Lessons from a Thriving Power Couple, With Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

“ME TIME”- Allowing each other to be able to decompress, recalibrate, or have a night out with friends without making them feel guilty is not a bad thing. It’s ok to embrace your happiness as an individual and a couple.

As a part of our series about lessons from Thriving Power Couples, I had the pleasure of interviewing Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson.

Real estate broker Egypt Sherrod and builder Mike Jackson are partners in life — and in business!

Well-known HGTV personality Egypt Sherrod is a licensed, award-winning realtor and the founder of The Egypt Sherrod Real Estate Group. Prior to this, Egypt had a successful, 20-year radio broadcast career, being syndicated in major markets, such as New York City, Baltimore and Atlanta. It was during this chapter of her life that she met the love of her life, Mike Jackson. Since then, the former professional DJ has taken his passion for home improvement and is now a professional builder. He even founded his own construction company, Jackson Draper Renovations! Now, the power couple works together to help their clients find and renovate their dream homes.

Egypt and Mike’s personal and professional lives are now featured in their new HGTV show “Married to Real Estate” Thursdays at 9PM ET.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you two to your respective career paths?

We actually met in another life! Well, let me explain… Mike and I were both working in our previous careers when we first met. I was an NYC radio personality and he was a DJ. The wisest words I ever received as a woman in entertainment was to NEVER date a co-worker in the industry. So, he and I met a few times and there was instant attraction, but we never pursued it. Sometime later, I was flipping one of my investment properties, and he showed up as one of the contractors who took over from the ones I fired. I certainly looked at him differently after that. He was more than a DJ. He was also a businessman. Couple that with a tight t-shirt and toolbelt and I was intrigued. (laughing) — Egypt

It was funny because after all those years she finally gave me the time of day. We literally fell in love during that renovation. As far as my career path, I’ve always been a creative person. I initially started my career on the road traveling the world as a professional DJ and now I own my own company. When I was younger, I was the kid that took things apart to see how they worked, and then put them back together. I believe it was ordained that I’d be working with my hands in a skillful way. As a kid, I was always on construction sites with my grandfather and uncle, who both had their own companies. When we moved to Atlanta, I teamed up with my wife’s Uncle Mark and curated our own company, Jackson Draper Renovations. — Mike

As for me, real estate was my second career. I was a radio broadcaster for many years and would flip houses as my hobby. But I started developing such a love for it. I went and got my license to sell, then further educated myself to become a real estate broker. I sold a few homes for some very notable celebrities and the word spread. My career really took off after that, which is when I was first approached by HGTV to host my first show about 12 years ago, “Property Virgins.” Then, I hosted and produced “Flipping Virgins” for three seasons. But nothing compares to our new show “Married to Real Estate” because it is the perfect culmination of our marriage, years of shenanigans and hard work to boot. — Egypt

Can you share the most interesting story that has happened to you since you two got married?

Aside from being two Scorpios that have been together for 17+ years, I think a pretty cool and interesting thing is that a good portion of my family moved to Georgia. It’s all because WE took the leap of faith and moved here. They came to visit and then followed us. My mother, brothers, sisters, aunts, and cousins have all moved from New York. It’s created a good support system. It’s worked out great for everyone. — Mike

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When it comes to working with my wife, a simple, funny mistake I made was thinking I’d have some downtime. My “honey do” list has not stopped since I said “I Do.” I’ve learned to just strategically plan my game nights with the fellas, and just nod to my wife’s great, forever evolving renovation ideas. — Mike

(Laughing hysterically) Ok let me explain… It’s not “MY” honey do list per se, it’s OUR honey do list. Anything I ask him to do is for the betterment of the whole family. -Egypt.

Yeah right! She finds something new to renovate everyday! — Mike

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

We both have our respective businesses. Mike owns Jackson Draper Renovations and I own Egypt Sherrod Real Estate & Design Group. We are just now merging into a one-stop shop. I think what has always made my business stand apart from the rest is that I follow basic principles in marketing and customer relations. It is rooted in the ‘personal touch,’ which is a lost art nowadays. When clients know that you really care about them and their families, they’ll be loyal to you forever. I don’t miss birthdays and baby showers. But I also back that up with solid strategy and knowledge of the real estate market. — Egypt

I believe what makes Jackson Draper Renovations stand out is our product, professionalism, follow-through, and personal touch. A great story that comes to mind is when a client of ours chose to wait a year to have her sunroom renovated by our team because we were so booked up and she didn’t want to deal with any other company. She appreciated how our team respected her and her property, and how well her renovation turned out.- Mike

Ultimately it all adds up to building a solid brand that people can respect and trust. That builds loyalty!

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

HA! Well we have a lot going on. On the TV front, you can catch Mike and I competing on HGTV’s “Rock The Block” season 3, which premieres February 28th. And on our homefront, we are moving into our new digs as we prepare to merge our businesses. The big action for viewers will be watching it all play out on season 2 of our show “Married To Real Estate.” But until then, you can tune into “Married to Real Estate” Thursdays at 9PM ET on HGTV! — Egypt

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

The advice I would give to any new or seasoned CEO would be to be the energy you seek to exist! Treat your employees with the same respect you would want to be treated with. Lead by example, and by “command,” not by demand. In a day and age where so many employers are struggling to keep good employees, I would advise any CEO, founder, manager, etc., to be kind. Kindness goes a long way with employee relations. Also, in this very tough time, try to be understanding and stay engaged. We’re all humans that want to be treated right. Lead with your character, not your position. It goes a long way.- Mike

How do you define “Leadership”?

Leadership to me is allowing the people on your team to be just as great as you. A leader is someone that uplifts and builds up the people around them. A leader is one that understands you can grow further, bigger and better together, rather than attempt to be the only one with access to opportunities. People stay where they can grow and thrive. If you don’t want to be a rotating door for employees, and want to keep good talent, then you have to elevate them as you are elevated. — Egypt

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I owe a great deal of my success, where I am as a man, a business owner, entrepreneur, father, and loving husband to my amazing wife, mother, and three daughters. Because of them, I wake up every morning wanting myself and the world to be a better place. — Mike

Awww thank you, baby! And of course, I owe my success to a tribe of people who support us. My husband who loves me freely and wholly, and goes along with all of my crazy whims. But also to my mother, who we call Momma Kim. She has been so giving of her time in supporting us with watching our children. That’s truly how we are able to do so much, because we know we have amazing childcare. No one does it better than grandma! Also to my dad Brian, who has encouraged me to stretch, dream, and take action. — Egypt

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Everyday we live in gratitude and humility knowing that we’ve been blessed to be blessings to others. Philanthropy is something my wife and I do without asking for anything in return. It’s one of the many reasons I love her so much. We’ve given back to charities, schools, foundations and more through our talents and skills, and even financially. — Mike

Yes, Mike has used his skill set to help churches build shelters, and renovate apartments for families without homes. I volunteer for Habitat For Humanity and Women Who Build. We are teaching our kids the importance and necessity of sowing seeds into the community. — Egypt

What are the “5 Things You Need To Thrive As A Couple”? Please share a story or example for each.

1. A MUTUAL GROUNDING, love of GOD, and a daily prayer or meditation practice. We definitely pray together. I melted the first time we had a bad argument and Mike grabbed me, put his head on mine and said, let’s pray about it. — Egypt
2. TRUST- Transparency without judgment. Provide a safe space where you both are free to speak your mind without being judged, belittled, or scrutinized.
3. FUN- Don’t stop dating each other. Laugh a lot. Keep it sexy -Mike
4. UNDERSTANDING- Too often as humans we listen to defend or debate, and not understand. Be fast to listen, but slow to dispute.
   Last and not least of all…
5. “ME TIME”- Allowing each other to be able to decompress, recalibrate, or have a night out with friends without making them feel guilty is not a bad thing. It’s ok to embrace your happiness as an individual and a couple.

You are people of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

A movement I’d love to see happen is free, quality health care and free college education for everyone. We live in a world where so many people are struggling just to survive. People are living with terrible health conditions because they can’t afford to thrive and be healthy. No one should have to struggle to get, and or pay for an education; only to end up in debt and or work in an occupation far from what they set out to accomplish. Imagine a world where everyone is healthy, happy, and paying it forward. Mankind and the world would be better off! — Egypt

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Aside from a quote I’ve coined, which is “Be the energy you seek to exist,” one of my favorite quotes is by Albert Einstein, which reads: “Do not try to become a person of success but try to become a person of value.” As simple as that statement is, it’s powerful! I’m big on going into things with a giving mentality. A “what can I add to this life” way of thinking. Adding value to things will lead you to success by default.- Mike

Yes, instead of asking “what can I get from this situation.” We should seek to be of service and ask instead, “How can I help this situation and leave it better than how I found it?” By nature of what I do, people always ask for advice on how they can create more wealth through real estate or create multiple streams of income. I tell them, first we need to create multiple streams of joy. The first is nothing without the latter. Everything that grows from an authentic, loving and happy place is bound to be successful.- Egypt

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)

There are so many inspiring individuals I would be grateful to have join me at breakfast or lunch. One of the people I’d be interested in having a meal, and an exchange of healthy, informative dialogue with, would be Jeff Bezos. I’d be interested to hear his take on life, the future, philanthropy, and business strategies. I’d also like to hear what his failures were and how he overcame them. — Mike

How can our readers follow your work online?

Your readers can keep up with us on twitter and Instagram @EgyptSherrod and @Djfadelf.

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.