The beginning of my career
I grew up in North Carolina. In 1981, I graduated from Appalachian State University. (Yes, this is Division 1-AA school that made history by beating the University of Michigan in football in Ann Arbor. AND 3 Time National Champion Div 1-AA) That summer I moved to St. Louis for my first “real job” out of college working at McDonnell Douglas as an entry-level programmer. I had worked since I was 13 (lawn care, agriculture, bar tender, fast food). But this was my first “career” job. In 1981, jobs were not easy to come by and I was fortunate to get a good job right out of college. I would like to say it was because of my outstanding grades, but that would not be the case. I would like to say it was because I was exceptional at computer programming, but that wouldn’t be true either. No, I got the job because I am a likable kind of guy and I have a positive attitude. I basically let the folks at McDonnell Douglas know that I would do whatever they needed (including sweep floors) to get a job there. They believed in me and I didn’t let them down..
While working at McDonnell Douglas, I learned a lot about what I wanted to do and what I did not want to do. I learned quickly that I did not want to program computers the rest of my life. I decided to go back to school and obtained my MBA. I also obtained my real estate salesperson license and started selling real estate part time. The main reason I got my real estate license was that I wanted to buy my first house. But through my real estate sales experience, I came to realize that I loved sales and marketing and I wanted to make this my career.
When I completed my Master of Business Administration (MBA), I started to look around for marketing and sales opportunities. I applied for a marketing position at McDonnell Douglas. The director liked my ambition. The sales manager didn’t want to hire me. I was turned down. But that didn’t stop me. I tried to get a job as a stockbroker with Edward Jones. I thought this was a sure thing because I had connections there. The man who was in charge of hiring stockbrokers told me I needed full-time sales experience to be qualified. Wow, I was striking out. But I wasn’t going to quit, so I took matters into my own hands.
I decided I was going to have a business of my own. In 1985 I obtained my real estate broker license and in 1986 I set up a corporation and opened Christian Brothers Realty with another agent who was full-time at that point. I was still working at McDonnell Douglas. At that time, I had been promoted to Senior Programmer Analyst. I had 2 full-time jobs. Working at McDonnell Douglas during normal business hours and real estate all the other waking hours. At McDonnell Douglass, I had become frustrated with my current position. I felt limited in my position… “pigeon holed”. I had pitched a couple of ideas to management about potential business models. Needless to say none of them went anywhere. It wasn’t too long before I realized, I would need to take the plunge and leave “the security” of my corporate job and step into the world of the entrepreneur. In 1987, I made the leap of faith. I quit my job at McDonnell Douglas and went full-time as an entrepreneur (aka real estate broker).
What I learned during this time:
- When you are willing to work hard and you really want something, opportunities will appear.
- Goals are good – they give you a target to aim for.
- Don’t let road blocks stop you.
- Don’t let other people shape who you will be.