I grew up in rural North East Ohio near the city of Youngstown.  A place that is the definition of a “rust belt” city. A once-booming steel town that relied on a few very specific industries to sustain its thriving economy and ultimately paid the price for that gamble.  Although I was not born to witness the cities downturn, I grew up in the aftermath. Seeing such a desperate and mismanaged economy through my formative years, one may think it would discourage a business mindset, for me personally however it motivated me.  It motivated me to stand up and make a change.

Growing up in a shrinking region with stacking economical and social issues pushed me to dream big and “get out”.  It is no surprise from a young age I became enthralled with aviation and dreamed of one day being a pilot and exploring the world.  I started hanging around the airport at a young age soaking up everything aviation related I could get my hands on. I spent years mowing lawns, working at a grocery store, taking care of a golf course, and washing countless airplanes all while spending every dime on flying lessons.  I ended up earning my private pilots license my senior year of high school and it was a day I will never forget.

I did forget to mention a job on that list that ended up being incredibly impactful on my future.  From a young age, I had always enjoyed getting my hand on a camera. Years of taking photos had given me an eye for composition whether I knew it or not.  I was also fortunate enough to enter high school at a time our school system was experimenting with additional technology programs and I had signed up for everyone I could take.  Through this process, I learned web design, I started volunteering to make websites for some friends companies and before I knew it my phone was ringing off the hook with web design requests via word of mouth.  This was my first true taste of entrepreneurship. I quickly realized I was not passionate about designing web pages however it did allow me to start utilizing my photography skills in a professional manner as most of my clients hired me to take photos for their new websites and marketing materials.  

This segment of my life not only helped me fund my pilot’s license but also taught me many lessons in being self-employed.  As I completed high school, feeling on top of the world with my ink still drying on my pilot’s license, I decided to pursue a career in aviation.  After graduation I attended Pan Am International Flight Academy where I earned my Commercial Pilots License. In the aviation world its pretty standard that one must put some serious time into either flight instructing or other not so pleasant flying jobs before you have the time required to get on with an airline or other decent paying flying job.  I had an opportunity to help manage an airport and flight school in combination with spending half my days flying charter flights and scenic rides. I jumped on it as it still offered me enough flexibility to run my own business.

The next two years were spent flying daily, handling the operations of the airport, and growing my personal business.  As new flying opportunities opened up I found myself shaping my aviation career around its impact on my personal business.  After turning down a few full time flying positions due to the schedule not allowing me to carry on my business, I couldn’t ignore that my true focus was on growing my personal business.  My love for aviation was still there however after having a taste for entrepreneurship I knew I wanted to grow my own business and the thought of flying for a career started to feel more and more like my talents were not being used and I was settling for a glorified bus driver position.  No offense to all of my pilots out there, however, I knew personally I could not just settle for going to work and collecting a check, the challenge of being self-employed truly drove me.

After coming to this realization I made the decision to go back to college for a second round and earn a BFA in photography.  I was devoted to honing my skills in photography and graphic design to better serve my clients in the future. My years spent working on this degree in combination with my personal business obviously limited my time flying.  Desperate to stay in the air, I started offering aerial photography as part of my services. What started as a means to get some air time turned into my primary business. Before I knew it I was in the air every week shooting sites throughout OH and PA.  I loved it, however, the more technical side of the shooting left me itching for some more creative marketing jobs.

My final semester of college I stumbled upon an article documenting the photographic adventures of a young couple who started a business named Hage Photo.  As a lover of the outdoors, I found it incredibly inspirational that they created an entire business out of documenting outdoor gear for major brands while going out and exploring the wilderness.  A light bulb went off, what if I could make a career out of taking photos while flying and having fun outside, what an idea! I immediately got to work creating a separate brand to focus on this very thing.  Once again it was proven to me that you can be successful at almost anything if you are truly passionate about it.

Through the remainder of college, I made a name for myself in the professional Kayaking world.  I traveled to as many events as possible and secured exclusive photographer gigs for many of these.  Upon graduation, I had a business plan in place to serve the commercial photography market in the two niches of real estate and the outdoor industry.  Rewind back to my intro on growing up in the Rust Belt…. It was clear this region was not the best economic climate to grow a business in. The only thing more brutal than the lack of business opportunity was the winters which I had long ago decided I wanted to escape.  

In my outdoor travels, there was a single place that stood out far beyond the others, Asheville North Carolina.  This was truly the first place I had ever traveled that felt like home immediately. It had everything I was looking for, a thriving outdoor community all while being a small city of considerable growth and opportunity.  For me, it was the perfect balance of personal lifestyle and business opportunity. A few short weeks after graduating I hit the road to start my business from scratch in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina.

I got here and hit the ground running.  Within a few weeks, I had numerous photo shoots lined up and had the confidence I made the right decision.  I quickly made a name for myself with many large commercial brokerage firms and developers throughout the Eastern United States for my aerial and property imagery to assist in their marketing.  Over the coming years, I got to experience and see things from a perspective most could probably never imagine. It was an amazing time in my life that will always hold a number of special memories.  As we all know, with age comes a change in desire of lifestyle types. Three hard points hit me in my late 20’s; the constant traveling was starting to go from exciting to something I dreaded, my business grew as far as I felt it could without adding additional people on or traveling even more, and lastly the fact that I had a new desire formed through this experience.  A desire to have a bigger part in many of these real estate deals I had worked so hard to help market. I was fortunate that many of my developer and broker clients gave me a glimpse into the inner workings of these large deals. This planted a seed that grew through the years and eventually I could no longer ignore it. I decided I wanted to be more than the photographer or graphic designer on these transactions, I wanted to be one of the brokers facilitating these transactions.

So here I am, thirty years old, starting over from scratch once again in pursuit of my dreams.  I dropped everything and signed up for an accelerated broker training school and knocked my license out in two months.  While working through classes I went out and interviewed with nearly every local commercial brokerage firm. I heard everything from “you’re too young for commercial real estate” to “there is your desk, what day do you take your test so you can start?”  One meeting stood out from the rest though. I sat down with the broker in charge from NAI Beverly-Hanks, Dan Whalen. He was the first person out of all of these meetings that I felt gave it to me straight, the positives and the challenges of the industry.  We shaped a course for my career that was not as direct as I had once planned, but realistic and well thought out.

I began my career in residential, an area of real estate that is a bit easier to gain some momentum as a new broker and shorter deal cycles to allow for faster income.  My goal was to start in general brokerage and become an expert in local developments. My long term goal was to develop this reputation and eventually become an onsite broker representing developers.  Sure enough, after six months of hard work, I got a call offering me a full-time position representing the developers of Southcliff, one of the top luxury mountain community in the area.

I spent the next few years assisting CEO’s, Fortune 500 Execs, and many inspirational entreprenuers build their dream homes.  This was an amazing experience and was more than sales, I gained knowledge in everything from land planning to construction. As my knowledge and experience grew, one thing did not change, my drive and motivation to be a part of commercial real estate.  After two years in the development world, I had decided it was time to hash out a firm plan to make my commercial real estate dreams come true.

I worked closely with Dan to create an exit strategy for my current project and transitioned to commercial.  So here I am, growing a business and soaking up every bit of knowledge in this market as I can. My real estate career has been built on two elements, going above and beyond for my clients as if I was their business partner personally invested, and approaching everything I do from a value perspective.  What I mean by that is I have found one of the worst things you can do in a career of any kind is to be working for the paycheck. I aim to give my clients as much value as possible. As a partner in the transaction, my goal is to do anything and everything I can to make the process as painless as possible all while going above and beyond my client’s expectations.  As a lifelong entrepreneur, I know first-hand word of mouth business referrals are always more powerful than any form of paid marketing. My previous marketing firm I owned and operated is a shining example of this, within a few years of being in business I had cut off all marketing funds as my pipeline was full of referral business to the point of not being able to take on any new projects.

Obviously, this is a very brief background of how I got to where I am today in my professional life.  This would have turned into a book if I included the details of my great family back in Ohio, and where do I even begin about my amazing wife Nichole, who is without a doubt my biggest element of support in all things.  I am forever grateful for her.

So reach out, I am always open to grabbing a coffee or lunch and discussing the market or future needs you may have in all things commercial real estate.  I want you to know there is absolutely no pressure when meeting with me. I strive to be your resource for market information and a go-to when needing to kick around ideas.  Call me, email me, stop by the office, anytime. I am always here to support your business.