Meet Donna Dalonzo, Vice President of Growth & Expansion for Canada at eXp Realty. With over 20 years of experience in the real estate industry, she’s an avid believer of growing in a team, and when it comes to investments, not putting all your eggs in one basket. A mother of two beautiful children, she’s the true definition of a superwoman! There is literally nothing this woman cannot achieve. Here’s a look into her career, her life, and her passions in real estate.

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“It’s been over 25 years now”, she says nonchalantly about the time she’s given to her real estate career. “It wasn’t always like this though. It took me a while to find my place, and to feel good working with an innovative real estate company such as eXp Realty.” Donna’s career began in the fashion industry. “I loved fashion, but I also loved to see women in business. Law always interested me, however, I went the finance route, appraising homes, then mortgages and before I knew it, I ended up in real estate. 

“It was a natural transition for me to go into real estate, it was always in the back of my mind. My partner and I made a great team, we got so busy so quickly that we had to bring on more agents to assist us in our growing business. He and I worked this way for about seven years at RE/MAX, and we ended up purchasing the office that we worked at. I realized then, that’s what I loved to do. I loved building relationships with realtors. I loved helping them and seeing them excel.” She proclaims with enthusiasm.

She ended up building the office from 92 to over 300 agents in less than two years. “We were at the time the largest RE/MAX Brokerage in Quebec, and I loved it. So there began my new career. It was amazing I am still good friends with many of the agents I met over the past twenty five years.” Just like that, she transitioned to eXp and it’s been history in the making ever since.

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Walk us through your journey into entrepreneurship ; did you always know you would become a business owner? 

Yes I did, I was a business owner for so many years, mostly because I have an ability to look at the big picture, build companies, however, change things when they need to be changed, to evolve. The individuals I work with are super important to me. I am more of a team player than a person that needs to do everything myself.

What advice would you give to your youngest self? 

Well if I had to start over, I would tell her, learn as much as you can. Choose your people wisely, trust but never lose sight of what you wanted to create, stand your ground and remember a gut feeling is a real thing.

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What brought you into real estate? Why eXP?

I was always sort of attached to real estate agents in my prior business so it was a logical transition. I started with a plan, which is the only way to go. For agents newly licenced it is imperative they really investigate what the life of a broker will be, how they want their business and personal life to be and plan it out.

At the same time that I was looking for a change, eXp had reached out to me, Patrick & Matt Ashby, two wonderful people who introduced me to Glenn Sanford, eXp Founder and the executive team and what I saw at the time was mind blowing! I loved the virtual aspect, the fact that eXp is so technically advanced, eXp disrupted the real estate industry. Every agent is a shareholder of this company, it was built for the agent and for the agent’s future. eXp provides every agent with a personal website and a lead generation system free of charge, marketing, a virtual platform, stocks awards, and we have a referral system built in should an agent refer a colleague to work with us. 

At eXp, the agent is given awards and monetary bonuses whereas with a traditional brokerage, the more an agent sells the more the agent pays to the brokerage, as if the more you sell you are penalized,  here the more you sell your fees are Capped and you are rewarded. The overall concept made eXp Realty the fastest growing brokerage in the history of real estate.

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How do you find inner balance in the midst of chaos?

My weekly schedule is usually pretty full. I do try to work less on the weekends. To stay above the chaos I write a lot down during the day so I can go back to it. I try to chunk my day in order to focus on the present.

What is your daily routine schedule to set yourself up for a successful day? 

I start my day with Podcasts or meditations that get me in the right mindset. Over breakfast I look over my schedule and prepare for the day. Then I execute and head to meetings if that is on the schedule.

On Manifesting BIG visions ; what does that look like for you now? 


My BIG vision at this point in my life has to  incorporate a balanced routine, meaning to be flexible and adaptable to my business and personal life. Making time to achieve my business goals, I need to complete my professional tasks. Making sure they are S.M.A.R.T, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. It is important that I do take the time for activities with family and friends and for self care too. Being sure to celebrate milestones and to practice gratitude everyday. 

To me manifesting BIG visions as a Vice President of Growth as well as being a mother to two wonderful daughters, Veronica and Shannon and being a very new grandmother is about finding harmony in all aspects of my life while striving for success and fulfillment.

“By balancing professional goals with personal values, we can create a meaningful and rewarding journey. It’s always a work in progress but that is the beauty of creating our own vision.”

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What is your superpower? 

My Superpower is of course being tenacious and also the art of building rapport. I have a nickname with my close friends and business associates, the Queen of Rapport (laughs). It is so important in any business, especially sales or team building, to be able to connect with the other person, to create a comfortable environment where conversation can flow easily and to build trust.

What do you have coming up in the near future that we can announce to our readers?

Now that I am working with such an amazing Growth team led by such an incredible and supportive person, Michael Valdes, eXp Realty’s Chief Growth Officer, we have big plans for eXp expansion in Canada and the USA, well globally! We have so much to offer our agents and brokers already, besides being a Residential brokerage, we offer a Luxury and Commercial division and soon to launch a Sports and Entertainment, Land and Ranch divisions as well. eXp evolves with the times, we listen to our agents’ needs, after all eXp is built for our agents and just keeps getting better and better!

If you would like to discuss your real estate career with Donna, email donnadalonzo@exprealty.com

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For more information visit DDalonzo.com

Follow Donna Dalonzo and her real estate game, @Donna_eXp_RealEstate