My childhood was not like “Leave it to Beaver”
Right around the start of 1st grade, my brother, cousin, and I moved in with my grandmother. My mom was working an overnight job with the US Postal Service, otherwise we would have been home. This is not a woe-is-me statement. I love my mother and grandmother! This change allowed me to bond closely with my brother and cousin. We would do everything together, including walk to the city pool 1 mile away. We had a blast, it was not a sad childhood. It was just different. This different also started me on my path to make my own way. I learned if I wanted something, whether to play baseball, go to the pool, hang out with friends, I had to push for it. I had to work for it. I had to be in charge of doing it! This started my path of self-reliance.
Middle school was the start of my love of Technology
The start of 6th grade was back with my mom. I wanted to learn, and my mom noticed. She helped me find a magnet school that would nurture my hunger. I attended a Math and Science academy. During this time, I learned chess, learned to program, and learned to love math and science. My chess career was short but full of victories. During the 6th grade science fair, I wrote my 1st program on a TRS-80 computer. That program earned me 1st place in that category.
Starting to hit my stride
During High school, I continued my learning. Computer maintenance was my passion. I studied and earned my place in the top 5% of my class. National Honor Society, Junior Achievement, Kiwanis. I did it all. It was during NHS and Kiwanis that I discovered the need and fulfillment of community service. My philanthropy was short lived as school came to an end. After making a 21 on my ACT, I applied and received the Presidential Achievement Scholarship from Texas A&M University. I accepted and started my journey towards my Bachelors of Science.
I rediscovered community service
While in college, I pledged Omega Delta Phi Fraternity. Their premise was to be a service and social oriented brotherhood. The idea is that if you work hard, then you deserve to play hard. We had four pillars that defined our brotherhood, our character; Unity, Honesty, Integrity, and Leadership. While active with this fraternity, I helped tutor middle school kids, plant trees to restore balance, build homes for the underprivileged, and clean up neighborhoods to leave them better than we found them. I continued to study and serve. I graduated in 1999 and moved to San Antonio.
Life gets in the way
After starting life in the real world, everything took a back seat to earning a living. Soon, that living included a wife and child. Every day was the same, wake up, go to work, come home, raise child, nurture marriage, sleep, and then start all over again. This went on for 13 years with no real sense of accomplishment. Case in point, we divorced, they moved away, my finances were a mess and overall still had nothing to show for it. This divorce was not anyone’s fault, we were just not right for each other. Now I am remarried to a wonderfully awesome woman! On top of that wonderfulness, I am raising three awesome kids. As for anything to show for it, I want my legacy to be my kids’ success! In this effort, I became a Real Estate Agent. I have been an agent since 2014. In this time, I have begged friends and family for business. I try to work real estate into every conversation with people (I know they are annoyed by that). After a wakeup call just a few months ago, I realized that I am still selling myself short. I am still not leaving enough of a legacy. Real estate does not define who I am. My life events have shaped me into a family man, into a man that cares about our future (not just my family but our world), into a man that wants the best for my friends and family, into a man that values others for more than a commission, into a man that, overall, is not a crab in a pot of boiling water.
What is going to be my legacy?
Now is the time to get started. Started on what? Started on leaving a legacy behind that leaves a positive impact on my family, and on society. I really should have started this back when I first completed college. I am refocusing my real estate business to be more RELATIONSHIP centric. Not just treating every client as family, but meaning it. I am their real estate specialist and as such, it is my job to protect my clients. Protect my clients means helping them make the best decision FOR THEM, even if that decision causes me to lose a commission.
Using real estate as a vehicle, I will also donate to charities. Not just any charities, but those that fall in line with my values. One of those values is the belief that our kids are our future!