Challenge: Building a mentorship-driven brokerage from scratch

Solution: Accelerating transactions and simplifying compliance, freeing up time for coaching

Results: Increased team size by 40% in less than 6 months with more time to dedicate to recruiting and mentorship

Top producing agents Meshell Perry and Elaine Samaan founded Dogwood Realty to address a fundamental flaw in the real estate industry. Throughout their respective careers, they’d both witnessed too many new agents get thrown into the deep end without dedicated mentorship. After getting their license and joining a brokerage, junior agents were often told, “Go get a buyer. Go get a seller,” with little guidance on how. “You’re on an island by yourself, and it’s scary,” said Meshell.

Elaine and Meshell envisioned a different kind of brokerage. By combining their respective backgrounds in education and sales, a mission was born: foster a supportive haven where agents could learn, grow, and thrive amidst a largely cutthroat, competitive business.

Growing fast without losing focus

Although they had a clear vision for how they wanted to run their team, launching a brokerage from scratch is never an easy feat. Hiring the right people, handling backend operations, and implementing modern systems all while trying to grow? Overwhelming, if not impossible. The Dogwood founders needed a partner who could keep them nimble and scalable while staying true to their core values.

This meant figuring out a way to devote more time to training and coaching. It also meant implementing processes that junior agents could learn and adopt quickly. From the start, Elaine and Meshell knew technology was a critical piece of the puzzle. Everything from operational efficiency, brand perception, and recruiting efforts depended on choosing the right systems. In Elaine’s words,  “If you’re not with a company leading in technology, you’re going to be left behind.”

Enter Radius, the growth engine

Their search for a partner with modern tech, responsive support, and fast delivery led the Dogwood founders to Radius. With Radius powering their backend operations, Dogwood has fine-tuned their business into a self-described “conveyor belt”: everyone has their own specialties and no one is overburdened with too many roles.

From streamlined operations like faster contract creation, seamless document management, and compliance support, to an AI assistant that generates CMAs and distills action items from conversations, the platform keeps agents focused on what matters most: clients. And with their white-labeled client app, every Dogwood client experiences the team's signature warmth and support from first search to closing. “We can make our app more than just a place for home searching,” Elaine shares. “We can customize it into the Jacksonville relocation guide, and have all our favorite restaurants and vendors. That’s just not something that a lot of people have.”

Real people, real impact

Within six months of switching to Radius, Dogwood welcomed 3 new agents and closed $13M in production. But the stories behind the numbers are even more powerful.

• Hours saved each day: Radius’ rapid pace of innovation has given Elaine and Meshell increasingly more of their precious time back. Contracts that used to take three hours to write are now completed in 15 minutes. Compliance support is instantaneous. And new functionality is constantly being released: features they’d been requesting from their previous brokerage for over two years were delivered by Radius within two days.

• Team expansion: “Being able to offer top technology, leads, and access to Meshell and I has really given us that value prop and that confidence to say, Dogwood is a team you want to join,” said Elaine. As their team grows, onboarding has become increasingly seamless. Whether someone joins on a Monday morning or Saturday night, ICAs are sent out within minutes so new team members can get up and running fast.

• Individual agent growth: Dogwood has blossomed into a well-oiled machine of agent development. Elaine supports buyer agents, Meshell supports listing agents, and Radius supports Elaine and Meshell. The supportive, educational environment has helped newer agents level up in record time. One agent who hadn’t closed anything at her previous brokerage went on to close $1M in her first quarter with Dogwood. 

Thanks to ambition, drive, and their AI-powered brokerage platform, Dogwood Realty has been able to live out its vision: a compassionate, mentorship-driven environment where agents thrive, clients receive exceptional service, and growth is not just a goal, but a reality.

Meshell and Elaine describe the Radius platform in three words: innovative, connective, and user-friendly. These words perfectly encapsulate how Radius empowers Dogwood Realty to live out its vision: a compassionate, mentorship-driven brokerage where agents thrive, clients receive exceptional service, and growth is not just a goal, but a reality.