On the wall behind my desk are hand written 90-day goals of the five people (including mine) when we started Hotel AG in June of 2007. I had just left a very large global real estate company and it was one of the scariest times I have experienced. I had always worked with other people and partners and the idea of starting over on my own was, well, quite daunting. I knew what I was doing with hotels but was very uncertain if I had what it takes to start over.

The hand-written goals from the five people are each about the size of an index card and I have kept them as a daily reminder of how humbling a new beginning can be. My personal goal was two lines, have five listings and two under contract within the next 90 days. That was probably the extent of my vision at the time. I can tell you that the hardest listing I ever got was that first one after we started Hotel AG. It seemed that talking a client into to hiring a startup firm took much more effort than I thought possible. Very few people know what goes into starting a new company but those who do, understand the enormity of the task at hand. I remember thinking that this was my last startup because I simple didn’t have the mental bandwidth to go through it again. ha

God had his hand on our little company, and I don’t say that lightly. He literally had his hand on us, and we would have never made it through that period without his grace. That has now been 12+ years ago and we sold our company to a global real estate firm three years ago which was a move in business, I could not have envisioned when we started in 2007. When you start something new, one day becomes two and two becomes five and the next thing you know its 12+ years later.

Remembering humble beginnings helps you remain grounded because you vividly remember how difficult it was. Therefore, when I retire, those five 90-day hand written goals will go home with me because they are more precious that all the awards and plaques of later years. It was those four people (plus me) that believed we could do it and helped me believe it as well. KT