Sky's the limit when you hone in on your true abilities

After an uneventful college career I Indiana, I decided to move back to California.

I had a few odd jobs, Circuit City, Timeshare, Sales… I did a temp gig at a local real estate development at Lake Sherwood California. I had no aspirations about a career in real estate but after working in a field where the least expensive home that we sold was $1.5 million for a few months a light bulb went off!
So I took some courses, studied for my test and got my real estate license at 20. I loved it! Great money, fun work, high end RICH celebrity clients... It was the dream gig and I was learning a lot about the industry from the top echelon.
I spent a great year at that position but I was not really meant to be a worker bee so I ventured out into the world of resale residential real estate. It was completely different from what I was accustomed to at Sherwood but I picked up on it very fast and was very shortly one of the top producers in the brokerage.
Something wasn’t clicking though, I couldn’t really put my finger on it at first but after about a year it hit me.

I learned that the real estate businesses that most of the agents in the office were running weren’t really businesses at all but just a JOB that they created for themselves. They were slaves to their clients and had no other revenue streams, no systems in place to run operations and no plan to execute. Spend a bunch of money on marketing, wait for something to stick and then go hustle to get hired. NOT a smart or effective strategy if you ask me!

I decided to go against the advice of my mentor and I started focusing on specific aspects of the business that I really enjoyed doing, mostly lead generation and referrals/strategic partnerships.

I learned that the greatest resource to agents, or any commissioned sales person for that fact, were a steady flow of qualified prospects. So I created a side business generating, qualifying and referring out clients to agents in my office. This was great! I didn’t do any of the typical real estate agent duties, unless I had a client who requested me to help, and I got to focus on networking with the top agents in the area from all of the local offices. In this pursuit another light went off. Why limit myself to only the agents in my office? What was the benefit for brand loyalty in a cut throat business?

I took my show on the road and started offering referrals to all of the top agents in the area. I mean, if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em right?
I automated the process, hired some staff, hired a manager and took a passive advisory role.
I was hooked! This is what I was meant to do.
I then started a marketing company, same process, found, build, test, hire and step aside.
I did this over and over with several service based companies assembly line style.

4 years go by and I have the opportunity to buy my first home. I set up financing and purchased a townhome overlooking the golf course in Wood Ranch/Simi Valley California.

6 months after moving in I get a phone call from an agent who I refer business to with an offer to buy my home for $135K more than I paid a few months ago.
I was 24 and not tied down so I sold out! That was the best feeling in the world! I buy an asset and liquidate it in 6 months, pay off my lenders/investors and make a great profit? I was hooked once again!

I took that $100+K and built a home in a new development at the beach community of Westport in Oxnard California to be my primary residence.
I figured with the income from the businesses and the chunk of capital I now have why not diversify? Another light bulb went off. What would my dream job be? What have I done up to this point in my career that I can see myself doing that would provide me with the lifestyle that I wanted to create?

Well, I love to play golf, travel, snowboard, buy real estate, create and invest in startup companies... so the natural progression of my career followed suit.
I decided I would get into the resort/vacation home holdings business. I started traveling the country to all of the great vacation spots buying up properties, furnishing them and putting them into a vacation rental program. Living the dream!

8 years after I begun this journey I had my first child and I decided that I wanted to stay more centralized so I started investing into Private Equity funds and even setting up a fund for additional vacation home purchases.
Another light went off! This was far more lucrative and it allowed me to only travel when I wanted to and I found my niche by becoming the first in/lead investor in some commercial development projects.

So up until today I have been investing in early stage real estate projects, startup businesses and advising Entrepreneurs on how to do what they love to do.
I started up a hybrid seed investment/advisory/consulting firm called VENC?SBA which keeps me pretty busy with helping others with their ideas/businesses as well as corporate turnaround services.

I am currently working on creating a new real estate fund as well as a Micro Ventures fund for my new hybrid startup lab/incubator The Lights on Lab.
I figured it was time to structure the business creation process and still be able to invest and advise to those who want an Entrepreneurial education all wrapped into one.
16 years and 2 kids later, I still get to do what I love to do, on my own terms and with the great people who I surround myself with.