Realtor Darlene Dipo

. Throughout her career, she has been known to her clients to work with honesty, grace, a helpful spirit, and a professional demeanor. As a two-time cancer survivor, Darlene understands that life is to be enjoyed, relationships strengthened and that the right home can help foster those things. As a wife, mother, and grandmother, Darlene enjoys family gatherings, and also makes time for fishing, travel, and most importantly - being a friend. Darlene began her Real Estate career in 1972. As a new agent at Eager & Co, Darlene quickly built a name for herself, eventually becoming one of their top sales agents for over 15 years. Always adapting to change, she was one of the first Realtors in the valley to have a mobile phone. And by mobile, it literally took up the entire trunk of her car. Darlene’s real estate career continued to grow and flourish - even in the male-dominated industry. In 1978, Darlene became a member of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors Million Dollar Club, where she continued to accomplish this status for the following 5 years. With a commitment to pursuing lifetime education and industry outreach, Darlene founded the Utah Chapter of CRS and served as president in 1981. In addition, Darlene served as a Director on the Salt Lake Board of Directors and served as an instructor for many continuing education classes. In 1984, Darlene was welcomed as a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Club. That same year, Darlene was also awarded “CRS of the Year.”

In March of 1986, Darlene’s passion for personal growth as well as her personal life was instantly put on hold. Darlene suffered a brain aneurysm at the age of 42. 7 days following her brain aneurysm she had a massive stroke. She laid helpless in her hospital bed – silent – without any ability to move or speak. She could hear the medical staff commenting that she’d never walk or talk again. “I knew what was going on around me… I knew what everyone was saying…. I just couldn’t respond.”

For three months Darlene was in ICU. 3 rehabilitation staff members later, Darlene realized if she was going to learn to walk and talk again, it was going to be up to her. And she rose to the challenge. She would have family members take her to the Sports Mall where they would tie her right hand to the handlebars of a stationary bike and strap her feet in. This is where Darlene began to get her mobility back. After all her hard work Darlene made her debut back into Real Estate in 1987 when she was awarded into the President’s Circle by the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. After working with some of the top agents in the Valley at Preferred Properties, she later switched to Chapman Richards & Associates where she became one of their top sales agents. Up to this point, Darlene faced more challenges than anyone could possibly imagine, not only personally, but professionally as well. One time she was personally presenting an offer to another agent in the industry, he looked at his watch and commented that, “It’s 6:00, shouldn’t you be home cooking dinner for your family?”

Another time she was called into the Salt Lake Board where she was reprimanded for not wearing a dress. She didn’t let any of this slow her down, if anything it made her work harder. In 2001, Darlene, along with her daughter, Debbie, and daughter-in-law, Deanna, opened up their own brokerage, Distinctive Properties – an all-female run brokerage in Draper. While at Distinctive Properties, Darlene was awarded “Broker of the Year” in 2009 by the Salt Lake Board. Darlene became apart of the Windermere family in 2011 with a merger of Distinctive Properties. Ever since joining Windermere, Darlene has continued to be more than a top producer, leading the pack with her enthusiastic energy and zeal that only Darlene delivers. In 2017, Darlene faced another personal challenge: breast cancer. On Friday, May 26th, Darlene underwent surgery, and the very next day she was working making posts on the Windermere page. Darlene has since gone through a series of corrective surgeries for the past year. She never complained or slowed down, in fact it made her value life even more.