DANIELLE NICOLE PIERCE, 40
PRESIDENT, REAL ESTATE PROFIT LAB
Five years ago, Danielle Nicole Pierce started a business that focused on managing bank-owned properties and also created a separate business that acquires tax delinquent properties for pennies on the dollar, said nominator Justin Breen of BrEpic Communications.
“In both instances, she is nearly always the only African-American woman operating a successful multiple six-figure business,” Breen said.
In the last two years, Pierce and her clients have purchased nearly 100 tax lien properties primarily in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Tennessee.
Pierce is a member of the Forbes Real Estate Council.
She became a caddy at age 13, and received the Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she attended the Gies College of Business and earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting.
She has two daughters, ages 8 and 5, and a 7-year-old son.
“I want them to be independent thinkers, resilient and just be themselves unapologetically, which is so rare these days,” Pierce said.
– Paul H. Harral
Where did your first paycheck come from?
The first time I was paid for work happened when I was 13 years old. I became a caddie and I proudly completed my very first round with a golfer who must have had a 35 handicap. I was sweaty, exhausted and rethinking this whole “caddie business.” Then, when she paid me $20, I was absolutely elated! I didn’t even know at the time that $20 was considered cheap.
What movie, TV series, play or video game influenced you growing up?
The most influential show I can remember would have to be The Cosby Show. I was never much into video games or movies. Also, we never had cable growing up so I missed out on a lot of things that are now part of popular culture. Don’t kill me but I still have never seen Star Wars!
Tell us about an influential person in your life, how they influenced you and why he or
she was important.
There are a handful of people who have significantly impacted my growth and development. They are my mother, my friend Dorian Johnson, my children and most recently my business coach and friend Thomas K. R. Stovall.
My mother LOVES learning, speaking and writing. From the time, she was a child, she had dreams of going to college. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to attend college out of high school due to the birth of my sister. Yet, as luck and the Creator would have it, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at 55. … Shortly after starting grad school, she suffered a major stroke that left her with severe aphasia and partial paralysis. Her health spiraled downhill for the next several years but she has literally always remained positive and upbeat. I marvel at her strength of character.
Dorian Johnson was one of the first brokers I ever worked under as a newly licensed real estate agent. He communicated his belief that I would be extremely successful from the very, very beginning. I’m still not sure if he really believed this himself or just saw that my confidence needed boosting.
Thomas K.R. Stovall is a friend from high school that has now become a good friend as an adult. He is also my Business Optimization Coach. I’m not sure if Thomas is even aware of the extent to which he has caused major SHIFTS in my thoughts on business, the power of habit, the power to change habits and the power to live a life of intention and deliberateness.
What is your favorite song?
Diva, Beyoncé
Tell us about your photo shoot prop.
My photo shoot prop represents my commitment to myself to only take the actions that align with my Dream Life. It is amazingly easy to write down a goal or talk about a goal that we want to achieve. However, it’s also amazingly easy to allow for distractions and old habits to derail our progress. I have vowed to myself to commit every day to my Dream Life.