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Inspiring Conversations with “REAL” Barkley-Romero of REALgratitude®

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Today we’d like to introduce you to “REAL” Barkley-Romero.

Hi “REAL”, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I didn’t grow up thinking I’d end up in real estate. My background is actually in art, entertainment, and luxury sales — I lived in LA, New York, and Atlanta, worked as an actor, model, and in fine jewelry. Storytelling and relationship-building were always at the heart of what I did.

I got my real estate license before the pandemic, but it wasn’t until the world shut down that I really found my “why” behind the work. When everything slowed down, I started a Facebook group called Glendale Gratitude — just a way to help neighbors connect, trade goods, and support each other when we all felt a little lost. What started as toilet paper swaps and diaper drop-off’s turned into something much deeper: a way to rally people together for good.

That experience changed the way I looked at this industry. I realized that real estate could be more than transactions and commissions — it could be a vehicle for community impact.

I started knocking doors in Pacific Palisades with that mindset, not to hard sell, but to connect. In that one neighborhood, I collected over 2,000 pounds of clothing donations and captured contact info from over half the people I spoke with — all by leading with contribution instead of the typical sales pitch.

That idea became the foundation of REALgratitude®. Since then, I’ve helped collect donations for over a dozen nonprofits while growing my business across multiple cities and states and closed tens of millions of dollars in deals. Every time, the formula works: show up with real value, care about the people you meet, and business follows naturally.

Today, REALgratitude® isn’t just my brand — it’s a movement. In addition to helping buyers and sellers, I also teach other agents how to build their business by leading with service, not sales tactics. Because the truth is, people don’t hire you because you post a pretty picture of a house. They hire you because they feel your integrity, your passion, and your presence.

It started with a simple idea: use real estate as a guaranteed touchpoint to make the world a little more balanced. And it’s only grown from there.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In 2020, right in the thick of the pandemic, I went through one of the hardest breakups of my life. The kind of heartbreak that doesn’t just break your heart — it breaks your plans, your sense of home, your safety net. That breakup left me couch surfing for the better part of two years. I was licensed, I had the ambition, but I didn’t have the stability. And let me tell you, trying to build a business while wondering where you’re going to sleep next is a whole different kind of hustle.

On top of that, I’ve always been neurodivergent — and while I’ve come to embrace it, for most of my life it made me feel like an alien, like I was always on the outside looking in. I’m the person who can hyper-focus so hard I forget to eat, forget to sleep, forget to come up for air. I’m incredibly organized — spreadsheets for days — but my brain gets locked into obsessive loops, and sometimes the basic human needs get pushed to the back burner. For a long time, I thought that meant something was wrong with me. I couldn’t understand why the way I processed the world seemed so different from everyone around me.

And then there’s the challenge of finding support. I knew from the beginning that I needed a mentor — my background is in the arts, not business. I joke that I went to YouTube University for Business. I needed someone who could help me navigate not just the contracts, but the roadmap to the bigger vision I had for this work. But finding someone willing to really show up for me, to believe in what I was trying to build, was harder than I ever expected. When I finally did find that person — someone who saw the heart behind my mission and was helping me find my footing — he was murdered. Losing him was devastating. It felt like just as the pieces were starting to come together, everything shattered again.

There’s been a lot of hard lessons along the way. I’ve had to fire people for bringing alcohol to open houses. I’ve had to cut ties with people who stole from me. When your business is built on trust, alignment, and integrity, having the wrong people in your corner isn’t just bad for business — it’s personal.

But all of it — the heartbreak, the instability, the loss, the neurodivergence, the leadership lessons the hard way — it’s shaped the way I show up today. It’s why REALgratitude® isn’t about chasing deals or copying what every other agent is doing. It’s about building real relationships, standing on real values, and showing up fully as myself — alien brain and all.

No, the road hasn’t been smooth. But the rough edges are what gave this project its shape. I’m still here. Still building. Still believing.

We’ve been impressed with REALgratitude®, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
REALgratitude® isn’t just a real estate brand — it’s a business model, a movement, and a mindset.

Yes, I help people buy and sell homes. But what really sets my work apart is how I do it. Every transaction through REALgratitude® is designed to uplift the local community, not just the people signing on the dotted line. I believe that along with death and taxes, real estate transactions are one of the few guarantees in life — so why not use them as a way to give back?

Whenever I help a client close on a home, we rally their neighborhood to collect items or donations for a nonprofit of their choice. Over the years, this approach has led to thousands of dollars’ worth of goods collected for over a dozen nonprofits, all while building authentic connections and brand loyalty that can’t be bought with postcards or billboards.

But REALgratitude® isn’t just for buyers and sellers — it’s also for agents. I teach other real estate professionals how to grow their business by connecting with their community, not by cold calling or chasing leads, but by leading with service and showing up with value. I offer courses, coaching, content tools, and resources that help agents become known as the go-to person in their area because they genuinely care, not because they’re the loudest voice in the room.

My goal is for the REALgratitude® logo to become recognizable as the “bat signal” for community-centered business. When people see that logo, they know they’re working with someone who stands for more than commission checks and money. It represents trust, integrity, creativity, and contribution.

And to be clear — this is not about charity as a marketing gimmick. It’s about authentic engagement, about turning something transactional into something transformational. Whether it’s helping a first-time buyer feel confident or showing agents how to use their platform to make a real difference, every part of this brand is built on the belief that real estate and capitalism can have a positive butterfly effect.

So if you’re looking for the hard-sell, cold-call, grind-it-out playbook… that’s not me. But if you’re looking for a model that helps you build wealth and build community — that’s what REALgratitude® is all about.

What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to me is my spirituality — my faith in something larger than myself.

Every morning, before I do anything else, I start my day with my prayer journal. I sit down, get quiet, and ask the Creator to guide me, to show me the way, and to use me as a paintbrush in helping paint the bigger picture. That daily ritual reminds me that I’m not the artist — I’m just a tool in the hands of something much greater. My job is to show up, stay open, and let myself be used for good.

This practice keeps me grounded. It’s what helps me lead with integrity instead of ego, with patience instead of panic. It’s easy in business — especially in real estate — to get caught up in outcomes, numbers, and control. But my faith is what allows me to trust the process, to focus on doing the next right thing, and to believe that the right doors will open at the right time.

For me, spirituality isn’t about perfection or performance. It’s about connection — to the Creator, to the people I serve, and to the purpose behind the work. It’s the thread that ties everything together, and the reason why this business isn’t just business to me.

At the end of the day, what matters most is that I stay aligned with whatever is out there — because that’s where the real magic happens.

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