SPOTLIGHT: Valuing Design + Pushing for More with Jimmy Dulin

As the 10-year anniversary of the Indiana Design Center approaches, we wanted to speak with our resident showroom owners and leaders – the tastemakers and forward-thinking innovators in our local design landscape. Jimmy Dulin, broker/owner of RE/MAX Ability Plus, shares what he values in being a part of the design community and how he leads his team.

Jimmy has been in real estate for almost 30 years, and is the largest franchise owner in Indiana for RE/MAX, with 4 offices in addition to other real estate-affiliated ventures. Suffice it to say, he knows his stuff. A design center may not seem like the obvious choice for a real estate office, but for Jimmy and for the IDC, it has been a valuable alliance. For seven years RE/MAX Ability Plus has made a home at the Indiana Design Center and is a unique and integral partner.

“I’m very appreciative of design,” says Jimmy. “Being in an environment that stimulates my design senses helps as I run my organization and design our path to success. I appreciate that the showroom windows provide visual stimulation which can lead to creativity in all aspects. Good design inspires people to push for more, and the IDC is the center of that in Indiana.”

Running a successful business requires a team who is always pushing for more, and that team requires a leader who knows how to motivate. As Jimmy has built his business over the decades, he has learned how to lead a team. Real estate can often feel like an individual pursuit, but he has refined his method to bring a feeling of success to the entire organization. To most effectively lead a team, Jimmy says, “Set a direction, put that direction in writing through Mission, Vision and Values, and then find people who support that direction. When you find this team, let them work independently in the direction you set and encourage them to try without fear of failure.”In recent years his business has diversified, leading to complementary ventures like Ability Plus Title and Caring Transitions, but he always comes back to why he loves real estate, and that is the story. Working with people in many different aspects always goes back to their story.

“Sometimes it is the first-time buyer who has worked and saved forever, sometimes it is the estate client who has stories of how they created the resources to buy the estate and everything in between. This industry provides countless stories, aspirations and opportunities and it has space for anyone willing to work hard!”