On this day 29 years ago, I started selling hotels. We were financially broke because I had invested in some fast food restaurants that were in a slow downward financial spiral. The group we bought the restaurants from, also owned and sold hotels. I needed to earn money, so I got my real estate licenses and showed up at their office to learn how to sell restaurants. I thought since my work history was in restaurants, I ought to be able to sell some.

I remember I told Bill Hodges that I wanted him to teach me how to sell restaurants and he looked at me and said “I don’t know how to sell restaurants, but I can show you how to sell hotels.” I said ok. Ha. That was it! There was no planning, analysis, studying the market etc. I was broke, and he said he would show me how to sell hotels and that is how I ended up in this business. God has had his hand on me for the past 29 years and I will be forever grateful for that day in Bill’s office because it changed my financial future.

I remember there were four other hotel brokers at the time that worked with Bill. None of them wanted me there because I had no history in hotels, no experience in real estate, no formal education and I stuttered. If you picked out the person with the least likelihood of succeeding in real estate, it would have been me.

The second decision that changed my financial future happened about five days later. For the first four days I would go to their office hoping for a scrap to work on. Absolutely nothing was happening, and I knew I needed to get some people to talk to. On day five, I got in my car and went down I-75 and stopped at 132 hotels and ask to speak to the owner. By the time I got back from that trip, I had some clients to talk to. That year (even though I didn’t start until May) I won the award for the 1990 national rookie of the year and since that beginning, God has had his hand on me.

I heard a smart person say one time that you don’t have to know everything before you begin, you just begin. That is pretty good advice. KT