The Property Shop’s Tatiana Londono

After a friendly Montreal taxi driver wishes me good luck, I make my way towards Londono Realty Group, which doubles as the set for the national hit show The Property Shop on HGTV. A splash of knowledge and a tidal wave of fun, the show has cameras following big-league realtor Tatiana Londono as she navigates through the cutthroat world of real estate.

The novice broker, who would construct makeshift lemonade stands with her brother as a child, began with four employees and now has 100-plus agents. Londono Realty Group is an empire led by a beautiful empress, similar to the ones we used to see in old Hollywood movies. Add smart and driven to success and you can start to conceptualize Tatiana Londono.

The receptionist is young and inviting, and similar to a telethon, phones constantly ring throughout the office’s foyer. The walls are very thin: my guess is that Londono chose this space so that her distinct pitch and tone could be heard from any room. This most likely ensures staffers to learn from the best by listening to the best, regardless of the distance between them and their boss.

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I hear her before I see her, and when she walks in, she greets me with a smile. Londono escorts me into the boardroom just before she enters an urgent call in another room that allows me to be alone in her boardroom – divine intervention! This gives me time to get ready. Distracted by the familiar surroundings, I realize that I’m sitting at the glass table often seen on the show she hosts. I notice that the window in front of me looks out onto the foothills of Westmount, a southwestern city in Quebec that is home to a wealthy residential community. The view serves as a constant reminder for Londono Realty Group that beyond these walls rests a mountain of high-priced homes to conquer and sell.

As I prepare my things, I notice how clean the boardroom is. Just before I can smear my finger across the table to check for dust like a cynical mother-in-law, Londono, a woman of power and strength, walks in.

Her energy allows her to hop like an Energizer bunny through 14-hour-work days, and her enthusiasm is absorbed by anyone in her presence. Her resilient attitude is what makes her a real sensation for all to enjoy.

Londono is a mother, an entrepreneur, and her exposure from The Property Shop has given more people an opportunity to view her as a strong role model. Her disdain for failure makes her invincible – fear and failure are not part of her vocabulary. I ask her what advice she can provide to little girls who are afraid to follow their dreams. A frustrated look stares back at me, and she blurts out as if I have offended her, “I don’t fail! I can’t even process that question because it has the word ‘fail’ in it. I ignore any negative energy and people who say ‘You can’t do it.’ For the little girl or boy who looks to me to with fear of failure I say, ‘Go for it! Live it! Take the risk because guess what? What’s the worst that could happen?’”

And that’s exactly what she did. At 19, she spent over a year in the Canadian Military, and as second century BC playwright Terence once wrote: “Fortune favours the brave.” She then went to McGill University, worked as a telemarketer, and entered the real estate industry with Re/Max Group, Sutton Group, and finally, founded her very own Londono Realty Group three years ago. The Property Shop is a grand compliment to all her hard work.  “I feel like a rock star. I’m on top of the world.

What Londono has accomplished in such a short time isn’t just impressive, it’s supernatural. She was born to sell. Her raw talent was refined by all the non-stop work weeks over the past 15 years. She’s pretty as a peach, and has two beautiful children and a loving husband to support her. “My children are my biggest achievement, my marriage is my second, Londono Realty Group would be my third biggest achievement and my TV show would be my fourth. My children inspire me, because of them I want to do my best; I want them to have a good future. My husband’s patience inspires me. When I was working as a telemarketing manager, I said to the other managers, ‘I belong on TV.’ Everyone said, ‘God, you are so full of yourself. What would you do on TV? You’re just a telemarketing manager.’ A lot of people confuse ambition with arrogance,” she says. “I believe I have a special personality. People laugh when I talk, and people listen to me. Everyone is always very happy when they are around me.” Perhaps we are more than what others think we can be.

She sits right next to me and she is beautiful. ‘Your courage allows you the capability to complete your goals, with your ad signs popping up like petunias and your hit show The Property Shop on HGTV making you a star,’ I ask. ‘My question is, are you satisfied or is there more room for success?’

She remains stoic as she listens; her eyes light up and a smile slowly spreads across her face. “I just got started! There is a lot more to do, you will see the Londono Group everywhere – in Quebec and hopefully in Ontario very soon. The sky is the limit. I’ve achieved a lot – this is just the first step.” After hearing that, I break from my line of questioning and coyly say, ‘so it’s a big mountain?’ “Huge!” she replies. “Wait and see. You’ll come back and interview me again in a year from now.” With pleasure I think, with pleasure.
www.londonogroup.com