I’m the son of an engineer and a schoolteacher, raised on a farm in rural Michigan – I know what hard work and real values look like. Couple that with my early career in restaurant management, and a college journey into computer science, biology, and education, and I’ve found myself with a background and attitude towards life that has taken me to places I never imagined as a young boy. Back in my college days I used to think that to add real value in someone’s life I needed to take on the literal role of a teacher like my amazing and dedicated mom. However, I had an epiphany one day – I can change lives simply by being the best version of myself possible, no matter what my profession was.
As fate would have it, during my tenure as a restaurant manager, I had the opportunity to travel to New Jersey for a Tony Robbins event called “Unleash the Power Within”. I literally walked on hot coals and discovered not only that life is what you make it but was given new tools to identify the stories I’d been telling myself about my own life. This led me to try something radical with my team, who was struggling at the time. I decided to emulate Tony’s famous guided mediations. One Sunday morning, before it got too hot, I took the team out to a rocky corner in the middle of Snow Canyon State Park here in Southern Utah. I brought my Bluetooth speaker and took a folded piece of paper from my pocket with Tony’s mediation script, hand-written verbatim from his material.
What happened next was nothing short of miraculous. The mediation was simple enough – closed eyes, hands over your heart. Then a journey of gratitude for all the people in life who have helped mold you into the glorious person you are today. From young to old, for better and worse, we are who we are because of them. And wouldn’t you know it, tears started flowing like an afternoon rain shower. Sharing and hugs and laughter soon followed, and I had discovered one of life’s greatest secrets – to not just be grateful, but to exercise that gratitude!
I knew I needed to share this with more people. So, I went to my mother-in-law’s office to tell her about my amazing breakthrough. She was impressed and intrigued and invited me to open her next sales meeting with my little meditation exercise. And it was at that meeting where I would meet my future. A lender was in attendance and recruited me to the industry.
That was in 2015. I’ve spent the last decade honing my craft to ensure that I can not only deliver an exceptional experience during one of the most critical transactions and transitions of your life, but also to fulfill my own goal of changing lives for the better through homeownership.
