An unlikely journey to a successful real estate business
Daniela Pereyra’s journey to Elon looked a little different from that of many of her fellow classmates, and it all began when she received an email from campus that felt a little bit like fate.
“Actually, Elon found me! And I’m so grateful for that,” Pereyra said. The director of Elon’s International Fellows Program reached out to me while I was in my senior year of high school in Charlotte, and she invited me to interview on campus for the scholarship program. I am originally from Peru and moved to the U.S. at age 10, hence the international part. My first visit to campus was brief, but after the second visit, I was in love. My parents and I had a personalized tour by a tour guide who inspired me, and I became a tour guide myself at the end of my first year.”
Pereyra majored in cinema & television arts with minors in entrepreneurship and French, and she also served as an Orientation Leader, part of the Student Government Association and a member of the student-founded nonprofit organization Helping Other People Eat.
Pereyra also received a merit scholarship through the International Fellows Program in combination with another merit scholarship she earned from an outside source, allowing Pereyra to attend college on a full ride. She says that without scholarships, attending Elon would not have been possible.
“My parents worked extremely hard to give my brother and me the best opportunities they could,” she said. “However, funding a private university education was not a feasible option within my family’s means at the time.”
Once she graduated from Elon, Pereyra decided to take a leap of faith and move across the country to Los Angeles. “I moved to Los Angeles about a week after graduating, with two suitcases, no job, no car, no home… just a one-way plane ticket and a limited bank account,” she said. “Thankfully, the Elon presence in LA is so strong that I had a temporary place to stay for a few weeks until I landed my first job as a solar panel sales agent just to pay the bills. A few months later, I started working somewhat within my field of study and about two years after that, I realized it was not a true passion of mine.”
Once she decided she needed a change, Pereyra found a new job in Charleston, South Carolina for a year and then moved again to Delaware. Her Delaware move was motivated by a military relationship. That’s where she found her true passion of working in real estate. “Funny enough, just like Elon found me, real estate also found me,” Pereyra said.
As far as Pereyra’s current career in real estate, much has evolved and changed, but the love for her career has remained strong. “As of late 2021, I live in Charlotte and I’m a real estate broker here, as well as a landlady, investor and public speaker,” she said. “Real estate has given me a platform to combine my love for storytelling, branding, photography, film, speaking, presenting, designing, building, marketing, networking and producing in so many ways. It’s my whole lifestyle and I am a very happy gal.”
So far the most rewarding part of Pereyra’s journey has been the impact on the clients’ lives that she works with and the connections she has made. “I get messages, calls, voicemails, cards, etc. telling me that I have inspired or motivated (people) or shown them that it’s possible to craft your daily life to fit your vision and influence others,” she said. “I especially love when my clients or colleagues hug me or when their faces get brighter when they see me. That means I’m wanted and needed in every space I’ve influenced and that alone has been life-changing. The fact that they want to do it all with me, not for me or instead of me – with me. I love that. It continuously gives me the opportunity to do the things I enjoy and that makes me a better woman, daughter, sister, friend and hopefully a good mother someday.”
When looking into the future, there is no slowing down Pereyra, as she plans to expand her real estate business. “The plan is to expand my business into multiple teams of realtors in multiple locations and have them replicate my style of business,” she said. “I would then transition from working directly with clients to working with agents and having a larger impact.”
With determination and strategic vision, Pereyra is poised to lead her business into a future of growth and success.