Movement Property Group founder Matt Kirkegaard moved to Nashville from a small town in Wyoming in 2007 to further his music career. He was 21, broke, and living in his car. The musician was homeless for a year and a half. Perhaps this experience has made him dedicated to giving back and uplifting those around him today.
Though he’s the founder of a multi-million-dollar Nashville luxury property group today — and was named one of the top 100 real estate agents in Tennessee — he still spends much of his time and money helping others.
Though success and helping others might seem mutually exclusive, Kirkegaard disagrees.
“You can level up your company and give back simultaneously,” he said. “In fact, I’m not sure you can truly grow well without it.”
He has even introduced a formal program for giving back at Movement Property Group, called the LiftUp Initiative.
About LiftUp
Movement’s program for giving back encourages the community to get involved by both helping others and nominating people and families that need assistance. Because Kirkegaard has seen so many hard times himself, he is hyper-vigilant about protecting his neighbors and community members from unjust circumstances and trying times.
Among the easiest ways to give back alongside Movement is to simply work with Kirkegaard as your exclusive buying or listing agent. From that point, the founder knows he can find you the home of your dreams or sell your home with an ideal outcome.
After each closing, Movement Property Group deposits 10% of each commission into the LiftUp fund. These funds are used to provide mortgage assistance and rent help to Nashville residents under financial duress due to situations that are out of their control.
Leveling Up, Giving Back
The founder sees scaling his company and doing good for his community as partners on the journey to success. To those who don’t know how it is possible, he shares some of his wisdom on the subject.
“Introducing the LiftUp program was a game-changer for my team. It made us closer, and doing good together is a true bonding experience. In turn, this raises team morale and inspires us to do our best because we know it is for ourselves and others,” he explained.
As they helped family after family, the LiftUp program was featured in the news and on local tv shows, raising the company’s profile and name recognition. Then, all of a sudden, their good deeds were bringing more clients through the doors, which led to the ability to close more sales and fund more good deeds.
“For Movement, it made sense that we would help people with mortgage and rental assistance. After all, it’s a desperately needed service closely related to what we do, which is buying and selling Nashville homes,” he said.
He advised that companies should start with what they know and give back in the same area as their business. For example, a childcare center or private school is an obvious match with children’s charities. At the same time, a car dealership might sponsor low-income individuals who need assistance getting on the road and driving to work.
He knows that not every business is large enough or profitable enough to take on large charity projects, but starting small has remarkable benefits for workplace team-building. Even sponsoring families at Thanksgiving, toy donations at Christmas, and regular drives for the local food pantry are worthy endeavors.
A Movement for Good
Kirkegaard’s passion for his adopted city of Nashville and its people is apparent in all that he does. That’s why Movement agents always focus on providing a transparent and honest real estate experience.
Buying a house through them is exciting and fulfilling, say their clients. And these happy homeowners and sellers feel great knowing that their real estate transactions help others at the same time via the LiftUp Initiative.
The example set by Kirkegaard and Movement is one that other professionals could benefit from, both business-wise and personally.
About Matt Kirkegaard and Movement Property Group
Movement Property Group (Keller Williams), created by musician and real estate agent Matt Kirkegaard, specializes in luxury and affordable housing throughout most of Tennessee, including East and West Nashville, where the company is headquartered. Kirkegaard is accompanied by Ruben Juarez and Aaron Ammon at Movement Property Group.
Kirkegaard and Co. strive to make the homebuying and homeselling processes as efficient and effortless as possible. For more information and to see Movement Property Group’s impressive real estate inventory, please visit https://movementpropertygroup.com/