Like Father, Like Daughter For This Duo at Fort Worth’s MCM Real Estate Services
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They laugh together, they finish each other’s sentences, and they’ve known each other for decades. It sure seems like the CEO and the director of business operations of MCM Real Estate Services and MCM University have formed a great partnership. Maybe it’s in the DNA. Steve DeLeon, the CEO of the company, and Alexandra DeLeon, the operations director, are a father-daughter duo.
“I get to work with my father every day, on purpose,” said Alex, a self-proclaimed “daddy’s girl.” “I actually choose to do it.”
Living The Remodeling Dream
Alex, 35, grew up watching her dad working in Fort Worth real estate. Steve, 60, bought his first investment property on March 9, 1988.
His career of renovating distressed properties is how Alex learned to scrape paint and paint. Often the family of four — Steve, wife Barbara, son Steven, and Alex —lived in the houses while they were being remodeled.
“They’ve probably lived in …” Steve said.
“… every neighborhood of Fort Worth,” Alex said to finish the sentence her dad began.
And the two laugh.
The real estate company he built, MCM Real Estate Services, works primarily as an investment company, but the firm also offers continuing education and advising. Both DeLeons are Realtors. After Steve built his investment network, he became a Realtor eight years ago, a good decision for him.
“It opened up a whole new world,” he said. “I wish I had done it before then.”
The Urge to Skip Out on School
Alex, a former teacher in the Fort Worth Independent School District, would spend her summers helping her father and her brother, formerly a member of the team. She liked what she saw in MCM Real Estate Services. Each summer, just as the school bells were about to ring, her dad posed the same question.
“Every summer he would ask me ‘When are you going to leave teaching and come to work with me?’” she said with a laugh.
Four years ago, she also became a Realtor, joined her father’s company, and hasn’t’ looked back. Even though she misses her students, she’s happy in her new career.
“I love the freedom I have with real estate.”
Steve has the experience, but he readily admits Alex’s educational background is a great addition to their team. She writes the curriculum for MCM Real Estate Services’ educational programs, dubbed MCM University, and he appreciates her attention to detail which meshes well with his strengths.
“There are a lot of details,” he said. “As a visionary, I might have tended to overlook the details. Alex is more of the implementor, so she’s going to be focused on the details.”
Alex says that even after a lifetime of learning from her father, his lessons continue.
“I am a very cautious person,” Alex said, adding that giving up the guaranteed paycheck of a school teacher was difficult. “He’s most recently teaching me how to take more risks.”
For MCM Real Estate Services, It’s Mostly in The Family
Steve has had the opportunity to work with both of his children, and the experiences allowed him to know his children even better.
“The great thing about working with my daughter, and even when my son was working with us, you get to see them invested in what you’re doing and take on bigger roles,” he said. “You get to work with the people you care about and love. That’s the greatest gift of all.”
Working with her father turns Alex a little sappy, she said. But the week of Father’s Day, that’s just fine.
“I have a lot of friends who have lost their parents” she said. “Life is incredibly short, so the fact that I work with him and see him every day is the best.”
