Meet The Disruptors: Grant Pruitt Of Whitebox Real Estate On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
I will jump into something head first and figure it out as I go along. It may not be the prettiest, but I will get to the goal line. If you have a passion for an industry and you jump in, you will come up with ideas.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Grant Pruitt.
Grant Pruitt is the Co-Founder, President and Managing Director of Whitebox Real Estate, LLC. Grant launched the firm as a tenant-focused real estate advisory firm offering a custom-tailored approach which is not driven by Wall Street. As an advocate and trusted advisor to clients, Grant is responsible for over 6 million square feet of real estate transactions exceeding $750 million over the course of his 15-year career in real estate.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
When I was graduating from high school, my father came into my room and said, “Put on a suit, I’m going to teach you how I make a living, so that you will appreciate it.” I did, and we cold-called warehouses on the east side of San Antonio all summer. I loved it. I didn’t want to go into real estate, but I thought I could make some money on the side while I went to school. I decided to attend Southern Methodist University strictly because I got into the BBA Scholars Program: https://www.smu.edu/cox/Degrees-and-Programs/BBA/High-School-Class-of-2020/bba-scholars It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I tried to get anyone in commercial real estate who would listen to hire me as an intern while I was going to school in Dallas. I was unable to convince anyone to hire me during the school year or during the summer. I went to college thinking I wanted to tackle the pre-med track, but I didn’t study enough. I needed some easy courses to boost my GPA, and real estate and finance came naturally to me. I switched my major to real estate finance. After the end of my first year, I couldn’t get a job in Dallas, so I went home to work with my father again. That summer, we cold-called office buildings, and I still loved it. The fall semester of my sophomore year, I got an interview with Stream Realty who hired me that fall, spring, and summer. I worked for Stream all through school, ultimately being hired full time as my first job post-grad.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
In all honesty, I think the disruption found me, rather than the other way around. When I got into the real estate business, most of the companies were privately held. Today, most of them are public or have publicly traded debt. As a result, they have gotten away from the brokerage business and even more so, gotten away from the business of representing tenants. On average, fifty percent or more of their business comes from property management, facilities management, and project management. This is their “recurring” monthly revenue that Wall Street demands. Ten to fifteen percent comes from landlord investment sales and debt & equity. Five to ten percent comes from services like appraisal or consulting, and ten to fifteen percent comes from landlord representation leasing. That being said, seventy-five to ninety percent of their business comes from representing landlords, and representing tenants is a small percentage. Of that tenant business, the focus is really only on Fortune 200 and up, so that they can sell multiple service lines such as consulting, lease administration, transaction management, facilities management — all monthly fee retainers. It’s really not about the relationship for them anymore, and they are targeting the largest five percent of businesses. Anything under that is really not in their bailiwick. The ninety-five percent of tenants that they no longer care to service is exclusively what Whitebox focuses on. It is 100% of our business, and since that is our focus, the client is getting the A team. They are our highest priority. That is disruptive. Doing what is best for the tenant. Treating their business and money like it is our own. Our goal at Whitebox is to positively impact our clients’ businesses through real estate.
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?
The first tenant rep assignment I sourced was my third day, and I was cold calling the Dallas Galleria Office Towers. I was knocking on every door and had no idea what to say or do. I will admit, I lied (I would never recommend this tactic to someone in the business, but I didn’t know any better). I did not know when any of the leases expired, but every office I walked into I said, “Hey, I hear your lease is expiring.” I couldn’t believe it, but two buildings in, the decision maker walks out and says, “Yes, how did you know?” I told him, “Research.” So, he hands me a business card, and he starts to tell me he wants to move North. There is only one problem. I had a pen but nothing to write on, other than his business card. I started taking notes all over this tiny business card about the kind of office he is looking for (size, layout, location, etc.). Additionally, I didn’t grow up in Dallas/Fort Worth, so I didn’t even know the streets he was talking about. I remember him saying, “You know those buildings past Windhaven and the Tollway? I want to look at those.” He might as well have told me Mars, because I had no idea where that was at the time. Needless to say, I wrote it all down on that card and he hired me on the spot. I found that business card a few months ago with all of my notes on it. I always tell people to bring a notepad to write on because a magnifying glass is needed to see all the notes with as small as I had to write.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
In addition to my father, I had two fabulous mentors when I went to work at Cushman & Wakefield. One of them, Mike Wyatt, had an incredible impact on my life. He taught me to work hard (he used to routinely work 18-hour days). He also just gave me time. He used to drive around with me on Saturdays and tell me about the market and about the history of not only Dallas but also the individual submarkets. He pushed me to “be an expert” and “add value.” He also tried to teach me patience, although I’m not sure I am the best student — haha. He would always tell me, “Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” He gave me structure, a roadmap to success, and a few rules:
- Show up by 7AM, and don’t leave before 6PM.
- Never leave before your support team.
- Work at least 3–4 hours on Saturdays to get ready for the week ahead (at least until you turn 30).
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
Disrupting is always good because healthy businesses have to continue to evolve. We have to have an adapt or die mentality. However, I am not sure that disruption is always created from scratch. In our industry, the disruption is really a return to the basics. The idea of putting a client’s needs above your own.
Real estate, like many other industries is like a pendulum. It swings one way, then the other, then back. Currently, the industry has swung to the publicly traded side (landlords. retainers, etc.). It will swing back, but Whitebox is going to be supplanted as a leader on the tenant side. Positive and “not so positive” is relative to perspective, and perspective is relative to where you stand. For Landlords and shareholders, currently, the real estate companies are in the right place. For tenants and users, they are not in the right place. My bias is going to be to the tenant, buyer, and user companies. So, I believe we are positively shaking things up.
Can you please share 5 ideas one needs to shake up their industry?
Candidly, I am an actions person, not an ideas person. I am not saying it is a good thing (ask my wife), but I will jump into something head first and figure it out as I go along. It may not be the prettiest, but I will get to the goal line. If you have a passion for an industry and you jump in, you will come up with ideas.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
That is a bit of the secret sauce, but let’s just say that since we are small and nimble, we can embrace technology faster and easier than our large competition. You will just have to stay tuned to see what we implement.
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
Two Books. Candide by Voltaire and The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann. My mentor told me to read Candide because he thought I was too serious, not joyful, and too pessimistic. He made me write a book report about it. If that guy can be happy, anyone can be happy. I also really like The Go-Giver because I am naturally skeptical, and it help me look for the good in people.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Never, never, never give up.” Winston Churchill. I love Winston Churchill, and he had every reason to doubt himself and throw in the towel, but he was a fighter. Life is about perseverance and believing in yourself.
You are a person 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. :-)
If I knew the answer to that (assuming it was different than my business), I would have already done it. I am an all-in or all out person. If I come across something I am passionate about, you will know it. I am passionate about Whitebox, building our client base, and getting the message out about how much we can positively impact our client’s businesses and lives. That is what I am currently focused on.
How can our readers follow you online?
Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantpruitt/
Follow Whitebox Real Estate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/whitebox-real-estate-llc/
And Whitebox’s website just got a revamp, check it out: https://whiteboxrealestate.com/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
