Born to a Superbike racer and a psychology major in 1980, I was brought up in a creative, hard-working household. My Pop built and raced motorcycles, my Mom earned her degree, and my twin brother and I played in the woods on our property outside Gainesville, FL. Those 13 acres became affectionately known as "Camp Swampy."
In 1985, we left Camp Swampy to move to Daytona Beach where my Pop opened a real estate company. My parents, brother and I spent weekends gutting abandoned properties, putting roofs on houses and installing vinyl siding. The business grew, as did my brother and I. By 1998 I was off to pursue a BFA in Apparel Design from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design.
My parents' hard work and ingenuity weren't lost on me, nor was the intensity of my education at RISD. I went on to many successful years in leadership with Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs in Miami, Boston and Chicago. But as you can imagine, 15 years of corporate leadership in the big cold north was just about enough. In November 2020, I moved to St. Pete, real estate license in hand, and made some very welcome changes.
50+ real estate transactions later, it turns out the benefits of hard work, integrity and ingenuity transcend career choice. I'm reminded of a story my Pop tells about a motorcycle race in the mid 1970's. He and a buddy Danny signed up for a 24-hour endurance road race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, one typically run with three riders per team. The previous year's winners were two renowned, decorated riders, but the folks at registration would hear nothing of my lesser-known Pop and his buddy racing as a duo. As history recalls, the registrar pushed back on the pair, prompting to Danny ring out "They just don't know who we are!"
Pop and Danny went on to win that race by 12 laps and the story of "They just don't know who we are!" was born. This simple expression represents pride in hard work, a can-do approach and the enterprising spirit it takes to succeed. And when they just don't know who we are, I relish an opportunity to show them.
Chopping wood on a roadtrip "to see snow" in the 1980's, likely after tutorial on leverage and grip.
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