Craig Wilburn will celebrate 20 years in the real estate business this year. His focus is honoring God by creating a positive and lasting impact in the lives of people. Read on for Craig’s insight into how he sees his profession as a catalyst to help others.

What is your greatest accomplishment to date?

Becoming the first African-American president of the Gainesville Alachua County Association of REALTORS® in 2012 has been my greatest accomplishment. That was a big one for me. I also was a catalyst in taking a failing Keller Williams office in Gainesville in 2014 and turning it around, becoming the number one residential brokerage by unit sales in the greater Gainesville region in 2021. Another accomplishment I’m proud of is becoming the very first NAR RPAC Hall of Fame member in Gainesville’s history.

How does your profession help you make an impact on the world?

My passion has always been for people. Team Dynamo with Keller Williams Gainesville Realty Partners is a vehicle that allows me to do more for people. Our mission and vision statement describe our why. Our mission is to honor God by creating a positive and lasting impact in the lives of people. That motivates me to do what I do.

How do we do it? We provide exemplary service and make sure we assess people’s needs properly and make decisions in their best interests. We are consultants and negotiators for our people. We are there for their families when they have needs. When people are buying or selling a home, they typically do that based upon some sort of life change (death of a loved one, needing more space for their growing family, relocation, marriage, or divorce). To be a part of that process with them – holding their hand and taking them through that with excellence – is an opportunity to make a positive and lasting impact in their life.

What is your vision statement and how do you implement it?

Our vision statement is to point humanity to God by creating a worldwide culture of giving back. Last year, we were able to impact 15 nonprofits in our area through raising funds, creating awareness, and providing hours of volunteer service to them. At the end of the year, we provided over 250 hours of service to nonprofits in our region. I couldn’t be happier about that. We also gave over $100,000 through our business back to nonprofits. I had never set a goal to give that much before, and we also decided to increase our goal for giving back in 2022. That’s our why.

What are your thoughts on promoting diversity and inclusion in the real estate industry?

Gary Keller, who owns Keller Williams Realty International, put together a task force internally for Keller Williams to address issues that we had in regard to diversity, equity, and inclusion. I was chosen to chair the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the North Florida Region with a woman named Oglah Gatamah, who was born in Kenya and currently resides in Orlando. She was brought over here for her work visa in 1998. She worked hard, stayed focused, and was quickly promoted within the hotel and service industry and other corporate entities. In 2019, she became the first African American to own a Keller Williams office in the Southeast United States. Together, we work on creating lasting change in the real estate industry within our company to be an example to others.

What can people do to promote diversity and inclusion?

Be willing to have the conversation. Do an audit at your company to recognize and see how you are doing with diversity within your company. Do you have a good mix of people, or does everyone look relatively the same? Do we have opportunities for people of color or those marginalized in our community? Are there people we can assist in some way? What have we done to give back to our community to those who are segregated?

How does it feel to take a stand in the real estate industry?

Everyone is significant. Everyone was created by God with a very specific purpose. I don’t believe that one man’s purpose is greater than another. What’s important is to discover what YOUR purpose is. When I think about taking a stand on something, that means that you are placing your beliefs and value systems on a cause that is going to have an impact on another human being in a good way.

How do you achieve work-life balance in real estate?

Real estate is what we do to fund our lives. It shouldn’t BE our lives. Our lives are consistent around our friends, families, experiences, and enjoying each other. Real estate shouldn’t be all that you do.

Last year, I celebrated my 20th anniversary with my wife. We are blessed with five children who keep us very active. We homeschooled four of them and two are homeschooled even now. We also take several trips each year. I spend a lot of one-on-one time with my kids and put it on my calendar. My team doesn’t schedule appointments during games, date lunches, or dinners. You only get so many of those, so make sure you enjoy the ride.

This is an excerpt from an article written by Elizabeth McCabe, originally appearing in the February 2022 issue of Gainesville Real Producers. Follow Gainesville RP on Instagram and Facebook.