KISS :: keep it simple...

A couple of years ago, when Jack was still a toddler, I re-learned a valuable lesson about how to communicate über important ideas. Clearly. Directly. Simply.

I was feeling overwhelmed with happiness about being Jack's Papa [you know, the usual], and I said to him very emphatically, "Jack, I could NOT love you more."

He looked sad. I was surprised. "What's wrong, buddy?!"

"You said you you didn't love me..."

WHOA! I can't really be sure that my copious amount of explaining and reiterating the message in more simple, audience-appropriate verbiage ever truly reversed the initial impact of that original interpretation. An expensive lesson indeed.

You may have noticed how the design and presentation of my company's identity strives to be concise. I sorely hope you do, anyway. We put a lot of thought and concern into it. We want our flyers to present the meaty details in an aesthetically pleasing way, for example. We hope the website is easy to navigate. We like our business cards to feature the info most important to you in a way that makes you want to see it more than once. These are all very deliberate ideas.

Of course, we are a work in progress. Professionally and personally. The road to improvement is winding and long with no opportunity to simplify that I'm aware of. Drop me a line if you find a shortcut.

First Things First

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."

Mahatma Gandhi

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

Barack Obama

"Inspire yourself and others will be inspired. Motivate yourself and others will be motivated. Develop yourself and others will start to develop themselves. Be an example first and then the world changes around you."

Author Unknown

Professional Past, Present + Future

I own a growing Residential Real Estate company here in Austin. In addition to being both the top producing REALTOR and managing broker, my main focus is on strategic planning and growth- which includes recruiting and training REALTORS to serve Austin under my broker license but, more importantly, under the STRÜB philosophy and brand. My objective is to transition the company to a sustainable model that will provide a secure foundation from which I can pursue several other interests. Those interests include law school, media production and elected public office. Ultimately, I would like to serve as a US Senator.

At the age of 17, I had what I like to call a moment of clarity while literally digging ditches in the Phoenix summer sun after having dropped out of high school a year earlier. My life was not on the trajectory that I had imagined as a child. Education would lead me back. For the next 10 years, I would work full time while battling to earn my college degree via community college and ultimately the University of Texas at Austin. At the pinnacle of that struggle, I found myself juggling two full time jobs (including REALTOR), 15 hours at UT, an infant son and my 80 year old home in a state of extreme DIY renovation.

This drive and ambition can be recognized in earlier stages of my professional development. Whatever I was given to do, I did it with creativity and zeal. When hired as a retail clerk, I achieved my way to Senior Management. When hired as an insurance administrator, I climbed my way to Business Analyst. When awakened to the possibilities of a career in real estate during the process of buying my first home, I knew that I had tapped into something special- a place where I could thrive and create my own destiny while helping others realize theirs.

Today, I shape the real estate community in Austin by setting a high bar for myself and my über agents. These standards contribute to a noticeably different real estate transaction compared to what many have expected, feared or experienced before. These values are the primary factor in my firm’s ability to post fiscal gains even during this current downturn, and I believe this service first philosophy will gain critical mass and become the pervading culture for the way real estate gets done in Austin.