Home: Virginia Beach, VA. Age: 64. Birthplace: Tulsa, OK. Profession: Real estate acquisitions, leasing, property management, asset management, development, financing and dispositions. Organization: Resurgent Realty Trust. Title: Chief Executive Officer. Alma mater: Southern Methodist University, Dallas.
Current project: Private-to-public initiatives via an IPO. Recent professional development: Established Resurgent Realty Trust for real estate acquisitions and M&A activities. Latest contribution to others: Deeply involved in philanthropic activities both personally and professionally. What’s been your big (or biggest) leap? Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust (NASDAQ: WHLR), IPO in November, 2012. Hobbies: Celebrating life, skiing, travel. Recent travel or adventure: Hong Kong; Park City. Additional projects: My partner and I enjoy buying and selling residential real estate. She is very good spatially and we collaborate well on our many projects.
Personality profile: Driven, direct, passionate, loving, caring. Moral compass: My gut; past experiences. How do you define a perfect friendship? One that is based on trust and that exemplifies caring and looking out for one another. How do you define an ideal business relationship? Committed, involved, supportive. What is your greatest joy? My partner, children and grandchildren. What word or phrase do you use far too often? Seriously? Love your guts! It’s your chicken to hatch! What is at the top of your bucket list? Mt. Everest. What is your favorite place or way to spend money? On jewelry and clothing. Being a “clothes horse,” I tend to splurge on shoes, pants and shirts. What perk of getting older do you most enjoy? Solitude, which is not about being alone so much as feeling fulfilled and at peace.
What was your favorite college course? Russian Political Science. What book have you repeatedly read? Tom Grisham novels: A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Pelican Brief. What’s prominently featured on your home or office wall? Pictures of my family. Besides your parents, who has had the greatest influence on your life? Abraham Lincoln; Steve Jobs. What’s the best advice you received growing up? Treat others as you’d like to be treated. What’s the best advice you received in your career? Watch, listen and learn.
What is your big idea?
To grow our business pursuits through aggregation and M&A activities to create a significant real estate company with assets throughout the US and Canada and eventually extending into Puerto Rico.
What change are you working on to effect in your profession or field? To be a better communicator. Communication and transparency are both paramount. What change would you like to see in the world? Peace and harmony. What message do you want to send out into the world? Who makes the most mistakes wins.
Who would you like to spend an evening with, in heaven? My grandmother. As a kid, what did you first want to be when you grew up? President of the United States. After your loved ones, what object would you first save from your burning home? Our three dogs. How would you choose to spend tomorrow, if you knew it was your last day on earth? Traveling with my partner. What day in your life would you choose to re-live? November 19, 2012, the date of my IPO on NASDAQ. What period in your life would you do differently, if you could? Marriage and divorce, both difficult constructs and hard to understand at the time.
Personal mission: Making and leaving the world a better place. Personal motto: Lead, follow or get out of the way. Favorite quote: “I have a dream” (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Desired epitaph: Here rests a man who had many failures, yet accomplished so much. May his soul rest in peace.
