Background
Top producing agents Meshell Perry and Elaine Samaan founded Dogwood Realty to fix something they’d seen throughout their careers: new agents thrown into the deep end without real mentorship. Junior agents were told to go get a buyer or go get a seller, with little guidance on how.
You're on an island by yourself, and it's scary.
Elaine and Meshell set out to build a different kind of brokerage. Combining their backgrounds in education and sales, they made Dogwood a supportive place where agents could learn, grow, and thrive in a competitive business.
Growing fast without losing focus
They had a clear vision, but launching a brokerage from scratch is never easy. Hiring the right people, handling backend operations, and setting up modern systems, all while trying to grow, is overwhelming. Dogwood needed a partner that would keep it nimble and scalable while staying true to its values.
That meant more time for training and coaching, and processes that junior agents could learn quickly. Technology was central to all of it, from operations to brand perception to recruiting. In Elaine’s words, “If you’re not with a company leading in technology, you’re going to be left behind.”
Why Radius
Their search for modern technology, responsive support, and fast delivery led them to Radius. With Radius running the backend, Dogwood works like what the founders call a “conveyor belt”: everyone has a specialty, and no one is stretched across too many roles.
With Radius as the brokerage behind Dogwood, the team gained:
- faster contract creation, seamless document management, and compliance support
- an AI assistant that builds CMAs and pulls action items from conversations
- a white-labeled client app that carries the team’s warmth from first search to closing
We can make our app more than just a place for home searching. We can customize it into the Jacksonville relocation guide, and have all our favorite restaurants and vendors. That's just not something that a lot of people have.
The results
Within six months of joining Radius, Dogwood welcomed 3 new agents and closed $13 million in production.
- Hours back every day. Contracts that took three hours now take 15 minutes, and compliance support is immediate. Features they had asked their previous brokerage for over two years arrived from Radius within two days.
- A team people want to join. Onboarding is fast: whether someone joins on a Monday morning or a Saturday night, their agreement goes out within minutes.
- Agents who level up quickly. Elaine supports buyer agents, Meshell supports listing agents, and Radius supports Elaine and Meshell. One agent who hadn’t closed a deal at her previous brokerage closed $1 million in her first quarter with Dogwood.
Meshell and Elaine describe Radius in three words: innovative, connective, and user-friendly. With it behind them, Dogwood is living out its vision: a mentorship-driven brokerage where agents thrive, clients get exceptional service, and growth is a reality.
