Stephanie Keirouz is a real estate broker at Engel & Völkers Dubai. Stephanie Keirouz is paving the way to greater heights with an ambitious mind and a multicultural spirit. She is a detail-oriented person who focuses on personal growth to the fullest to achieve success—our interview with Miss. Stephanie Keirouz gave us an idea of her ideals and work ethics.
She is trilingual and has visited multiple countries worldwide. It helped her grow her interpersonal skills and get an idea of different cultures globally. What’s more, Stephanie Keirouz is also the founder of a small cake business in Beirut and always focuses on delivering top-notch results in terms of services. Together with the entire team at Engel & Völkers, Dubai, she is helping clients, not just to sell the services but to help the clients get their desired results.
Stephanie Keirouz is working dedicatedly to achieve her goals, and the most important thing she aims to achieve is equality and no bias in terms of gender. She also has an active online presence on LinkedIn and Instagram. On the special occasion of International Women’s Day, let’s hear more about Stephanie Keirouz and her goals through our interview with her.
Explain the background of you and the company in detail.
A 26-year-old trilingual who graduated from the American University of Beirut, holding a bachelor’s in Public Administration and Political Studies and a minor in Business Administration.
Due to unfortunate circumstances in my home country, I sought a change of career and moved to Dubai to explore better opportunities, and this is where my journey in real estate began. Being detail-oriented, hardworking, passionate, and in-depth market knowledge, I strive to provide each client with outstanding service.
Engel & Völkers originated in Hamburg, Germany, and first operated in 1977. The founders, Dirk C. Engel and Christian Völkers, were passionate about developing a business that would change the real estate industry from the ground up.
By implementing innovative marketing concepts, introducing franchise systems, and continually expanding internationally, Engel & Völkers have increased the standard of real estate. As a result, it grew into a globally successful luxury brand that we know of today.
What are your goals?
To prove to the world that women can equally succeed and break the bias. What I admire most in the UAE is that there is no bias in terms of gender. One of the top leading countries in the world, I proudly say that men and women are treated equally based on their qualifications, and the UAE is setting a perfect example for the rest of the world to follow.
What do you feel is the biggest strength of yourself/company right now?
Real estate is far more than business transactions. It’s amazing how I am taking part in someone’s journey to reach their dreams. Nothing is more important than choosing the right option for one’s needs and aspirations—Moreover, our customer care for end-users and investors. As Engel & Völkers has been in the market for a while now, we proudly have what it takes to sustain the brand’s success.
What was the path you/your company took to get to where you are today?
Hiring the right talent, personality, and character in the market, along with extremely vital and thorough training, to truly understand the market’s economy, supply and demand, and all the factors that have been influencing the market, to provide the best investment solutions to both end-users and investors.
Why did you start (or want to be the head of) this company?
Engel & Völkers is one of the premium brokerage companies operating for over 40 years now, with over 900 locations worldwide, in more than 30 countries, spanning 5 continents. Its excellent reputation, brand, and success lie primarily in consultancy, leaseholds, and sale.
With more than 14,000 agents working for the brand, segregated worldwide, they are experts in their respective markets. The brand has also helped me gain credibility and trust when dealing with new clients, either locally or internationally.
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge I had to overcome was stepping into a new world where I had to learn about a new market, adapt to a new culture, and work in a multi-international and diverse environment.
In addition to that, going through the pandemic and understanding the risks and the business as a whole. Not only the Real Estate industry has been hurt, but all industries were affected during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Like many other businesses, we struggled, and it was a bit challenging to recover financially from what had happened. However, what seemed like a crisis to others, seemed like an opportunity to us.
Give us one word that describes you the best.
“Persistent” would define me best. I learned throughout my life that giving up is never an option, even though things do not always seem to work the way we want them to.
What makes you excited about Mondays?
When you are passionate about your job and love what you do, Monday is the new Friday. Mondays are a new chance to grab new opportunities, set new targets, and meet goals with the right mindset.
What do you value most about your culture and vision?
Raised in Lebanon, I am fortunate enough to come from a hospitable country, family-oriented, producing known-to-be savvy entrepreneurs and traders, rich in culture and history.
Professionally, I also learned that I would never see the desired financial results when focusing on financial means. So instead, I learned to focus on powerful tools, like one’s knowledge, and always work to become the better version of oneself, and then the money will follow.
Tell us about a project that forced you to be innovative and creative.
With KPIs and monthly targets, being innovative in the real estate domain requires having different strategies than all the other market agents. Building connections and PR within and outside my environment/community is vital to this business’s success. While 90% of the agents approach clients in a sales manner, I learned to approach them from a consultant point of view rather than a salesperson.
What are your company’s strategies, and how do they stand unique from your competitors?
Passion, exclusivity, and competence are the company’s core values in everything we do. However, what majorly differentiates Engel & Volkers from the rest of the competitors is the consistency in serving quality service to our clients anywhere in the world—also, having intensive and thorough in-house training to retain the same excellent standard to assure the brand’s high-quality services and success.
What are the key values that helped you overcome the roadblocks/challenges in your career? Tell us something about your memorable incident in your leadership?
Besides the excellent and detail-oriented in-house training provided by Engel & Völkers, our extensive market knowledge, it is crucial in this domain to be as candid as possible, advise people, and hear their needs. Unfortunately, you would be surprised to see how many agents fail to listen and never provide a solution to one’s needs but rather propose solutions that would suit their commission instead.
How do you see the company changing in two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?
With a total value of sales AED 15,965,036,073 recorded in the Dubai Land Department for residential and commercial properties, considering that no crisis will occur anytime soon in the UAE, the future of the real estate market and Engel & Völkers’ brand seems bright and promising.
Change is vital for a company’s success. Change keeps things moving, and I am very open to ideas and adapt as required in order to succeed. The only way to keep moving forward is to be client-oriented rather than money-oriented and offer services based on clients’ needs and requests.
Where is your leadership going? What benefits do your clients get from your company in this competitive world?
Building long-term relationships, a strong base and foundation, working with pure transparency, and explaining the entire process to a client are extremely important. We offer custom-made solutions and sometimes create ones too if necessary. We do all the work while keeping our clients happy headache-free, but most importantly, we let them enjoy the process and journey.
What services/solutions or products does your company offer at par with the current industry standards? Tell us something about your upcoming products or services?
As Engel & Völkers, we cater to all clients’ needs with a hassle-less and headache-free service. So whether it is your dream home or the ultimate investment opportunity in Dubai, you have the best-dedicated advisors at hand at all times to assist you throughout your journey. At the same time, we take care of the documentation, processing, and follow-ups.