The History of My Townhome
10 Years in the Making
Prelude:
To truly understand the history of My Townhome we must go back a little farther than My Townhome’s date of incorporation ( February 3rd 2000.) The story begins when I graduated from Hamden-Sydney College in 1998. After graduating I had formulated in my mind that upon graduation I would be thrust into a top job position in my new home Charlotte, North Carolina. Eager to get to work after a joyous extended stay at my alma mater I began to seek out interviews. I inherited a copy of contact manager from my father and began to gather and track a network of individuals who could make hiring decisions. Following a lifelong love of all things advertising I looked first for creative positions. I met with the principles of Charlotte’s finest advertising firms. After a short time I determined that although I had high hopes, a fire in my belly and a love of marketing, a double major in History and French did not qualify me for creative position at these firms.
After being gently eased on my way, I found that this interview process really taught me something. It dawned on me that what I was successful at was getting my foot in the door and presenting a compelling case. Although this did not lead to a job in advertising, it did shed light on what I was destined to do. It was clear, I could utilize my ability to “get the meeting” and present a case and direct this talent toward success in any sales position. My father, the best salesman I know, has been in sales all of his life. In my childhood home, salaries where unheard of and the art of the sale was a thing to be celebrated. Why not change my focus, I began to look for sales positions.
With the Observer by my side, I called on every sales advertisement and job posting I could find. From pagers (was it that long ago) to home insulation, I would knock out double digit interviews 5 days a week and I loved every minute of it. It was after calling through my Alumni list that I was assisted on my path to a career in Real Estate by a local developer Judd McAdams. Judd kindly welcomed me to his home and directed me to Jeff Adams owner at Helen Adams Realty. Jeff took a chance on me and I had a job in real estate within a week. My core focus was representation of multi-family communities. A year later I was offered a position to direct sales in 4 communities developed by Chris Branch, founder of The Boulevard Company, one of Charlotte’s most successful in-fill development companies. Working as an agent in the newly formed Boulevard Sales Group I began to fall in love with every facet of multi-family sales, construction and development. I was like a sponge, drinking in and seeking out knowledge of the market from anyone who had expertise to offer. My office walls were covered with development collateral material. It had always bothered me when a sales agent needed to look up information on his product. I would learn not only my product and my competitions product and I would commit it to memory.
This job in Real Estate was fast becoming a career. In addition my time at these communities sharpened my awareness that there was a lack of focus in the Real Estate sales industry directed toward what was sure to be a large segment of the market, multi-family sales.
While working at The Boulevard Company I was befriended by the CFO John Delaloye…..To Be Continued… The Creation of My Townhome
Written by T.J. Larsen, Founder My Townhome Realty
Tune in Next Month for Part 2 of this multi part series … The Creation of My Townhome
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