From working with some of hip hop’s finest such as T.I., Yung Joc, Safaree, and many more, Douglas and Atiya Parson are the “it” power couple taking the real estate world by storm. From closing multi-million dollar deals, to landing a new book deal with the release of their highly anticipated new book, We Nailed It! The Blueprint for Relationships and Real Estate, the legendary power couple show no signs of slowing down. Their new book, which is already anticipated to be an Amazon bestseller, drops on December 19th, and will be available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and everywhere books are sold. The Source had a chance to catch up with the dynamic power couple to discuss their new book release, working with hip hop’s finest, and more.
Doug, I know that you went from hustling to flipping bricks. How did you make the transition from the street life to real estate?
Doug: It was crazy, because you make so much money and with everything that comes along with that transition, it was tough. It was a time where after I quit hustling, I went broke. And I had to get a regular job for a short period of time before I could get back up. So, I would definitely say it was a tough crossover. At times my wife Blondie would say, ‘hey, you can’t go back,’ and if I would say that I wanted to go back to my hometown where we were hustling, she would call my mother and say, ‘hey, talk to your son,’ that used to make me so mad. (Laughs) But the transition was tough. It’s tough from going from hustling to just real estate or anything legal thereafter.
Atiya, how did you and Doug meet, and how did you transition from education to real estate?
Atiya: Doug, and I actually met at the skating rink. So skating was one of the things that I loved doing as a pastime in Indianapolis. Everybody hung out there–so I met him at the skating rink. He gave me his number, and I could tell that he was a hustler. I had talked to other hustlers before, and I was done with that life because there’s a lot that comes along with guys that are from the streets. I didn’t want that lifestyle anymore. I pretty much threw his number away and then probably like a month later, my car would not start. I was in college and I had three jobs at the time and my car wouldn’t start. I had to have somebody come out and give me a jump. That’s when I saw him and he was like, ‘oh, I got you now, why didn’t you call me?’ I just made something up, I was like, ‘oh, I lost your number.’ So, from there, we kind of built a friendship. And I was in school for education, and I’m still in education. I’ve been in education for almost 25 years, the transition to real estate has been smoothed thus far, because I’ve followed him along the way. Doug has been licensed for 20 plus years. So, if you think about that, I’ve been assisting him for all that time pretty much as long as he has been in real estate. But on my own, I’ve been licensed for three years, and the transition has been amazing because he’s a really good mentor. He’s been teaching me a lot of the things to do with real estate personally.
You guys have worked with some of the biggest names in hip hop such as TI, Yung Joc, and Safaree. What have been some of your most memorable celebrity home closings and why?
Doug: One of my close friends and clients for many years is Yung Joc. I remember when we first met years and years ago, I was putting him in a high-end rental. At the time, he wasn’t where he is now. He’s just come so far, but that’s a true friend. His last property that he bought was really awesome. I will say that it really felt good to see him and his wife Kendra Robinson, who is actually our preferred closing attorney when we’re buying and selling real estate, close on such a monumental property together. That was an epic moment to see him come from where he was, and then where he is now and the type of home that he was buying. It just felt good to me.
Atiya: For me the most memorable one– because I like to look at things that I’ve learned, would be ATL Jacob. Because when we were helping him with his home, there were so many ups and downs that went wrong that it was really a teachable moment for me or Doug. We were both able to say ‘well, this is what happened, so this is what we have to do for this next time.’ There were so many different things in that sale that he was able to teach me that moving forward we won’t make those mistakes in the future.So, there were a lot of things that I learned with that one.
What are some of the things you wish the hip hop community knew about real estate?
Doug: I just wish they knew that if they just do their taxes, they could buy a home. A Lot of them are heavy on cash, like they got a lot of cash. They’re going out and doing several $20,000.00, $30,000.00, $40,000.00 shows every weekend so they have steady cash flow coming in. So, I just feel like they need to know to just really do your taxes for at least two years. Don’t write all your money off, and you’ll be able to buy the house. That’s one thing I think they need to know. And I think they need to know about other ways outside even getting traditional loans that they can get properties by bank statements, simple things.
Atiya: I would add credit, because I think sometimes people take it for granted, especially when you talk about a lot of people in the hip hop world that have money at their disposal. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much money you have, because your credit still needs to be in order. Because sometimes, depending on what you’re trying to do in real estate, you still need that credit, or if you’re not willing to put all your money up. And so they want to look at your credit to see what your score is to see if you would qualify. And if you’re not keeping that credit in order, that’s going to hurt you.
You guys seem to really enjoy each other, and you work so well together. How do you guys’ balance love and business?
Atiya: I would say the way that we balance love and business well. First, you have to take the time to take care of yourself and your needs. So, like me, one of my things is that I love to get my nails done. I love to get my hair done, colored of course, that’s how I got the name Blondie. So, keeping that blonde, going to get my nails done, you know, when you need that time apart, it’s important to have balance. Although we love spending time together, you need that time apart and just learning that we’ve really learned each other’s communication style, and what makes each other tick. It’s the little things like he knows–one of my pet peeves is I don’t like dishes in the sink. So, if you don’t want me to have a bad day, I’m telling you like the smallest things like that were throwing me off. So it’s really important to be in tune with one another.
Doug: I had to learn kind of how to tone it down and kind of deal with her and sometimes just even say, ‘yes, dear.’ Because it’s literally a happy wife, happy life. I’ve just learned how to deal with her. And just keep it real soft. I really love my wife, we work great together. We really knew we could work together in the capacity I would say during COVID. When we had to stay in the house together, and we loved it, we made a lot of money just staying in the house. When we were all stuck in the house it was like ‘wow, we really just love to be around each other all the time.’
Tell us, what can we expect from your new book, “We Nailed It! The Blueprint for Real Estate and Relationship, dropping on December 19th?
Atiya: Yes! December 19th we will debut our new book, Bricks and Blondie: We Nailed It” The Blueprint for Real Estate and Relationships. When you think about a blueprint, you kind of think about a map, right? So, we use maps to kind of navigate and help us move. With this book, there’s so much transparency in there, we talk a little bit about our lives, where we’re from, our backgrounds, because honestly, Doug and I’s backgrounds are very different from the way that we were raised, down to the religions that we practice and everything. We came from two different worlds, and these two people that came from two different worlds didn’t even really the best models growing up as far as what a marriage looks like. We figured out how to make it work. And so in this book, we do comparisons with talking about things that are needed in the relationship that we have found that work for us. We do almost like a comparison to if you are building or renovating a home. So, I mean, this is going to be a great read for couples and single people that want that foundation when they find their loved one.
Doug: Like for instance, in your relationship you’ve got to have a strong foundation. Or basically the first time something happens, you’re going to go your separate ways, because you didn’t build that strong foundation. Well, when we renovate houses, or we build houses, it’s the same thing. You gotta have a strong foundation, or the house literally will fall down over time. We kind of relate those types of things and we also wanted them to speak on how our marriage has gone, the way it’s gone for us to be able to last this long. You go through trials and tribulations, and stuff like that, but we wanted to show them also how we teach people how to build, and renovate houses, and leave their family a legacy. So, it’s like, we wanted to give them the best of both worlds with relationships, and real estate because it’s a hell of a thing when you can get a lot of money with the person you love. It’s just good to be able to get money together with your wife or your spouse.
What are some of the biggest misconceptions about real estate?
Atiya: Some of the misconceptions are thinking that you’re going to make money immediately. It takes time, you have to build those relationships, you have to get referrals. You’re just not going to make a whole bunch of money overnight, not the average person that’s in real estate. So that’s one of the biggest misconceptions.
Doug: The biggest misconception with a lot of people coming into the game, is that you have to work hard to get listings, and you have to work hard to get buyers too. But I just know some of the questions I hear when I get tons of DMS and stuff like that is about how many? How many listings does your company usually give you? Or how many buyers do they give you to work at a time, and it’s like they don’t give you any of that, that’s a big misconception. What they are going to be doing in the beginning is training you and it’s up to you to go out there and utilize that training, but they’re not going to be giving you buyers, and they definitely are not going to be giving you a listening. So when I tell them that it probably crushes a lot of them.
Share with our readers some of your advice on building a brand and branding to keep an edge over the competition?
Doug: I would say just being ourselves, you know what I mean? Like I just feel like as far as our branding, it’s so natural for us because we’ve been together so long, we are Bricks and Blondie. And as far as branding, we just try to stay fly. And we try to keep grinding, because people love when they see you being successful, and you can show them the grind. For instance, people will come on our Instagram or they will come on our YouTube, and they will see us dressed down because we are in our houses, flipping our houses and stuff like that. We do get dirty, then they turn around and they see us when we are going out just to have dinner, or wherever or the cars we drive and we fly as hell. For a lack of a better thing to say, so people kind of hold to that. And then when we get them in like that, then I can tell them ‘Hey, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to flip houses just like I do.’ You gotta misconstrue so when they can see people that look like me, and I tell them the story, they catch on to that.
Atiya: And also keeping that edge, and staying abreast with everything that’s going on in real estate as much as you can, as far as the interest rates, staying in tune with your lenders, different programs that they have, because there’s a lot of first-time buyers out here. I like to always talk to my lender to find out about new programs that are out for first time buyers. You need to be able to spit that stuff out when you get a buyer so that you know what they can qualify for. If you’re the type of agent where you just kind of get your license and think that you don’t still have to keep learning and going back to school, you’re gonna be missing out. I’m a learner at heart, and I’m constantly going on the platform to figure out new things that’s going on.
What are the keys to maintaining a happy home all while building a successful brand?
Doug: Communication is key. That sounds so cliche, doesn’t it? Communication is nice and also letting that person be themselves. Like at some point little things bother you but like you gotta just learn to love it. Just like when I leave a dish in the sink, my wife might hate it but what if I wasn’t there leaving the dish in the sink. So it’s all about communication, learning each other’s do’s and don’ts and what their buttons are, and keeping it real; never lie to each other. Spiritually, you need to pray because the devil definitely is at work.
Atiya: Romance, keep it spicy! (Laughs) Spicy. Don’t let it get dull. Knowing each other, you got to ask questions. Just think we’ve been together almost 30 years. I’m not the same 21-year-old that I was when we first met. So, keeping that romance, and then having unconditional love. Sometimes when we think of unconditional love, we think of it just like our children or with our family members. But Doug is more than just a husband, he is my family. And sometimes, I think couples don’t have that unconditional love and that forgiveness in them. Knowing that no one’s perfect, and if I love you and I have that unconditional love, then sometimes I have to see past your mistakes. Now you’re not gonna keep making no mistakes, but I can see past those few mistakes that you’ve made because no one’s perfect.
Outside of your new book, what else can we expect from The Parsons?
Atiya: We have a TV show that’s being shopped around right now. It will all be about flipping and a little bit of lifestyle. The show is being shopped as we speak, and we’re working with a big executive on that. Then we’re also working on building a curriculum so that’s going to be something new that we’re bringing into 2024. We’re building the curriculum, and then hopefully that curriculum will be implemented in a public school system. Once we get that together, we’ll start going to different public school systems to see if that’s something that they want to add to their curriculum, similar to trade schools and how they have automotive, cosmetology, etc. We feel like real estate needs to be added, because if you’re eighteen, you can take the class and if you think about it, it’s three months. Every student doesn’t want to go to college. So, this is another path that they could take. It definitely needs to be in public schools.
Doug: In the beginning like we said, it wouldn’t necessarily be so easy for them in the beginning, but if you really work hard, in a couple of years, people make $60,000.00 a year and the young person will be like, ‘Oh, my God, like, that’s crazy.’ But it’s like, when you get in this real estate game, you can really make six figures, you know what I mean? And you don’t have to go to college for four years or six years or however long it may take. Both our boys went to college and that’s another big blessing of mine coming from a hustler from the street life to have two sons graduate from college. Also, to have my beautiful wife being a college graduate and have a PhD and all of that kind of stuff. That’s a story in itself for me, where I come from.
We Nailed It! The Blueprint for Relationships and Real Estate, will be available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and everywhere books are sold on December 19th.
Follow Bricks & Blondie: @iamrealestate1 @realestatewithblondie
