Editorial
Front Page - Monday, December 07, 2009
Discovering the value of being your own boss
Ethan C. Nobles
Special to the Daily Record ecnobles@att.net
Phil Dayer, an associate broker at Pam McDowell Properties in Conway, has been a Realtor for 30 years, but he went through a lot of careers to settle on the one he now enjoys.
Dayer graduated from St. Joseph High School in Conway and, while there, worked at Van Atkins — a small chain of dry goods. He also spent some summers working at the Ward Bus plant in Conway and, after college, stayed with Van Atkins as a manager of the Russellville store.
After managing the Van Atkins store for awhile, Dayer took a job selling ads for KARV, a radio station in Russellville. He worked there for about a year and a half before the station changed management and Dayer left to go to Oklahoma City.
Dayer owned Roundtable Men’s Stores and had two of those in the area. In the 1970s, Dayer said there were a number of bank scandals in Oklahoma. A number of business, including his, got shut down in the fallout from that.
Dayer came back to Conway and wound up selling radio ads in the Little Rock market for KEZQ, another radio station. That station was sold and the employees, including Dayer, found themselves out of work.
He then went to another radio station, KVEE, and became the sales manager there. That station was sold and Dayer was left without a job once again.
Dayer said, at that point, he didn’t want to get back in the retail business and was “sick of selling radio ads.” So, in 1979, Dayer became a Realtor after deciding that the best way to control his destiny was to work for himself.
“I’ve never wanted to be controlled by someone else,” he said. “I would never make a good corporation man.”
Selling real estate in Conway made sense to Dayer. He’s from that town and his family has owned and operated Dayer Jewelers in town since 1955. Those local ties, he said, have helped with his business.
He worked for Century 21 for about 15 years then opened ERA Dayer Real Estate Group. After operating that for five years, Dayer said he needed a change and joined the Pam McDowell office.
“I think we’ve got the best agents in town,” he said of McDowell’s office. “Overall we have agents that can make things happen. It’s good to surround yourself with people who can make things happen – that’s the secret to this business.
“It just amazes me that more agents don’t come over here.”
Dayer said he appreciates the fact that McDowell is still an independent office. Working for an independent office meshes nicely with Dayer’s desire to avoid too much external control.
“There are some really good things about franchises, but overall I’m just not a franchise guy,” he said.
Apparently, Dayer has thrived in an independent office. He was named the 2009 Realtor of the Year by the Faulkner County Board of Realtors.
Dayer was raised in Conway but said he doesn’t just stay in that city because he’s from there. He said the appeal of the city can be summed up in one word: lifestyle.
He said the city boasts an educational system that allows people to go through kindergarten through a doctoral program if they’re so inclined. The colleges — Central Baptist College, Hendrix College and the University of Central Arkansas — offer residents great exposure to culture and the arts.
For the sports minded, UCA offers plenty of entertainment, Dayer said, adding that the Bears are a terribly underrated team that tends to do well in every season. He pointed out the average age of Conway residents is 28 years old.
“If you’re a young couple, where else would you want to be?” he asked, adding that employment opportunities in town keep growing. He said the emerging HP facility in town is proof that the city has a lot to offer.
“If HP looked at Conway, what does that tell you? That just pretty well sums it up right there,” he said. “HP knows what they’re doing and they’re not going to put their people where they’ll be unhappy.
“I love Conway. You can go anywhere, but you have to live somewhere. Conway is the best place I can think of to live.”
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