Life has a way of guiding us, whether we are kicking and screaming as we pull against it or pushing forward right alongside it. Thinking back to my early years, one of the most frequent questions I remember being asked was, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” My answer was always the same, I replied with gusto and confidence, “I am going to be a Doctor!”
As I said before, life has a way of guiding us. For me, medicine seemed like a natural choice – I care for people and their well-being, I enjoy the sciences, and I like working with my hands. Throughout my years of schooling, from my wee years as a kindergartner playing with Legos on the floor, to the day I walked across the graduation stage in front of 10,000 people at the University of Central Florida, my story always remained the same – I am going to be a Doctor.
Until… it wasn’t.
It was the summer of 2014, I have just graduated college, I am in the second round of applications for every medical school I applied to. I was one letter of acceptance away from realizing my lifelong dream.
Working to achieve my ultimate goal, I had the opportunity to shadow and befriend a few doctors. It was in these meetings that my paradigm began to shift. The question I always made sure to ask these doctors was, “If you were in my shoes, in this day and age, would you do it again?” Every response more crushing than the one prior, “No” was their answer. With the uncertainty of ObamaCare, the growing trend of hospitals to utilize the cheaper physician assistants in lieu of physicians, and the rising costs of school and insurance it was a risk they said they couldn’t make.
At this point I didn’t know, and still don’t know, if I was kicking and screaming or pushing right alongside Life as it continued to guide me. I decided to abandon my “lifelong dream” and look for other options. This decision was expedited as my now Fiancée was leaving Orlando to head to St. Pete for law school. I decided to follow her with no idea what I was going to do. I quickly realized that I needed to make money and took a job in a wood shop. While I loved working with my hands and learning some great new skills, the money was not there. In order to continue to provide for myself, I sought out a better opportunity. I landed in a property management role for a company that owned and managed over 500,000 sf of commercial property in the Pinellas/Hillsborough County area.
Working at this job gave me my first insight into Commercial Real Estate and how there were constant problems that needed to be solved. I love solving problems, so I really enjoyed bringing that energy to work every day. Plus, I always had an aptitude for business, which is why I think I was able to convince my parents to pay me $3 per load of laundry that I washed and folded as a young teen. In a family of six, that mountain of laundry never really goes away, and I think my parents were a bit stunned when I hit them with their first “bill”. Part of my responsibilities was to be a part of tenant prospect tours when the leasing agents were showing space, in the event there was a question that needed to be answered regarding the property. This is when I got a taste of the sales arm of Commercial Real Estate and I loved it.
The more I met with and helped the agents show space the more I realized I wanted to do that. Luckily for me the leasing team was Commercial Partners Realty and the broker was Scott Clendening, who I have a special relationship with.
After a few conversations and an interview process I was extended an offer to join Dan Quarles and form a new Industrial Real Estate Team. The QA Team was formed, and we haven’t looked back since.