Jul 23, 2021
In today’s episode, our guest is Jerome Myers. He went from corporate America and now teaches people how to guide themselves towards lives that are of significance by focusing on living a centered life. They create opportunities for APEC performers to connect with each other.
[7:39] Why should we listen to you?
I figured it out. I went to the bottom and I know your story well. You've been there too, but I went to the bottom after being at the top and I realized that they're not so different. It's a matter of how you think about life.
[8:16] How'd you get to the top from wherever you started from?
I went to engineering school, played football for four years in North Carolina, and T state university. Left that and got into engineering and got on the fast track. I felt like my career was on a rocket ship, 2009 happened. And one of my sponsors got Lego from the company. It was like, Oh, well, you're great. Now you're not. And nobody wanted to touch me. And so I sat in that job for like 30 months. Eventually, I had to leave the company went somewhere else, went to another company. The culmination of corporate America was building a $20 million division for a fortune five 50 company. And in that my big reward was laying people off at the end of the year.
[10:31] What was it like choosing a different direction?
It's terrifying. And the craziest part for me is I was going to get that dream off the shelf that I had in college, which was being a multifamily owner and investor. Me and my buddy were sitting on the stoop and we realized the guy that owned the complex was making $700,000 a year. We were like, well, we can figure out how to live off of that. That's not a big deal. We might make 50, 60, 70 as engineers, but if we can do this, then life would be amazing, but we never saw him.
[11:56] The thing about banks is then on the bus in dreams, then invest in proven operators. And so that was terrifying. And I hit him. I was like, I got an MBA, I'm a licensed engineer, I got my contractor's license. I gave him all the credentials. They didn't care.
[13:56] I couldn't explain my value to them. And that was the point where everything changed for me. In the end, we got the deal done and I was able to maneuver my way and become a part of that team and get the first thing done. And then we've been able to go on and do some pretty cool things from an investing perspective and showing other people how to do that.
[15:34] How did that person bring them?
After engineering, I did a ton of project management. And so we were going to have a heavy construction management component to the project because we were spending over half a million dollars on that deal to refurbish it or renovate it. And there wasn't anybody that particularly had that skillset on the team as it was structured. And so he wanted me to come in and participate in that capacity.
[16:27] Getting that first deal, what does that set you up to do?
So the press release comes out. Rising star and enrichment partners with proven operators in the space to renovate Churchill townhomes. And so the phone starts ringing, emails start popping up. It all changed because of the press.
[17:52] How did all that lead to what you do now?
Real estate for me is a sign, a shiny object. A lot of people don't want to work on themselves. For me at my true core, I'm a coach. That's the only thing I really miss about corporate America is being able to pour into the staff. And so being able to work with business owners, entrepreneurs, being able to work with folks who are trying to move to that next level, and mentor, shares my experiences with them as a coach is what's most valuable.
[20:19] I believe that your dreams should be real. And because you guys heard that you're not responsible for it because you can't refute it, you either want that to be true or you know it to be true either way.
[25:17] What promise did God make to the world when he created you?
It doesn't matter where you start doesn't matter what happened along the way. You get to decide what it means for you. And in that you drum go live your life so that everybody sees that as possible for them. That for me is a life well lived, that for me, is somebody listening to this and hearing, Hey, yeah, it is possible for me.
Key Quotes:
[18:51-18:55] “I think things happen twice, once in your mind. And then it manifests in the physical.”
[24:07-24:21] “And what I had to realize is it's never about the things it's about the way that you're able to reach into other people's lives and touch them in a positive way in order to help them come along the way and improve the overall universe.”