When it comes to building wealth and securing their family legacy, the women of OWN’s Family Empire: Houston have a plan.
The unscripted series about Black-owned Braden Real Estate Group in Houston, Texas debuts tonight.
The show follows the multi-generational Braden “sister cousins,” as they build up their family real estate business, while working on building generational wealth.
The women are following in the footsteps of their grandmother Oscarene, a Texas real estate entrepreneur, who passed down her business savvy to her children and grandchildren.
Granddaughters Jermeshia Goudeau, Nicole Braden Handy, and JaQuita Martin run Braden Real Estate Group.
In the below exclusive clip, the “sister cousins” visit a 2-acre plot of land “granny” owns, as they try to convince her to develop the property, instead of selling it to give the money to her own five children – Frank Jr., Charlotte, Cheryl, Nikki and Jackie.
“I can see the potential,” one family member says about Jermeshia’s plan to turn the land into a multi-million dollar development.
But the land carries a $35,000 annual tax bill, and “Granny” is apparently tired of paying it.
“We need to make sure that granny understands… it’s not the taxes, this could be millions of dollars worth of property that stays in the family name,” Jermeshia says.
In a recent interview with Urban Hollywood 411, Jermeshia talked about the challenges of being Black women entrepreneurs in a competitive industry.
“The highest financial producers in real estate are normally men. It is a very male-dominated industry, especially from an income perspective,” she said. “We know we belong in these spaces, because our grandparents gave us the fortitude to know that these are spaces we can be in, but sometimes people ask, ‘Who are y’all?'”
Nicole said they sometimes have to “go above and beyond” to prove they belong.
“I think there’s still some challenges that we will have to overcome, but I will say this, knowledge is indeed power and when you are an expert, and when you are knowledgeable in your craft, and you have made an impact, people do recognize that,” she explained.
As for working with family members, Jaquita focuses on family at home and business in the office.
“There is a fine line. You do have to learn how to keep family and business separate, treated as two separate entities, because you don’t want it to clash,” she said. “My husband works for the brokerage. And so I have to come [home] and hear him talk about his bosses, which is my sister cousins. And I have to try to remain neutral.”
The women have about 90 employees, including real estate agents, administrative staff and a multi-media department. They’re working on growing the business even more but as they pursue their dreams, they’re not always on the same page.
Family Empire: Houston is produced by Kingdom Reign Entertainment for OWN, and Carlos King executive produces.
The eight-episode series premieres Friday, June 28 at 8/7c on OWN.
Watch the exclusive clip above:
