Passion Fueled

The waves at Assateague Island, Maryland were usually pretty small and almost always crappy even by the standard of my young self. We grew up going there as a family about as far back as I can remember; both of my parents were teachers so summertime was when we got out into the world the most. We would go camping for weeks-on-end every year at the state campground and the sites were just behind the dunes a couple hundred feet from the beach. As with any lengthy trip like that with family, there were highs and lows, but I will say that those experiences shaped me strongly into the person that I am today.

“What on earth, you might ask, does that have to do with being a real estate broker?”

I got my first boggie board when I was 10 and started standing up on it by the time I was 13. I begged my parents for a surfboard, but it wasn’t in the cards until I was a little older. From the very first time that I stood up, I knew that surfing would be my passion for the rest of my life.

Northern Baja, 2021

The night before I caught my first wave, I remember sitting around the campfire with some other teens that were a little further along in their surfing journey. One of them gave me the best advice that I’ve ever received: it is all about positioning and timing. Getting yourself to the right place and being prepared to take action at the right time. Funny how that same notion applies to just about everything in life.

From there I spent a college-summer in the Other Banks of North Carolina and eventually moved to Oregon in my early 20’s. Surfing on the West Coast, especially in cold water, is an entirely different ball game. The learning curve was steep, humbling and I was (am) heavily committed to it. All of these experiences formed the foundation for what grew into long trips to Baja, kiteboarding, foil-surfing and eventually wing-foiling in the Columbia River Gorge. As my kids grew older, I even got back into snowboarding to fill the gaps in the seasons.

What on earth, you might ask, does that have to do with being a real estate broker? My passion for my passions only seems to grow with each year. Just when I think I’ve got one thing figured out, something else comes along to take me back to square one. This constant growth has hardened my mind to be humble and strong in the face of adversity. My real estate business fuels my interests and provides me with a flexible schedule; yes, I work a lot of weekends, but that gives me the latitude to sneak to the coast on a random Tuesday morning when the conditions line up. As such, I am eternally grateful to my clients and career for providing me with these opportunities. This translates into the highest level of service that I can possibly provide. I want all my clients to be the beneficiary of my passions.