When I meet fellow entrepreneurs for the first time I love to ask them about the road that led them to their current venture. No two stories are ever alike and the answers are not typically boring. 

One common theme is how all the blocks seem to build on each other. That high school part-time job, the artistic hobby, even the skills someone learned on a farm as a kid — they have a way of boomeranging back to you as an entrepreneur. No job along the way is too small, too insignificant. As entrepreneurs, our knowledge is a collective archive from rich life experiences, training, licenses, and — for some — college degrees.

Pastries and Travel

My winding road took some interesting zigs and zags. I grew up in a small town in Ohio and spent summers traveling abroad with my family for my dad’s job. We were lucky enough to explore parts of China, Mexico, and Australia which created a love for travel in me early.

In my 20s, I went to Johnson & Wales culinary school and studied to be a pastry chef. In those days the school was in Charleston, South Carolina and it truly launched the culinary scene there to the next level (it has since moved to Charlotte).

After working in the food industry there for some time, I was offered a job as a pastry chef at the luxury West Virginia resort The Greenbrier. I still think about some of the pastries we made years later. 

Destination: Wilmington

Around this time, my grandfather got sick and needed our family’s help more and more. That meant trips for me from West Virginia to Hampstead as a caretaker. Eventually, I was in Hampstead full-time. I started working in the food industry in town but felt the call for a career shift. I started work on my business degree at Mount Olive not knowing what exactly my next career move was. But here is what I did know: I loved people and I loved growing up in a small town in Ohio. Home is something I really treasured.

Love Where You Live

Those breadcrumbs alone were enough to take me into real estate. Now with more than a decade of experience, I’ve learned it’s important to not just love where you live, but how you live. From promoting local businesses to revitalizing parts of downtown, my life as a broker in charge is much more than buying and selling but making the Wilmington area a better place.

Being an entrepreneur is about using your many collected skills from over the years (and kitchen jobs) having empathy and understanding for others to create something wonderful. 

Want to learn more? Check out more from Arth Real Estate on business and entrepreneurship here.