Are you where you SHOULD be or where you WANT to be?

Average.

That is the person I would have become if I had not decided to change the trajectory of my life. There are millions of people who have perfected “average,” so why not try something a little different? For so much of my life, I believed in the notion of “keep your head down, work hard, and good things will come.” While that concept is still relevant, I believe everyone must be willing to take the leap and change the trajectory of their own life.

Before you assume I had any special privileges...

I had more obstacles than I can count. I am from a low-income (by today’s standard), household. Black Male. Predominantly white industries. Neither parent understood investment real estate. Both of my parents were employed by my local school district, but never let me feel like I was missing out on anything. College may not have happened if I didn’t earn a full scholarship. If I had simply stayed the course after my parents sacrificed so much for me, I know where I would have landed, and that is not how I envisioned my future.

My path drastically changed when I understood the value of real estate.

I started in loan origination, then moved to sell single-family homes, then moved to wholesale homes, then property management. While in Alabama, I saw a Commercial Broker with a lifestyle that I wanted and figured out if he could do it. I COULD DO IT. I interviewed with my current brokerage then and was turned away. I stuck it out. I moved states and decided to start over and re-interview then the real leap started…

My first paycheck in commercial real estate, after nearly 10 months of daily 3-hour driving and 75 calls per day, was ~$600. During those 10 months, I scoured craigslist for questionable gig- jobs, I drove for Uber & Lyft…I did everything I could to keep myself afloat, along with my extremely supportive wife, as we lived below the poverty line. Six years later, we purchased our first home, we purchased our first investment property, we are both small business owners, we published a children’s book, we have traveled the world, she earned her PHD, and I have become a certified Sommelier.

I am blessed.

It has not been easy.

I now have the ability to change the trajectory of my son's life. So he can be even more awesome.

I am finally where I WANT to be.

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