Following graduation from high school, Charlotte A. Uhlik began a career in education as a school librarian in an elementary school, a role she held for 15 years. This was followed by two decades as an English-speaking classroom associate for a Spanish immersion school. These two roles helped her cultivate significant research skills, which she credits as a major driving force behind her professional growth. After her retirement, she volunteered at the St. Mark’s Catholic Church inner-city preschool. In 2013, she and her business partner, her then-husband, bought their first rental property as a secure place for their adult children to live. Two of her sons and her daughter all spent time renting the house before eventually moving out on their own.
Ms. Uhlik’s first tenant following her daughter moving out was a young woman recently released from prison looking for a second chance home. The woman was a model tenant, and Ms. Uhlik is proud that she was able to help her get back on her feet. The business grew rapidly from there, and in 2019, she and her business partner established DC Legacy Properties, LLC, an umbrella company that encompasses her two firms, ADGK Capital and ADGK Property Solutions, and her business partner’s, DGU Capital and DGU, LLC. Currently, they are collaborating with Mary’s Inn, a home for single mothers, through which they can help single mothers find stability to raise their children. In addition to helping them find homes, Ms. Uhlik provides assistance with budgeting, bill paying and daycare, or directs them to other agencies if she can’t help them herself.
Ms. Uhlik operates on the principle that if she wouldn’t want to live in one of her rental properties, her tenants shouldn’t have to either. She cares deeply about all her tenants and goes out of her way to personally assist them when issues arise. One moment she recalls was when a tenant’s refrigerator stopped working. Knowing that her tenant had medication that required refrigeration, she went to pick out a new refrigerator herself and had the property manager install it the very next day. Throughout her career, she has remained motivated through her desire to support her tenants and traces that all back to the very first property that she rented out as a second chance home, noting that it gave her an incredible sense of purpose because she was doing something that made an impact in the lives of others.
Ms. Uhlik’s favorite part of her career is helping others and being able to give someone in need a place to live where they will be secure and not have to worry about home maintenance. Additionally, she finds learning new things to be particularly gratifying, and she approaches all new experiences with an open mind. Standing out in her field for her emphasis on continued learning and doing her own research, she also attributes some of her success to her ex-husband, a businessman with over 40 years of experience running multi-million dollar companies, who taught her about purchasing properties.
While she never expected to end up with a career in real estate, Ms. Uhlik has made a name for herself through her expertise in passive investment and commercial properties. In order to keep abreast of new developments in her field, she maintains professional affiliation with FortuneBuilders and Nevada Corporate Headquarters. She also does much of her investing through Equity Street Capital and Big D Properties. For her excellence, she was presented with the Ken Kringle Historic Preservation Award in 2015 and has also received an award for a house upgrade. Looking toward the future, Ms. Uhlik plans to continue her current project involving multi-family properties, start work flipping houses, and get involved in efforts to improve living conditions for people in the inner city.
