Why a Monkey?

In the ’90s, real estate agents had their Glamour Shot photos everywhere: on yard signs, business cards, billboards, Frisbees, keychains. Mine is pictured here. I cringe with embarrassment every time I sees it.

Needless to say,  I refused to follow suit and plaster my picture all over town. Frankly, I was embarrassed to call myself a real estate agent. The agents I knew wore ugly yellow jackets, went door knocking, passed out flyers, and made cold calls – all the things I despise. I’d sooner die than wear a rhinestone house broach or go trolling for clients at the grocery store! I believed then – and still believe – that those behaviors are undignified, unprofessional, and reek of desperation. Count me out.

I don’t recall the exact inspiration but my immature, 20-something, anti-establishment brain thought it would be funny to take a swing at predatory lenders while teasing real estate agents at the same time. So, I decided to use a picture of a monkey for my headshot. My first monkey looked like the first image, right. The real estate community criticized me for not taking the business seriously. So, I changed my profile image to something more serious, like the second photo. I operated using monkey photos like the ones here for many years. Call me childish and unprofessional, but I still think it’s funny. (In my defense…this is the kind of thing that happens when they let 20-somethings start a business.)

NOT A SERIOUS AGENT

Our tagline became “Buying a Home? Don’t Let Them Make a Monkey Out of You!” (The idiom “make a monkey out of” means to make someone look foolish or to make a fool out of someone.) I donated a portion of every sale to wildlife conservation and ‘Save the Chimp’ organizations and promoted my monkey quite heavily throughout Dallas-Fort Worth and online.

People quickly recognized and embraced the need for Exclusive Buyer’s Agency and loved our message and service. It wasn’t long before EBAs became a ‘thing’ in most states. I joined the National Association of Exclusive Buyer’s Agents and became a member of Consumer Advocates in American Real Estate. (Strangely enough, I became known as The Monkey Lady in real estate circles and beyond.)

Our monkey message was a huge hit but the photo images above were difficult to incorporate into our branding. Luckily, I discovered an amazing graphic artist who created fun 3D animal images, including chimpanzees. I love the playful vibe and exaggerated facial and body features. I had found our new mascot, and our monkey was updated to the ones you see now on our site. The artwork below is just a small sample of Julien Tromeur’s work. He’s a genius, in my opinion.

After 27 years in this business, I can confirm, first-hand, that discrimination and racism exist in real estate. The overt racism and violence we see on television are horrible, but the covert discrimination is equally damaging and far more prevalent. Examples?

• A seller once offered me thousands of dollars to encourage my “purple” buyer/clients NOT to purchase their home.

• A “blue” client with a low credit score can sometimes rent a house or apartment far more easily than a “pink” client with a higher credit score and income.

• When building luxury homes, “green” people can sign a contract and provide minimal information to begin the construction process. “Orange” people are sometimes forced to go through the full pre-approval process with a lender they did not choose. 

•  Sellers who belong to particular churches won’t sell their home to a gay person, forcing us to hide their orientation until after closing.