Faith Korode
Benaisha Poole-Watson, a well-known businesswoman and realtor, is the first Afro-Latina to operate a FDIC bank. She is a Crenshaw District native who has observed the consequences of prolonged institutional failure and tremendous poverty.
Poole-Watson and her sister, who died when she was ten, were reared by their Guatemalan immigrant mother, who had to work ten-hour days after her divorce from her African-American husband. Her mother’s perseverance, according to the entrepreneur, affected her current success.
“My mother is an immigrant, and she didn’t get a 401k until she was in her 40s. She worked at a job and didn’t have her retirement set up. So when learning about finances, I learned indirectly. I was just curious and asked the questions. I watched the people around me and noticed the mistakes they would make. So I dug deeper and familiarized myself with how money works,” Poole-Watson told Revolt.
By the age of 19, the entrepreneur had a child and began working 50+ hours per week at multiple jobs. According to Kazi, she took steps to provide her child a better life, including joining the military (serving for 9 years in the United States Air Force), training to be a flight attendant, and acquiring a position in police enforcement.
Poole-Watson went on to co-found the Bailey Watson Real Estate Group with her friend Lori Bailey in 2018, and by 2022, she had been acknowledged as one of the top 1% of realtors in the country, selling over 400 properties every year.
She enjoys assisting people in locating housing, according to her. A participant at a real estate seminar suggested starting a bank.
Watson-Poole was inspired to make history by establishing Prime One Lending Group, And Home Loans, a Fannie Mae-approved and federally regulated bank, in 2021, where she currently serves as a direct lender. She intended to build the bank in such a way that potential customers who were traditionally underserved would have some leverage.
“I don’t accept deposits. I’m here to give the funding. So, I fund nationwide, and I’m just here to empower our community and inspire our people to let them know that there is a safe place that you can do business, where we can loan you money in an equal and equitable manner and get you to your next step into generational wealth,” she told Revolt.
Poole-Watson holds master’s degrees in political management and public administration from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., as well as a law degree from the University of Maryland College Park.
Poole-Watson has been a licensed real estate agent since 2015, and she has been named the Top 100 Real Estate Agent in the United States of America, the #2 Realtor in Dallas, and the #19 Realtor in Texas, according to Kazi.
According to FDIC data, only 23 of the 5,400 insured financial institutions in the United States were owned and run by people of color.
