Creating a Blueprint for the Next Generation of Black Leaders

In the Black: Changing the Dominant Narrative in the Commercial Real Estate Industry by T. Dallas Smith is now available. The book is published with Forbes Books, the exclusive business book publishing imprint of Forbes, and is available on Amazon today.

In his new book, T. Dallas Smith shares his story of entering the Atlanta commercial real estate industry in the 1980s and becoming the first Black broker at Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta outpost. It is as much a memoir as it is a guidebook for Black entrepreneurs hoping to enter commercial real estate – a field full of potential.

Now the head of his own commercial real estate firm—T. Dallas Smith & Company—the author’s reflection on an accomplished career is thought-provoking, humorous, vulnerable, and inspiring. With In the Black, T. Dallas Smith endeavors to introduce young Black men and women to a field they may not have previously considered.

For him, increasing exposure of commercial real estate should be the first in a series of necessary changes to the industry that includes sharing knowledge, establishing networks of contacts and mentors, and, ultimately, moving the industry to champion diversity.

“I’m telling you my story because I want to speak the truth,” Smith says. “I want to leave everything on the table—the plans for the building, the keys to the front door—for the generation of Black men and women who come after me, so that their experiences in this profession will be that much better than my own.”