LaMean Koroma is changing the landscape of Washington D.C. with his presence in the real estate industry.

Dojo DC: How did you get into commercial real estate? 

LaMean: I didn’t really find out about commercial real estate until my cousin was interning for a firm called Marcus & Millichap. He said, “I think you'd be perfect for commercial real estate because you have a knack for sales, and a knack for people.” I love the architecture of commercial buildings, whether its office buildings, multi-family; I'm just really into design and he's like, “it has all the elements of all the things that I know that you’re passionate about. I really think you should look into trying to get into the business, so i started off at CoStar. They’re one of the leading information providers in the commercial real estate industry. From there, I was recruited by my current partner. I didn't have the same background because a lot of folks in commercial real estate come from wealthy families or well to do families but he mentioned I was one of the best sales people there. It’s really just a business you have to be relentless in. You've got to have tenacity, perseverance, you can't give up. You hear no, a lot more than you hear yes. But the yes is rewarding. 

You helped secure the deal to bring KitsueN to D.C. What are your thoughts on the space? Are you impressed? 

The aesthetics are awesome. There's nothing like it in many places I've been, but specifically in D.C. D.C.'s just been a hot emerging city for concepts to come and really blow up or expand. You have Robert Deniro and his group bring Nobu to DC. You’ve seen Thompson Hotel come to D.C. People are really seeing the potential in D.C. It's great for everyone because it sort of just validates our position in the country where you have the best of all worlds: live, work, and play. 

How does a deal in commercial real estate typically come together? 

You have to build the strategy, right? What that means is; before you even talk about space, you start talking about the business. If it's an existing business, then how do you operate? Where is the business going? What does the growth look like? If it's a new business, what's the idea? What's the vision? The strategy, I've learned, is not the plan. The strategy is your viewpoint and what you want to do. Your belief. Your plan is how you're going to do it -- the execution. Essentially, I provide that cradle to the grave approach where you're there from the whole beginning. 

Can you pinpoint a moment that made you realize you made the right decision going into real estate? 

I remember working with a restaurant and they were gonna move their corporate headquarters here in this area, and I remember being in the meeting and we're discussing ideas and one of the ideas is a build to suit...what that means ... when a developer takes in a site and builds it ...like builds the building for a given company that i'm representing from scratch. So, the building doesn't even exist.  Essentially, i'm looking into the terms of the deal and it was worth 30 million or something, maybe 50 million or something and I couldn't believe that i was working on a project that was worth that much and it would've been the corporate headquarters for this global chain, a household name and i was just like, “wow, this is awesome, this is exactly why i wanted to do this.” That was in 2018, two years ago. And I met one of the executives, the minority business leader at the MGM in April of 2017, by the time it was 2018, we were working on a monumental transaction and it didn't ultimately end up happening… We'll see, it's not gone yet. Still, even being in that moment, in that room. You're used to seeing this group's name every time you're in any city and you walk by and then you end up in the room with them, trying to help them figure out their future and how to build a world class headquarters. That's just epic. 

What keeps you motivated to continue in this industry? 

I knew very quickly that there weren't a lot of people in the business that looked like me. I remember sending out a market blast once, and I think it went out to 1,300 people and nobody else that looks like me or is an African-American and you ask well how many brokers are there that do tenant representations? There’s less than ten in D.C. that are out there and generating their own business. If it was more, I think we'd all be very surprised. The fact that it can even be close to true is ridiculous, but yeah the numbers are very low. I always wanted to be one of the first people to do something, the first to open doors and trailblaze. I wanted to do something different, to be a disruptor. And when you grow up, especially in our community, when you come from a lower socioeconomic point, the people that are really successful in life, that look like me, what do they do? Usually, they're athletes -- you have sports, then you see entertainment, music, movies. Then, of course, you have the traditional doctor, lawyer, you don't really hear about Wall Street too much or know anybody that's in it but you've heard of it because you've watched the movies. You probably don't know too many Wall Street brokers. You definitely don't know how to get into it. But you never, ever hear about commercial real estate and it's the backbone of the wealth in this country and really around the world. It's what gets passed down generation to generation to keep families wealthy and you genuinely don't really have access to those resources, the capital, or really to people that are in the business. When I discovered it, i'm like, “Oh my goodness, it's literally a whole new world here.” Being able to say I was able to do something that was untraditional. I'm so lucky to be a part of this business. I definitely want to open that door and give access to other people who might be interested. 

Tell me about the DC real estate scene in the DMV area and some of the projects you've worked on or are currently working on. 

This one is a little tough to answer because you’ve got to remember, I only represent the tenants. So, the projects that I work on are projects with them that are confidential until they're announced. If I name a development that we're looking at, then that might compromise some of the leverage we have. But there's really a ton... I can just give you some areas that have cool projects. NoMa is an emerging area. They have developments like Union Market, then you have Press House, you have another development called Eckington.There’s a ton over there by the (Nationals) ballpark. You’ve got an area like Shaw, remember I went to Howard University like 10 years ago. They have an area there called Shaw that's on fire right now. Jefferson Apartment Group (JAG) they have some really nice projects over there.. 

What inspired you to get into the candle business?

Oddly enough, my business partner Jon Wossene started making candles in his home as a hobby, after losing a pet due to the harmful effects of paraffin based candles. Once he invited me over to check out what he had been working on, the quality of the candles were at the highest level I’d personally ever seen. So my belief in his work ethic and ingenuity, coupled with my connections, creativity and business development skill set, I knew there was an opportunity to disrupt what turns out to be a $3 Billion Dollar industry --  especially, when most of the players aren’t men who look like us.  

With your busy schedule as a real estate broker, how do you manage your time trying to build both companies?

I cannot stress enough the importance of our team. Everyone plays such a vital role, and being able to rely on them helps tremendously. Luckily for me, the skills are transferable as it relates to business development and a knack for negotiations. 

What’s your goal with Melted Element? 

My goal for Melted Element is to have the brand and product become a household name as it relates to the zenith of candles. To become one of the symbols of chic minimalism, that really disrupted the norm.

How do you keep a healthy mindset while you're working? 

You know it's funny because I'm not a yoga guy by any means, but I do appreciate the theories about finding your zen and chi. Really, it's just about perspective for me. Think about it: people felt like the world was coming to an end at one point because this has been a whirlwind year quite literally. I try to find the silver lining and try to spin it in some way and find the good. What is the good in this? Where is the lesson? As long as you can find the lesson in something, you never lose -- it's a different kind of L. I’m just all about perspective and staying positive, finding the silver lining, the glass is half full. I believe in putting out the energy that you want to get back.