In this series, WeWork’s director of digital community selects a WeWork member to get to know better, sharing her fun findings with the rest of the community.
Moving to a new house or apartment is tough during even the best of times. And if you’re a professional athlete or coach constantly on the go, the whole process can be a serious pain. That’s where Chris Dingman’s company, The Dingman Group, comes in, saving the day for people in the sports industry in need of a new home. Read on to learn about the Denver-based WeWork member’s favorite clients to work with, how being a good listener led to a brilliant business plan, and more.
What is The Dingman Group?
The Dingman Group is a niche relocation management company that supports professional athletes, coaches, and front office personnel with the buying and selling of homes, moving, and vehicle transportation.
How did you start the business?
10 years ago, I was laid off from my corporate job and had to decide whether or not to continue working in the corporate world. After putting in a lot of time thinking about my future, I decided I wanted to have more control over my destiny. But first I needed to determine what I was most passionate about in life. So I asked myself a question: If the dollar wasn’t a necessary currency in the world, what could I wake up and do every day that I’d be truly passionate about? I’d sit down in a quiet place and answer that same question three to five times a week. Over time, I had different answers. Some days I wanted to be an actor, a coach, or work in sports.
It became apparent after months of asking myself this question that what I was truly passionate about were sports and real estate—those were two things I could be passionate about and wake up every day feeling like I wasn’t working. So I’d done all the work, but had to figure out what that meant. With sports, it could be anything—being an athletic director or a coach. With real estate, the list went on and on. My aha moment was sitting at a collegiate football game and listening to the coaches’ wives talking. They were having an organic conversation about the trials and tribulations of relocating and being a coach’s wife. At that point, because I’d done all the homework and soul searching, it hit me that this niche—professional athletes and coaches—needed a lot of support that they didn’t necessarily have. My heart was fluttering. I couldn’t wait to go home and research my idea to see if anyone had thought of it. Much to my surprise, I found nothing similar to what I was envisioning. So I took my savings and 401(k) and started The Dingman Group. It took a few years to get started and become profitable, but now we’re still going 10 years later, and we’re the most dominant company in the space.
Who have been some of your favorite teams or clients to work with?
One client who I am very much indebted to, and forever grateful for, is Steve Smith of the Baltimore Ravens. We were teammates at Santa Monica College. When I got through the process of starting my company, essentially pressing go, I had to determine my next steps. My thought was to reach out to people I knew on a personal level and that I thought would be open to helping. First, I told our old coach at SMC what I was up to and asked him if he’d get me back in touch with Steve. Steve had gone on to play college football in Utah and was playing for the Carolina Panthers. With no hesitation, coach Robert Taylor put us in touch. Several months later, Steve called me out of the blue, and asked me to help relocate his mom out of the area he grew up in and into an area where she could live more comfortably. I was able to assign one of my real estate agents to assist her with buying a home, and one of our preferred van lines packed her up and moved her. Steve was one of the first people to believe in me and give me a shot. That was very rewarding. It was always on Steve’s mind to give back to his mom when he became successful, and it was an honor that he called on me to help him do that.
As a relocation expert, do you have any tips for someone planning a major move?
Plan in advance. Give yourself two months to execute the plan. If you wait until the last minute, everything becomes stressful and more difficult. Little things you can do to minimize stress are buying boxes (or asking your moving company to drop by used boxes), purging, and doing light packing daily.
Is there anything else we should know about you?
I’m also involved with the Moyer Foundation. The Moyer Foundation was founded by Jamie Moyer, a retired MLB baseball player and his wife, Karen Moyer. They have camps for children all over the country. There are two camps: Camp Mariposa and Camp Erin. Camp Mariposa is a camp for children who are living in an environment where addiction is prevalent—a guardian or parent is struggling with addiction—and they’re in difficult circumstances. Camp Erin is a grief camp for children. So any child who has lost a mother, father, guardian, or close family member are welcome. It’s a safe place for kids to camp, do fun activities, but have other kids their age to talk to about their loss and not feel alone or judged. One long weekend every year, I act as a cabin buddy for the kids. We eat, sleep, cry, laugh, and even sing together for three days. They’re all awesome and so resilient. I leave a better person every year, and I truly believe they do too.