You’ve seen the big signs emblazoned with his name everywhere along Scenic Highway 30A and throughout Destin. John Paul Somers lists residential and commercial property all over the place. But, just who is the man behind the sign?

Somers has been in the real estate business almost all his life, falling in love with it as a teenager. He’s highly respected, even among competitors, and is known as being the “real deal.”

We sat down with Somers recently to learn some more about his story and how he came to be one of the top agents selling some of the most high-profile residential and commercial properties in Northwest Florida.

What got Somers into real estate?

Somers’ dad had a small real estate portfolio as a side business when Somers was a kid. Every weekend Somers helped him with the properties.

“At 16, I felt that was a career I really wanted to pursue,” Somers said.

In the mid-80s, on the south side of Alpharetta, Ga., a new country club went up and Somers — with little experience, but a lot of drive — asked the real estate agent there for a job. She agreed to let him work as her assistant.

The career was born — and at a prime time.

“That was during the advent of the mansion,” Somers said. “These huge new homes were going up in Atlanta. There was a lot of new money.”

Somers met celebrities and got a taste of the luxury market. He was hooked.

Luxury properties represent a certain lifestyle — a fun and exciting one — and Somers said  he enjoys showing properties to people at this stage of their lives.

“It’s a fantasy coming true.”

What brought Somers to Northwest Florida?

In the late 1990s, while living in Atlanta, Somers started eyeing Northwest Florida as a potential hot spot for growing his business.

“The prospects for growth in Florida were very promising,” Somers said. “With America’s love affair with the coast, Baby Boomers gravitated towards the coastal areas. I thought an area with such promising trends would serve my passion for real estate well.”

While the decision was mostly for business, Somers was also drawn to the natural beauty of the area.

“I’m a big nature buff,” he said. “I love the outdoors. I thought it was the most beautiful scenery here and I was so impressed with the ecological aspects of the area.”

Somers started out in Destin, but his footprint now encompasses South Walton and Scenic Highway 30A where his business is growing the most. He recently opened a second office in Grayton Beach.

Why real estate?

In his over 30 years in the business, Somers said no two days have been the same.

“You wake up to something exciting each and every day,” he said.

That comes with ups, of course, but also downs. The market is cyclical, and Somers has seen his share of highs and lows.

Shortly after Somers got into the business as a teenager, the market was hit hard and he saw a lot of communities around him suffering greatly.

“It created awareness at a very young age,” he said. Since then, he said he’s seen several profound and exaggerated cycles in the market.

“We feel very fortunate to have the successes we have,” Somers said. “We really do. We don’t take this for granted. It’s very easy to and some people just don’t understand the cyclical nature of the market.

“You have to be very humble and that means getting rid of your ego because ego isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

What does Somers do for fun?

“I must admit I’m a workaholic,” Somers said. “I try to achieve a balance, but when you have such a passion for what you are doing, it’s really hard to turn it off.”

He uses spontanaity and an appreciation of how lucky he is to work in such a beautiful place to find pleasure in every day activities.

“When I go to a property, I get to interact with nature while I’m doing it,” he said. “Many of the properties are in these settings along the Gulf or the coastal dune lakes. It’s so beautiful.”

When he does have a spare moment and desire to break away, he likes to go fishing off Grayton Beach (not so far off shore that he loses cell signal, of course).

He also enjoys mountain biking, paddle boarding and recently bought a 1988 Land Rover Defender to try his hand at off-roading in the Point Washington State Forest.

Learn more about Somers at his website somerscompany.com.