Meet Brandon Lewis, The Dapper Agent

I'm entering year ten with Ayre Reinhardt Real Estate Partners, but arriving at this place is an interesting story. Before settling back in Midland, where I graduated from Midland High, I lived everywhere. I lived in Chicago, LA, and even went back to Flint, where I lived before moving to Midland in the fifth grade. My wife and I were starting a family and were torn between Chicago and Flint. That's when I said, "Let's go back home." After all, my wife, Katie, and I are high school sweethearts, and this place is our place.

That was the beginning of doing the 'Midland Thing.' I nicknamed it 'The Blueprint.' And I love 'The Blueprint,' I'm not even going to lie. 'The Blueprint' is simple - you have a kid, you move into a house, and you work at Dow. I really do love 'The Blueprint.' It's a great life, but I wasn't sure that I could sit at the same desk for the next how ever many years. It just didn't feel authentic to me.

I don't want to necessarily say I went on a journey to 'find myself,' but that's kind of what happened. I started looking at different things and keeping my eyes open for other options. One of my regular podcast listens was The Breakfast Club, and I remember this was early in the show. At that time, it was very new and outlandish. They had a reformed dude who recently turned into a realtor as a guest—I'm not even lying— he made real estate sound so cool. He was dropping names like Odell Beckham and others. I couldn't believe it, but I thought, "That's kind of cool." Those were the good Twitter days, so after the interview, I followed him and shot him a message. I said, "Hey, great interview. That was kind of inspiring. Any tips for me?" He actually wrote back and suggested some books. He told me to go for it, to jump in. So, I started reading the books he recommended and thought, "Maybe I will do this."

MLMBrandon Lewis tells his story to Max Loves Midland

My inlaws, who have experience in real estate, had already encouraged me to enter the field. My wife was very supportive, too, but I had to put together a plan. We had a small child at the time. The security of the regular paycheck is much different than real estate. In real estate, you have to go after your paycheck. It's a grind. I took my class at Delta College and committed to the field. When it came time to get a job, I went to the same place I went to with my mom when we moved here when I was in fifth grade - Ayre Rhinehart.

I took my own path in the field. I quickly developed my own brand, the "Dapper Agent." I had to wear dress clothes to work when I was with Dow. When I transitioned into a realtor, that's what I had. Most realtors are in polos and khakis, but I was always dressed up. Miss Ashley Bromley, who's a retired realtor, was always dressed to the nines. And she was like, 'You always look so nice, so dapper.' And, you know, you get a compliment or a head nod from someone who puts on like that, it's always a good feeling. So, that's kind of how it started. It was the dapper thing, and then I told my wife, who is the Communications Director for the Country Club, that I was going to make a logo. And she giggled because I don't do art at all. Some fooling around, and I finally came up with something. I shouted to her, and she went, 'Who made that?' I was like, 'That was me.' Since then, I've been known as the Dapper Agent.

As a dad with two kids, it's cool to see my kids spend time at places with their friends at the same places I used to - like the Midland Mall or the movie theater. Some of the spaces we all like to spend time in as a family are Dow Diamond and the Commons in Downtown Midland. It's cool seeing the entire community gather. Downtown opening up to more festivals is a great thing to see. We're opening up that 'Midland Bubble,' and that wasn't always the case. Midland has a reputation for being a 'God bless us and no more' type of town, but I think it's changing.
Sometimes I compare us to the Dallas Cowboys - we had a heyday, but we need a championship, and inclusivity is a great start. What makes Midland great is the people, and having people of all ideologies and backgrounds sharing spaces makes us even better.

Moving forward - I think success leaves clues. We've seen what works in other places, and we can apply that knowledge here. There are other places that have done a very good job of transforming into what's next, and as we talk about them, you know, they go from monoculture to local businesses and high-density with walkability. Small businesses are the backbone of the community. They make a community unique. I think we're on the right road to making this town the best it can be - after all, we're Midlanders. We can smile and shake a hand with the best of them. I hope we keep shaking hands and inviting folks to be here to move our county forward.