Derrick Phillips

About

The son of a master craftsman, Derrick Phillips was a year old when his family moved into a house that his father was building. His entire childhood was spent around homebuilding and remodeling. As a teenager and into his college years, Derrick worked alongside his father in his carpentry and contracting business, quoting jobs, touring homes, working with REALTORS®, and getting his hands dirty within the properties.

Derrick's hands-on involvement in the construction and improvement industry shaped his early love of houses and a desire to serve people as they created a home for themselves. While his professional career didn't immediately go in the direction of real estate, he always had a foot in the door through his father's company, which eventually expanded to include home inspections.

Raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, Derrick graduated from North Central University in Minneapolis, before beginning his career in nonprofit, ministry, and leadership development endeavors. Throughout his 20-year career, he honed his impeccable people skills as he guided people through some of the most important and difficult parts of their lives. Becoming a real estate advisor in the Tampa Bay area, where he has lived since 2012, was a seamless and natural next step for Derrick, and he is thrilled to be a partner with the St. Petersburg office of Premier Sotheby's International Realty.

Derrick's thorough knowledge of how homes are built, how their systems function, and how they can be altered sets him apart from other professionals in the industry. He strives to serve his customers' homebuying and selling needs through authentic and knowledgeable engagement, making them feel both confident and comfortable along the way. Derrick, who speaks conversational Spanish, wants to help people truly settle into life in their homes, their neighborhoods, and their city so they can benefit from being an active part of the community they call home.

In his time outside of the office, Derrick loves to read and write, especially reading about city planning, development, transit, and urban growth. He and his wife have extensively traveled all over the country and the world, often engaging in service projects and poverty-relief efforts in underserved communities. Derrick has devoted his compassion to serving others close to home as well, serving on various neighborhood associations, in church leadership roles, participating in city and county leadership training, and sitting on multiple board positions and advisory roles. An avid hockey player, he follows the NHL closely and despite having grown up in Minnesota, cheers for the Tampa Bay Lightning.