Things have a way of coming full circle.

While pursuing a bachelor of science degree in business administration at Oklahoma State University in the late 2000s, Jeremy DeLay became associated with Jennifer Hands — then with the surname Magers — and her future husband, Roderick, through her brother Justin, one of his best friends. Even as life sent them in different directions, with DeLay moving on to earn a master’s of business administration from Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Tulsa and starting a family with his college sweetheart, Maria, it proved to be a friendship that was forged to last.

Little did he know their reconnection years later would change the trajectory of his career.

Fast forward several years and, DeLay, who was busy bolstering his resume with various sales and business development jobs, reached out to Tulsa Home + Design — owned by Jennifer and Roderick Hands — to have his house looked at for a renovation project. What they proposed took him by surprise and was even better than a quick quote. The Hands offered him a job as a real estate agent with their brokerage.

“They were like, ‘Why don't you come sell for us and do real estate?’ And at first, I was like, ‘I don't know if I want to do real estate,’” DeLay said. “But I've always had a sales background, and eventually the timing just worked out to jump on and join them. My career is, fortunately, falling forward because a lot of unexpected things have happened. There have been some big life-changing things where I just wasn't expecting what was coming next to come next. I feel like I've been at the next step, and it's like I didn't realize this was gonna happen. That’s why I say it’s kind of like falling forward because it's all worked out. “It just kind of came out of the blue.”

After getting his real estate license in April 2021, DeLay spent the first year learning about the industry and spreading his name around the Tulsa area. That patience paid off because when the market went bonkers in 2022, he was ready to put his new and old sales skills to the test.

“The first year was just super slow,” DeLay said. “It was learning, and I was like, ‘Oh, I need to figure out how to get this thing off the ground.’ Then my first deal closed in May of ’22, and in between May and August, I did like $4 million in sales. It was just like one transaction to another, and it was also super fun. The market was insane, and it felt like people were just coming left and right to buy houses.”

His long-term goal is to work in real estate full-time with the Hands family, but in the meantime, he continues to build his presence by utilizing social media and sending out mailers to potential home buyers in his network.

DeLay and his wife, Maria, also use her charcuterie business, The Grazing Table, to further introduce him to potential customers via the company’s growing social media pages, which feature more than 8,000 likes and followers across Facebook and Instagram. The business took off quicker than they imagined, but it has been a blessing to the DeLays, who have been married since December 2010 and have two sons — Stone Ryan (6) and Rhett Daniel (2).

“Having her just give me exposure is great as well,” DeLay said. “Our dream is her running The Grazing Table and me doing real estate, and that just kind of being the things that we have in life going forward would be ideal.”

According to The Grazing Table’s website bio, Maria’s eye for charcuterie started as occasional date-night treats for her husband but quickly grew from its humble beginnings to a booming small business that often sells out of its popular holiday specials.

Much like how The Grazing Table helps promote DeLay’s real estate business, DeLay is more than willing to spread the word about the entrepreneurial ventures of his wife any chance he gets.

“I share all her stuff on my page, and she shares my stuff on hers,” DeLay said. “We talk a lot about each other. She’s honestly more popular than I am … she’s gotten me some sales. 

“She’s super supportive.”

When DeLay, a Tulsa-area native who graduated from Bixby High School, isn’t selling homes to his growing client base, he enjoys spending his downtime with his wife and taking his boys to local spots like the Tulsa Zoo, the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks, the Gathering Place and the associated Discovery Lab Children’s Museum.

The DeLays also frequent OK Cookie Momster and Barbee Cookies for their dessert needs.

For DeLay, supporting those establishments is all about giving back to the community and city that helped shape him into the successful person and businessman he is today. With that in mind, it is no wonder he has developed a passion for helping other people find and establish roots in Tulsa.

“I was born here, I met my wife here and we had our kids here,” DeLay said. “So it’s important to me that my kids are getting to have experiences that I had growing up in Tulsa. We have options of where we can live, but we choose Tulsa because it is such a great place for our family, and there’s really no other place we’d want to live.”

Reconnecting with friends led an unsuspecting DeLay to find more meaningful work as a real estate professional, further developing his bond and business partnership with Tulsa Home + Design and the Hands family in the process.

He is now on the fast track to success in a market filled with talented real estate agents, establishing himself as a familiar and friendly face that hopeful homeowners now and in the future can rely on and trust.

“I love and appreciate Tulsa Home + Design, and Jennifer and Roderick in particular,” DeLay said. “That's such a huge part because I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for them and the opportunities they've given me. They paid for my licensing upfront, they paid for all of my dues upfront until I started selling and really put me in a position to succeed, which has been awesome. “I wouldn’t be doing it if it weren’t for them.”