power couple Written by: Dave Danielson • Photos by: Jin Kim, URSPECIAL
DEREK
& KIM DEAN
AS SOMEONE IN YOUR ROLE WHO WORKS WITH CLIENTS, YOU ARE THE EXPERT GUIDE WHO HELPS THOSE AROUND YOU REACH THE OTHER SIDE OF AN UNKNOWN WILDERNESS — COMPLETE WITH SURPRISES AND CHALLENGES. When you reach the other side, you understandably and deservedly feel good about your achievements on their behalf. SPIRIT OF CARE
That’s the same spirit that is carried out each day by the husband-and-wife team of Derek and Kim Dean, Founders of the Simply Texas Real Estate Group and Team Leaders with eXp Realty. Kim began her adventure in real estate in 2003, with Derek joining her in the business in 2015. The two have been married for six years but actually share a path in life that began as friends in high school, coming of age in Carrolton. “When we graduated from high school, I went to Texas A&M, and Derek went to the University of North Texas,” Kim recalls. “But our paths came back together.” THE TWISTS AND TURNS OF LIFE
It didn’t take long for Kim to know that real estate was the path for her. After graduating from college, she started her working career as a pharmaceutical salesperson.
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T H E R E WA R D S O F T R U S T E D G U I DA N C E “After doing that for about nine months, I met my previous husband, who was in the U.S. Army and we moved to Washington, D.C. in 2001,” Kim says. “We got married, had our first child, Mason, and were there in the Capital City on 9/11. We lived just a mile away from the Pentagon.” Before long, they moved back to Texas in 2004. Prior to that time, Kim had become licensed in Virginia for a few months before the move. Upon arriving back in Texas, Kim joined a team at Keller Williams part-time while her youngest child was in pre-school. “We got busy and my sister joined the business and is still with us today. She joined the business and our team moved to RE/MAX, and then my team lead opened up a RE/MAX franchise and we had our second child in 2007.” Then the economic downturn of 2008 hit. “My sister and I knew we were moms first, followed by real estate. We loved providing for our families. In 2008, she encouraged me to get my Broker’s license,” Kim remembers. “From 2008 to 2019 and we rebranded to Simply Texas in 2019. We grew from 10 agents to more than 60 agents in two and-a-half years. In the fall of 2021, we partnered with eXp Realty.” MEANT TO BE
In the meantime, Derek was on his own path in life. As a student at the University of North Texas, he found that college was not his calling. “While I was in college, I worked two jobs … for a golf course and as a bartender,” he remembers. “I ended up tending bar for 20 years. During that time, I made a lot of friends and connections.” Derek’s parents had gifted him land in Flower Mound. “In time, I decided to sell it. That’s when I talked with Kim,” he remembers with a smile. “That’s when she said that I needed to get my license and come work with her. So in 2015, that’s what I did while I was bartending.”
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