Many of those within our organization know Martin Weldon as the friendly face who teaches our historical onboarding presentation once every month. The reason he is uniquely able to teach this course so thoroughly is because he has been with The Menkiti Group since the early days, dating back to 2007, just three years after the company was former. Martin and Bo Menkiti met in October of 2006 and connected over their love of real estate and development and less than a year later, Martin was one of the first team members at The Menkiti Group. To learn more about how he is an integral part of the Menkiti Group and how his relationship with Bo grew into a rewarding career in real estate, keep reading below.
A pivotal moment meeting Bo Menkiti
Martin’s relationship with Bo Menkiti began when he and his colleague Delonte Moore began their own real estate endeavor by creating Weldon and Moore LLC. They worked out of a small office that Bo often also worked out of, and eventually Bo asked Martin and Delonte about their aspirations to be part of the real estate industry. Martin, Delonte, and Bo soon began conversing about working with each other because of their similar goals and interests in the industry. As the three grew together professionally, Bo thought it would be a great idea to test drive all three of them working for The Menkiti Group, the company he had recently started in 2004. Bo launched The Menkiti Group with his professional and life partner, Kymber Menkiti, and quickly they discovered they needed more help to take their dreams to the next level. In September of 2007 Martin and Delonte officially joined The Menkiti Group.
Martin describes the early years as an all-hands-on-deck operation. “Every single person had a hand in multiple areas of the company, and every effort made was an integral part of growing the company”. Martin has seen the company grow from a 5- person organization to a company with nearly 1,000 real state agents, operating offices across four states, and multiple business units with unique focuses in the real estate industry. Martin has been proud of the growth of the company and cherishes his relationship with colleague and friend, Bo.
Many changes over 15 years
Since Martin has been with The Menkiti Group for so long, he has seen extreme growth and many pivotal moments for the company. This front row seat and direct involvement makes him the perfect resident historian for the enterprise, and he looks back fondly on the memories of nearly two decades at the company. The major milestone that stands out to Martin is the growth of the team. From five people to nearly 100 full time employees and 1,000 real estate agents, the inevitable new departments, faces, and facilities has been impressive and amazing to watch evolve. Martin describes the greatest transformation of the company “the accomplishments the organization has been able to achieve because of how committed and involved everyone is across each business unit.”
From major development projects and new ventures to national awards and exciting growth opportunities, Martin loves sharing the story of growth each month on the historical overview presentation to all new members of the team. To him, he wants everyone in the company to understand the evolution of growth the enterprise has seen from an all hands-on deck operation to a company that has developed sub-companies and created leadership opportunities for everyone that works there.
Longevity turned into mentorship
One of his greatest professional passions has stemmed from his extensive experience with the enterprise and Martin is proud to have launched a coaching program with the enterprise, eMpower Neighborhoods. As a professional coach, he teaches others how to advance their businesses through professional development. eMpower Neighborhoods is a national real estate intelligence platform focused on strengthening the role of the hyperlocal real estate entrepreneur. The eMpower network was created and is driven / sustained by local real estate professionals.
Martin describes eMpower as a platform that drives impact for those who are looking to accelerate their businesses, build wealth, and drive key investments in their neighborhoods through collective action. His approach to coaching clients is always to encourage them to not only to excel in their professional endeavors, but also to give back to their community through the accomplishments made at their companies. This transformative way of teaching can be traced back to The Menkiti Group and the community-based values that Martin helped to instill in the company’s mission statement of transforming lives, careers, and communities through real estate.
