Grant Cardone's Wife Started Her Career as a Model & Actress and Also Became a Realtor

Grant Cardone's wife, Elena Lyons, was "the toughest sale" the entrepreneur made after he fell head over heels in love the first time he saw her. Now, the couple, who have created a real estate portfolio of over $5 billion, are a happy family of four.

Elena became a woman of many trades after she moved to the United States as a teenager. She set her sights on Hollywood before becoming a successful life coach, among other things.

While she has celebrated over ten years of marriage, Elena and Grant's love story proved one for the books as it took him 13 months to score a date with the Spanish native.

Elena Cardone Is Very Ambitious and Does Different Things

Born on June 27, 1973, in Madrid, Spain, Elena moved to the states before she started high school in New Orleans. Freshly graduated, she relocated to Los Angeles to chase her dreams of becoming an actress.

Elena kickstarted her career in Hollywood as a successful model and landed roles in films and TV shows. In 2005 she made Maxim Magazine's Hot 100 list and snagged the tenth spot in California in sporting clay and trap shooting.

From an actress and a model, Elena became an author, businesswoman, empire builder, event producer, mentor, public speaker, and visionary.

She wrote the best-selling book, "Build an Empire: How to Have it All," and made a career by offering men and women advice on how to grow and maintain healthy marriages and jobs while providing hundreds of women one-on-one coaching sessions.

She is the executive producer of numerous events such as 10X Ladies, Operation 10X Badass, Build an Empire Mastermind, and has a show, "Women in Power." Her website reads:

"The Queen of her Empire, Elena has designed, constructed, and protected a life outside of the ordinary. She has inspired a legion of followers to create their own empires – lives that are truly fulfilling and beyond the average."

She joined her husband in the real estate world when she became a licensed realtor and set her sights on building the largest real estate team globally.

While creating a real estate portfolio of $5.2 billion with her husband, Elena also dreamed of helping thousands of people create generational wealth through real estate.

A fully-blown powerhouse, Elena proved she could have it all when she tied the knot in 2004 and became a mother to two daughters.

Grant Fell in Love with Elena at First Sight, Even Though She Ignored Him for 13 Months

Elena met her future husband on a commercial set in downtown Los Angeles. Grant knew the director and scored Elena's number– much to her disapproval– after falling in love at first sight. He said:

"The moment I saw her, I knew she was the one for me. Call it love at first sight, call it whatever you want; I just knew she was the one."

While he was certain Elena would be his wife, she admitted that she was less than impressed with him after their first phone call. Elena said, "Arrogant, short, not my type– the phone call could not have gone worse in my eyes."

Her husband remained persistent and called twice a month every month for thirteen months. However, Elena was unresponsive, so Grant switched up his game and befriended one of her friends.

When he learned she was a competitive shotgun shooter, he left a message on her answering machine telling her that he had rented out the entire shooting range and asked Elena on a date. It worked.

They soon became friends, and after a few months, Grant began to grow on Elena. She noted how he never tried to kiss her and invade her space, differing from any man she had met. Elena said:

"He was patient and cool. Everything that I tried to do, he (kind of) had this, like he was entertained and mesmerized with this little smile on his face. And I was like, 'This guy is, like, different."

During an interview, Elena recalled a moment of realization while on a date with Grant. She compared it to being drunk when she shared that it hit her– he would make her fall in love with him.

Grant and Elena's First Baby Was Born 5 Years after Their Marriage

Elena became a mother for the first time in 2009 when she welcomed her daughter, Sabrina. Three years later, she gave birth to her second daughter, Scarlett.

Like Meghan Markle, Elena was one proud mom when she took to Instagram to celebrate her daughter, who was the people's choice at a pageant and made the top ten. "I'm so very proud of you, Sabrina. You inspire me to be better," Elena wrote.