Daniel Salmo

Determined to Succeed — A Lesson in Learning from Failures

By Robbyn Moore

Photos by Dawn Townsend Photography & Design

No amount of business setbacks, adversities or failures can bring Daniel Salmo down. In fact, every defeat in Daniel’s career has motivated him to be stronger and more knowledgeable in his efforts — teaching him life lessons and the importance of never giving up on a dream.

Daniel has always been willing to take chances, especially if the opportunity is well-planned and calculated. After a series of business ventures of owning restaurant franchises, convenience shops and clothing establishments, Daniel focused his attention to owning and operating several cell phone stores. “I went from owning a Verizon store to working at a Metro PC store to then owning a Sprint store,” Daniel recalled. “When my brother and I got an opportunity to operate a store in Puerto Rico, we jumped at the chance and built a very successful cell phone store business both locally and internationally.”

Not long after Daniel and his brother expanded their presence in Puerto Rico, a tropical storm came through and wiped out all the cell phone towers. The towers were never fully fixed, and business dropped dramatically. Daniel and his brother eventually had to sell the stores back to the company. “Even though we faced this loss, we did not give up,” Daniel said. “We continued to move forward with a positive attitude, knowing that our faith would guide us to something bigger and better.”

In 2015, Daniel got married. He and his wife, Sasha, purchased their first condominium together with the idea of fixing it up to create an investment opportunity for themselves. It was during this time he also obtained his real estate license. “I thought it might be fun to explore the idea of becoming a real estate investor,” Daniel explained. “I enjoyed fixing up my condo and making a profit on it, so I thought I should have my license to save on commissions. I honestly had no intention of making a full-time career of it.”

After exhausting his efforts from owning cell phone stores, Daniel decided it was time to focus on an occupation that would make him happy. “I told myself that if I didn’t take the chance now, when would I?”

As Daniel began his first year in real estate, he set his goals high and went for it. After he aligned himself with several different real estate companies, Daniel found his home at eXp Realty, where he is currently building his business. “When I began, I had no help, no support, no strategy, no money or any leads,” Daniel said. “But I did have great people skills, business experience and a basic understanding of the benefits of using social media.” Above all, Daniel also had the determination to become the best version of himself in the real estate business.

Daniel put in the time and work needed to accomplish his goals. By the end of his first year, he finished with $5.6 million in volume, 26 units and $160K GCI. “I was amazed,” Daniel said of himself after his first year in the business. To continue his growth and development, Daniel hired a coach and implemented new business strategies to help keep him more organized. “I started out as a real estate agent focusing on clients and sales to focusing on how to build a career and solid relationships. Now, I am in the process of building a team,” he said. “Hiring my assistant was the first step in building the foundation for my team.” Daniel has also recently hired a buyer’s agent to maximize his growth.

According to Daniel, social media has been the key to his success. “Social media is king,” he said. “Having a presence on these platforms grew my business bigger than I could have ever imagined. And I know it’s only going to keep growing, not only for me, but for other agents as well,” Daniel said referring to a free 90-day action plan that he created to share with other agents as a part of his mentorship and coaching course.

“I am passionate about teaching others,” Daniel shared. “Because of the success I had in a short amount of time, I believe I can help more real estate agents.” Daniel and his team work from a business model called CARE — Creating A Referable Experience. “It’s all about the client and building relationships,” he said. “Rather than focusing on just sales, we are focusing on building relationships, which will inevitably lead to more transactions.” The intention surrounding the CARE model is to put the focus on caring for clients and creating a referable experience. “Which would you rather work for: a lead or a referral?” Daniel asked.

After launching his real estate career in 2016, Daniel is on track to achieve $20 million in sales this year.

When he is not building his business and client relationships, Daniel enjoys spending time with his wife and their two boys — Jacob, 3, and Adam, 1. Together, they watch movies, go to church and play outdoors.

As Daniel reflected on his journey to becoming a real estate agent, he humbly shared, “I have had to be my own influence in life. Our lives are not meant to be lived as a failure; rather, life is meant to be lived in abundance. There’s so much success out there — we just need to go out and find it,” he explained. “Mindset is everything, and I truly believe God put in my heart and mind the drive to always fight for what I believe in and the importance of staying positive and helping others.”

Daniel Salmo - Rising Star