thing is that it's being that communication and the conversations that you are both having are so important, both in the team structure and as a group and leadership. It's so important to have that, to have communication.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:25:40

Yeah.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:25:42

Okay, so now you're moving into this role and you're going to have a team. What do you want the team to know?

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:25:57

I want the team to know that it's all. It's okay to fail as long as you fail forward, because you're going to fail. It's inevitable. Right.

The faster you can get over it, the faster you see it as change happening for you instead of to you, the faster you're going to be able to recover, learn from it and drive on.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:26:20

Yeah, yeah. It's very. That's very. That's very. That's very key. It's. And helping people understand that. It's. It's okay. I had a conversation with.

With somebody yesterday and we were talking about. She has a. She's built a great team and, you know, sharing those same things that, you know, if you make a mistake, it's okay.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:26:43

Yeah.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:26:44

If you make it three times, then it's not okay because you're not learning. Right, right. So there's that happy balance in there. Right, right, right, right. So as you move into this new role, what is.

What is something that you feel that you are going to need to work on?

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:27:15

Patience. 100% patience, without a doubt. I am not a man of many patients, and I know I'm not, but I'm working on it.

New people, new mindsets, new personalities. I need to learn these people. So for me, for sure, patience is the number one thing that I will need to learn.

And I don't even think that that's bad of that bad of a thing, to be honest with you. I just know that, that for me, that will probably be one of my hardest obstacles to overcome, you know, with people as. As I'm getting to know them.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:28:01

Right. No, that's huge. That's really. Patience is really is a really key part to being a great leader and being able to kind of step in, step back before we.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:28:17

Yep. Take a breath. Five. Right.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:28:23

Right, right. So it has been such a great pleasure connecting with you and having you on. I think that I am so, so excited for your new venture.

We're going to have to get you back on because we want to have to have, you know, hear how it's going, you know, because I am so curious because it's really fantastic. But right now, you know, how can people connect with you and learn more about your wisdom? Maybe even buy a house, you know?

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:28:51

Yeah, buying a house would be great. You could find me anywhere on social media. If you just search Dennis Mark or Dennis Mark Real Estate, you'll find me pretty much everywhere.

If you want to find me on TikTok, though, it's red, white, and real estate.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:29:05

Okay. Red, white, and real estate. Okay. Is there one place that you hang out more?

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:29:11

I'm mostly on Facebook and TikTok, but recently I have been building out my YouTube page.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:29:16

Okay.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:29:17

So, you know, swing on over, give it a look, subscribe. That'd be fantastic.

Jaclyn Strominger: 00:29:23

That's okay. Well, that is great. Well, Dennis Mark, I thank you so much for being a guest on this podcast. This is the Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight podcast.

If you have enjoyed the show, please hit the subscribe button.

And if you have a leadership story that you would like to share, please go to my website, LeaptoYourSuccess.com podcast or just click on the podcast button and apply to be a guest. And again, this isJaclyn Schroinger, your host of the Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight podcast. And thank you so much for listening.

And thank you, Dennis Mark.

Dennis Mark Interdonato: 00:29:57

Thank you,Jaclyn. It was a pleasure.