The Greatest Business Mentor

The snow started falling a little at a time, covering the extremely dark ground. My mother and I were outside playing in the snow. It was a bit difficult to roll snowballs up with the socks on my tiny hands, but I learned quickly from mommy. I didn’t listen to the advice of dad to put a rock in the snowballs for the kids who teased me because I had a speech impediment, stuttered, labeled as having a learning disability and wore socks on my hands as gloves were too expensive. Mommy taught me to be loving, caring, helpful, considerate, kind, forgiving, generous and keep flashing that smile.

Besides, who cares about being poor or sounding like Porky Pig as I tried to speak, when I had a mom that hugged me and told me she loved me as she let me eat the extra cake batter mix in the bowl while she baked my birthday cake.

Why is my leg vibrating? Then I heard the words “Bennie I’m all done”. I slowly opened my eyes and the snow had turned into gray hair from my beard lying on the black apron draping from my neck as the barber had finished my hair cut. As I looked at my missed call I paid and tipped the barber.

A day dream that whist me away 35 years into the past in 35 minutes. Life is finite, not infinite on this planet. I realize my time for action is now. With each year that passes the clock to my ultimate fate ticks a bit louder. Soon enough my life will be forgotten history and a distant memory.

I now understand clearly it’s important to share and document my experience and hope someone can benefit from the lessons of my failures and successes. It’s so many better writers here with so much experience. So bear with me while I try to participate in the threads.

It was my mother who taught me the most important business lessons in life, although she knew nothing about business. She was a housewife as dad worked several jobs to take care of us. My parents didn’t have much, so they gave my sister and I everything they had, love.

Mommy taught us to treat all people fairly, try to be a blessing to others, stay humble, be honest, have an awesome attitude, keep our heart and spirit beautiful, and smile, the powers in the universe will take care of the rest. Dad thought this code of core values were weakness that would surely get us slaughtered in life. He taught us to be tough and not weak; I sincerely appreciated his love and concern for us.

“Do you know what it is to be meek?” asked mom. “It means weak?” I replied. She replied “No.” and continued, “take two horses, one is tame the other is wild. The tame horse is just as fast, just as powerful, and has the ability to cause just as much havoc, yet you can pet him, you can sit on him, and you can hug him around his neck. “

I now understand to be meek is having power, and attitude under control. Having my temperament, ego and attitude under control has caused the powers in the universe to send many men and women who are much smarter, much wiser than me to teach and coach me along in business. Some have partnered with me.

Everything that I know about Real Estate is the direct result of the kindness, compassion, and generosity of complete strangers’ I have met along this incredible journey. Mommy thanks for that valuable lesson.

Mommy didn’t know anything about ARV X .65 minus repairs equal acquisition price, but she was the woman that taught me how to multiply percentages and decimals by whole numbers, integers and real numbers as I was failing my general math class and labeled as having a learning disability. (Also, big shout out to Quick Books lol.)

To be honest, mommy never negotiated yield spread premium, discount points, 3,2,1 buy downs, acquisition prices, short sales, did bank valuations or negotiated with private money lenders like I have. However, I learned so much about tact, remaining unemotional and being level headed as she often negotiated with the utilities companies payment arrangements so that we would have heat and a place to stay in the winter as dad’s work was slow in the winter at the waterfront. I quietly and secretly listened to mommy talk to the people over the telephone learning many new strange words like strike, garnishment, biweekly, gross income and payment arrangement.

Thinking back, mommy never took a State Contract Law class. She never ratified a contract, or filled out a 22 page State, Rein Or Association approved Purchase Agreement Contract with all the disclaimers, disclosures and addendums while intricately comprehending all 541 lines of Legal Boilerplate language.

Instead, she read the Sunday funny paper and weekly reader comic strips to me even when she wasn’t feeling so good. Mommy introduced bigger and bigger words to me slowly on flash cards made from the flaps of cardboard boxes she encouraged me to always bring home. To my Greatest Business Mentor..... Mommy.

I love both my parents and miss them so much.

Question: Who where your greatest mentors?