Welcome to the inaugural article of “Faces of Frisco“ – those people sometimes out in front, sometimes behind the scenes, but always interesting to interview… We kick off our monthly column with Dana Cheney, wife, mother, business owner, and Frisco resident for 14 years.
Growing up in the Houston area, Dana was working at a bank in 1998 at the age of 24 when she joined a college friend for a Thursday night happy hour. Tired from a long week, and not really thrilled to be in the bar, Dana was intently watching ESPN and trying to avoid the many PriceWaterhouseCoopers accountants… of which Jeff was one. Approaching her with talk of sports and teams’ odds, the romance began.
Little did Jeff know that first night, Dana loves sports and, ironically, politics. Her father was high school football coach, so Dana thrives on the competitive nature and teamwork involved in both arenas.
Two years later, Dana and Jeff were married and moved to the North Dallas area because of Jeff’s job at a hedge fund. Dana worked in the securities division at Aetna. Buying their first home in Plano, at the border of Frisco, in 2001, they finally built a new home and moved into The Trails in 2003.
But with the birth of their first child, Jeff couldn’t take the stress and long hours of hedge fund life anymore. Starting as an individual realtor, Jeff had the vision to create the business that today is The Cheney Group, Keller Williams Realty.
We knew that we needed to be in Frisco, because we saw the growth that was coming. At that time, Frisco’s population was around 50,000 and with all the land still wide open, you could feel the energy and ‘can do’ attitude here.”
However, Dana didn’t come on board with the real estate firm until she and Jeff purchased Frisco-Online.com in 2004. At the time, Dana had been a part of a website called BabyCenter.com, a forum-like site for moms that were pregnant at the same time. Even though Jeff originally scoffed at the idea of “talking to other people online,” Dana saw the value in the digital connections she created with other moms online.
Soon, Jeff saw the same value could be applied to a website for people moving to Frisco, so in 2004, he purchased Frisco-Online.com. The deal took a few months to finalize, but Dana ran every aspect of the site for years. Today, even though the site is managed by a third-party marketing company, she had no idea how the site would have such an enormous impact on Jeff’s move from real estate into politics.
Today, running a campaign and working as a “professional taxi cab” driver, Dana says:
I’m a politics “geek”… but never thought I would be running a campaign.”
PROUSTIAN QUESTIONNAIRE:
Your favorite virtue. Classy-ness
Your favorite vice. Coffee
Your favorite occupation. Being a mom.
Your favorite pastime. Watching my kids play sports.
Your chief characteristic. Honesty.
You’re penning an autobiography… What’s the title? “A Successful Partnership”
Your idea of happiness. My family and making sure that I help them fulfill their dreams.
If not you, who would you be? Laura Bush
What’s in your handbag? It’s awful… It’s a junk drawer of stuff, but I ALWAYS have cash.
Your style in 3 words. Traditional, but fashion-forward. OR, Conservative with flair.
What’s your present state of mind? Organized chaos.
Little known fact about you? I’m much more animated at home. While Jeff is even-keeled, I have “drill sergeant” tendencies.
What is your favorite motto? a scripture that always runs through my head, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”