“Little Conversations with the Lord Guide this Rising Star on Her Road to Success”
By Barbara Davis
Growing up on a farm in Richmond, Texas, Eura Miller always felt she had a good life. Although others may have said her family was poor, she never wanted for anything. “We had everything we needed so we were very happy,” recalled Eura. Her family had horses, chickens, pigs, and cows in addition to raising crops that provided for all of their food. They grew cotton and made clothing from it. They had orchards of fruit and pecan trees and they would can the fruit and sell the canned goods and pecans at a roadside market.
Her parents had 10 children, 8 boys and 2 girls and all of the children were born at home with the help of a midwife. She was surrounded by brothers and it was expected of her to take an active role in the care and feeding of her large family. She loved to ride her horse and even barrel raced at one time but she rarely had time to play because the majority of her day was spent baking and cooking with the help of her mother and grandmother. Then she had to help them wash the clothes by hand, clean up, and also do canning. In between doing all of these things, she had to walk five miles just to catch the bus to take her to school! It was this early foundation of strong family values, a no-nonsense work ethic, and a belief that whenever there was a need in her life, the Lord would provide, that has been her guiding light on her road to success.
When Eura graduated from high school, she was ready to get off the farm and immediately headed for college where she attended Texas Southern University in Houston. Her mother, who was trying to discourage Eura from going to college, said, “Honey, you don’t have any clothes.” Eura exclaimed, “Mom, I don’t care because I’m going!” Eura always believed that as long as she put her faith in the Lord, she didn’t have to worry because everything was going to work out. In fact, Eura only had two dresses and a few jeans and blouses but that didn’t stop her and off she went to college.
When she checked into her dorm room, she met her roommate for the first time. Eura couldn’t believe all the clothing that she had brought with her. She had come with so many suitcases of clothing that she didn’t have room for all of them in her closet and had to put them in Eura’s closet, too. Her roommate was an only child from an affluent Chicago family. In addition, she was the first person to graduate high school in her family and was showered with clothing by her parents, grandparents, and great grandparents! When Eura’s roommate didn’t see any clothes in her closet, she asked, “When are your parents bringing your clothes?” Eura responded, “My parents are bringing mine in two weeks.” The roommate had a puzzled look on her face but never asked Eura why.
Finally, after observing Eura going day after day in the same limited selection of clothing, she approached Eura and said, “You know what? You’re parents aren’t going to bring you any more clothes, are they?” Eura looked at her and said, “Not really.” She then said, “You did not come to college with just that?!” Eura then replied, “Yes, I’m a country girl and I had decided to get out of there.” Eura’s roommate then said, “I don’t want all of these clothes. I’ll tell you what, I’m going to go through my clothes and pick out everything that I really want and you can have the rest.” Unbelievably, when she was through selecting what she wanted, Eura was left with an entire wardrobe. At that point Eura called her mother and excitedly said, “Y’all don’t ever have to bring me any clothes. I’m rooming with a rich girl and she gave me so many things to wear that I can change 3 or 4 times a day if I want to!!!”
In high school, Eura had sung in the choir and also played the flute in the marching band. In addition to that, she wrote the class song for her high school graduation. Her love of music led her to major in it in college. She then became a member of the Texas Southern Marching Band. While in college, she married and then had the two loves of her life, daughter Latarsha and son Reginald.
Eura’s daughter, Latarsha Wetherell, is an educator with the Aldine School District and her son, Reginald Leday, is a Product Marketing Specialist with Hewlett-Packard. Both of them have been a rock of support for Eura when she went through divorce. They now have children of their own who are being brought up with the same strong foundation instilled in them by their mother. Latarsha has one child, son Nicholas who is 7. Reginald has two children, daughter Alena who is 9 and son Kase who is 5. Eura loves to spend time with her grandchildren and really enjoys it when they call her on the phone to talk.
It wasn’t until Eura’s children had graduated college that she started dating again. In fact, she never planned to ever remarry but special things always seem to happen in Eura’s life and that also included another marriage. One day Eura sat down and had a private conversation with the Lord. She felt that if it was “His” will that she remarry, then that person would have to match all of the criteria she wanted in an “ideal” husband. So in 1993, she decided that she would make a list and put it away and if it was meant to be, it would happen.
About a year later, in 1994, her cousin called her and wanted her to come over to see his new home. While visiting, a friend of her cousin’s, Melvin Miller arrived and took one look at Eura and the rest is history. After their first meeting, Melvin called her every day and they also went out every day. He was a supervisor/manager at Texaco Oil and Gas and coincidentally enough, his company was right across the street from the oil company that she worked for! They dated for about three months and then he asked her to marry him. She thought it was a big joke and laughed as she replied, “Yeah, right.” He then said, “I’m going to keep asking you until you do.” So every Sunday, he took her out for breakfast and also kept on asking her to marry him. Eura had remembered that she had put away “the ten things that she wanted in a husband list” and decided to look for it and read it again. Unbelievably, out of ten things, he had seven of those qualities. Eura again had a little conversation with the Lord and said, “Okay, he’s not perfect. I’ll go for it!” So she finally said, “Yes” and then married him. Once again, divine intervention had led her on the path to happiness. They now have been married for 12 years.
Eura worked at various oil companies for long hours and little pay. She again had a little conversation with the Lord about finding something different and better to do that would make her happy and also be more rewarding. Miller said to “Him”, “You blessed me with the husband that I asked for. Please show me a sign that I should be doing something else with my life.” The next day, her boss called her into his office and told her that he had recommended her for a better position in the company that would improve her income and also make a big difference in her life. Unfortunately, the position went to someone else who had only been there for a short time so Eura felt it was time to leave. She left her job and never looked back.
Due to the fact that she was given her vacation pay, plus other incentives, she was able to sit down and analyze her options. Once again, she had a little conversation with the Lord and asked once more for a sign of what should she do now that she had left her job. Every time she got on her computer, she would end up looking at real estate. Day after day, whenever she woke up, real estate would just pop up in her mind. She kept trying to talk herself out of it and would think, “You need to have a nice car. You have to have money.” Yet, every day real estate kept entering her thoughts. Down the street from her home was a real estate company and they had the same last name as hers, Miller. The company was Henry S. Miller and one day Eura got an invitation to their office for their Christmas party. Eura exclaimed to her husband, “That’s it. That’s a sign!” Her husband replied, “That’s just an invitation to a Christmas party.” Eura then said with conviction in her voice, “That’s a sign where I’m supposed to be and I’m going to talk with them.”
The morning of the party, it was “raining cats and dogs” and her husband wouldn’t even go with her. Eura said to him, “The devil is not going to stop me. I know something big is going to happen in my life because he doesn’t want me to go!” So she got her umbrella and went anyway. When she went inside the building, she asked to speak to the broker and the receptionist asked Ms. Miller, “What real estate company are you with?” She thought Eura was a realtor® and when she met the broker, he thought she was a realtor® too! Again, that was a sign for Eura that she should become a realtor®.
Eura sent her college transcripts to the Texas Real Estate Commission and they told her how many hours she needed to take. She first attended the Real Estate School but finished at Champions’ School of Real Estate near the Galleria where she took the training classes for Henry S. Miller. On the third day of training, the instructor came into the class and said that they wouldn’t be having class the next day as they were all going to the River Oaks Country Club. Eura said, “Whoa, I just came to get my license, but I like this!” Everyone was “hush-hush” about what was going on but it turned out that Coldwell Banker United had bought Henry S. Miller. Right after the acquisition, Wallace Perry, the CEO of Coldwell Banker United saw the name badge on Eura and said to her, “I know you from somewhere.” Eura replied, “You might not know me but you will know me, because you bought Miller but I can just turn it in to Banker.” He liked that remark, but in actuality, he really did know Eura because 29 years before, she had worked for him as a receptionist at Centennial Homes Company and he had remembered her! Wallace recalled, “Eura worked for me a long time ago as a receptionist and I remembered her because she was such an exceptional receptionist. Since she began her career in real estate, she has been exceptionally successful in such a short period of time and I am so proud to have her on our team! She is one of our top people and everybody in the company is really excited for her. Even though I’m not in Houston any more, I’m now in Charlotte, I’m so glad to see her doing so well and I know they are there as well.” Steve Barnes, President and C.O.O. of Coldwell Banker United, Realtors® Houston Region had these additional comments to say, “Eura represents the positive attitude and high energy that any real estate broker would be happy to have on their team.”
When Ms. Miller first got into real estate, she didn’t have a plan and floundered. Her first year in it, she wasted a lot of her time driving people around who didn’t have any money and weren’t approved, she either went to or did open houses, and she spent a lot of money on nothing. She was not treating her business like it was a one. She was not using common sense and therefore not making any money either. She realized that if she was to be successful, she needed to make a plan and so she did. Once more she asked the Lord for help in guiding her and these thoughts popped into her head, “What do you want? What kind of clients do you want? How big do you want to be? What kind of budget do you want? How do you want to get your business? What kind of people do you want to work with? How much money do you want to make? How are you going to market yourself? You have to get a website. You need to get into real estate magazines.” Eura attributes her success to the fact that she wrote down her plan starting with the first thirty days, then where she wanted to be in one year, and finally where she wanted to be in five years in her business. Writing down her plan literally turned her life around. Her business has never been the same!
Her first thirty day goal was to get at least three listings. She did that and got a total of five. Then her first year goal was to get five listings and do five sales and she did that. After that, everything else just came naturally that first year and thereafter. Her five year goal was to work with homes in the $400,000 to $500,000 range and also with millionaires and billionaires and that is where she is now. Not only has she achieved all of the goals she set out to do, she has exceeded them! In addition to residential real estate, Eura does commercial properties as well. She has listings of land ranging from $800,000 to over four million dollars and the primary market range of the homes she sells are from $380,000 to one million dollars.
Eura helped herself accomplish her goals by reading books on how to be a success. In addition, she read books about setting goals and getting them done and also how to plan a business. Her baby brother, Jeffery Alexander, who has had his own successful 24 hour tire service for over 30 years in Rosenberg, Texas, has been a mentor to her in guiding her in how to deal with people from all walks of life. She also tried to get guidance from the top five agents in Houston but none of them called her back. She realized that they were too busy but because of that she makes a point to give guidance to new agents. No matter what she’s doing, she always stops to help them because she realizes that the more she helps others, the more she is blessed. It is obvious that she treats everyone with great care and it is exemplified by these glowing comments from her extremely satisfied client, Tropical Storm Allison flood victim Stella Pearson. “Our home for 27 years was completely destroyed by the flood. However, Eura’s business card survived. My late husband Willie and I had helped her through some difficult times in her life 30 years before and she had sent us her card when she first went into the real estate business and we were so proud of her. When I contacted her, she took charge of everything and in a few months, she orchestrated two closings in one day, one for our old home that she sold and one for our new home that she helped us find! God sent us a blessing in the form of a Realtor® named Eura Miller.”
Eura was selected by her broker to be “the Ambassador of Relocation” at her office and she has taken continuing education classes to attain certification as a Certified Residential Specialist (CRS). Her special philosophies in real estate are that you must have patience, wisdom, and knowledge when working with people. She believes that the lessons that she learned from home in the country have taught her how to be successful. It’s all about planting seeds. Don’t try and plant a lot of seeds, just good ones. Look what one acorn grows! Also, don’t just plant seeds for yourself but also help your children, friends, and associates, too. Everything has a season and you have to keep watering it. Eventually with care and nurturing, your harvest will come in. In addition, she has also learned lessons for success from living in the big city and driving in the fast lane. The rear view mirror makes everything look small and if you spend your time looking back, you’re going to drive into something but if you stay focused, you’ll eventually get to your destination.
Miller’s positive, winning attitude, professionalism, and an attention to details have a major role in her success. One day, while waiting to get the oil changed in her auto, a gentleman sitting in the waiting room with her noticed her name badge. He approached Eura and said, “You work for Coldwell Banker. We have some property for sale. You need to go call my wife now!” He was so adamant that he insisted that Eura call her immediately and so she did. Once she reached his wife on the phone, the lady wasn’t certain if she wanted to sell the property. Eura said, “Why don’t I send you a package showing you what Coldwell Banker can do for you and then you can let me know.” The woman said okay and Miller sent her the information. Three days after receiving the information, the woman called Eura back and wanted her to come and see the property. Ms. Miller always has all of the paperwork filled out before she shows up at the potential client’s property as though it is a “done deal” and had done so on this occasion, too. When she arrived, Eura saw that it was 50 acres of land located on the frontage of Highway 290 and was clear of trees and structures. She exclaimed to the lady, “Maam, you have a little goldmine!” The woman told her that she had one other agent she was meeting with and that she would get back to her on Friday. Eura still handed all of the paperwork to the lady and by the next morning (Thursday), the woman called Miller and asked what she needed to do to list the property with her. Eura said, “You know the papers that I left with you, all you need to do is sign them and get them back to me.”
The story doesn’t end there. The next day on Friday, Ms. Miller went to the property and took pictures and ordered a big sign. She knew a regular sign wouldn’t do as people would be driving 65 miles per hour past the property and there would be no way to see it. At that point, Hurricane Rita was heading our way. The next day on Saturday, the sign man called and told her he was closing up his shop because of the hurricane and she would have to wait on the sign. After going to church the next day on Sunday, Eura had another little conversation with the Lord and felt that she had to put a sign up even if it was a little one. She drove to the property and put the sign up, even though she knew people wouldn’t see it. Before she left, she said a little prayer over the sign and the property as she does for all of her listings. By Monday, the people in Houston were already buying up supplies in preparation for the impending storm and on Wednesday, the Mayor recommended that people in low lying areas evacuate. By Thursday evening, though, people all over Houston started evacuating and on Friday about 12 noon, her cell phone started ringing off the hook! People were sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours and they were all calling her about the property. Due to that small sign, many new clients came as a result of it!
These milestones in Eura’s life are perfect examples of her deep faith that the Lord is helping and guiding her along on her road to success. In fact, fortuitous events seem to consistently happen in Eura’s life and that is why she is the new rising star in real estate.
Read More......
E-mail from Houston Real Estate Today 
Posts
