Rebuilding

I've recently changed career-paths, moved into a new industry, and it's not been too difficult as most of my skills are transferrable; a different product but the same principles. I've been rather successful and it's been a good change for me...even though it's still a highly pressured and demanding role.

I spent the previous twenty years in the property industry, segments like commercial property sales and residential property development, and again, whilst very demanding, it was rewarding. I operated at a high level and reaped the rewards of building knowledge and understanding and constantly seeking more. I worked for an international real estate company, flew around the place from time to time, wore the right suits, drove the right cars and enjoyed the personal benefits of being good at what I did.

It was around 2012 when I decided to start my own company; I had the right tertiary education and licensing and it seemed a good progressive move, especially considering my existing client-base.

Digging for gold

I'd met a fellow at work around 2010, another commercial real estate agent, who had worked for a time in London and had recently transferred back here to work for the same company I was with, and we hit it off over. We made plans and inside of a few months resigned from the company and my new company began. The chap didn't have the right licensing so I took the legal liability on-board personally, but we were partners in the business. We opened our offices in an affluent city-fringe location and things began to go very well.

My company focused on developing small to medium-sized projects, mainly multi-story apartment buildings, that we would either develop for ourselves or on behalf of cashed-up interstate investors. We would handle the property acquisition, design and construct and the sales to the end-users and charged our clients for all of it. To help keep a healthy cashflow initially during the long lead-times of the projects we did a few commercial building and industrial site sales. Things were going pretty well as my contacts were vast and good news spreads quickly.

But all that glitters isn't gold

I'm not able to go into details for legal reasons however, in short, my business partner felt that all of my money from the business accounts would look better in his account and you can imagine my shock when I looked at my online banking site and realised this. I was at the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the time so there wasn't much I could do, but on returning I called my lawyer. Clearly I'm missing bits out here but I have a legal agreement that precludes me from repeating certain details.

I never spoke to my business partner again, other than through lawyers at $600 p/hour, and have only seen him once since...driving the very model of Aston Martin V8 Vantage I had always wanted to buy. What a fucken asshole.

I lost over a million dollars of funds, my corporate offices and the ability to stop working at the age of fifty two years old (that's my age now) because of his theft and there wasn't much I could do about it legally because I simply had no money to do so; it wasn't a cut and dried case. A long and protracted court battle wasn't something I was able to do financially or emotionally and so I let it go.

Standing up

I've had some incredibly difficult moments in life and that couple of years would rate up there in the top three. I felt...well, I felt like my entire life had been ground down to the nub and that it wasn't recoverable. Of course, that's not my style folks, and I stood the fuck up and started rebuilding.

I registered another company and flew around the country meeting with existing clients...It wasn't easy as I had literally no money for it, but I backed myself, sold a few things including my fucken amazing car, and had face-to-face meetings to save what I could. They all stayed with me despite me being honest with them, explaining what had happened and that I was running my new company from my spare bedroom. They didn't care, they just wanted me and what I did. It was one aspect that helped me rebuild myself as I rebuilt my company; the confidence they showed in me.

Taking steps

I'm not the type of man who lays down, curls into a little ball and hides; I'm the stand the fuck up, take ownership, show responsibility and work hard sort of guy and that's what I did for the ensuing years. Quitting isn't in my make-up; on myself, my goals or on those who deserve the best of me - I stand and fight - and that's what I had to do in this situation and in others in life to be quite frank. I'm not a good enemy to have I suppose as I'm relentless and don't capitulate.

I'll be honest though, there were many, lay-down-curl-into-ball, moments; I was completely fucken broken, but I knew I couldn't stay like that so I did what I did...Stand, take a step, and then another.

The rebuilding phase took a long time. From the financial perspective it was years and emotionally...well I still have moments where I recall the situation and how I felt and it still drives a knife into my heart...but I pull the fucker out and move on.

It was years later when I decided I'd had enough of property and I pivoted to a new industry as I said above. It felt good, I have to say. I'd rebuilt my life, all of it except the stop work at fifty two years old thing, and now I lead a relatively comfortable life. I felt it was the right time to move on though; I had nothing else to prove and after twenty years felt I'd rather go out on a high. I have not regretted it.

I learned many valuable lessons though, just as I did in the professional career I had in my twenties and into my very early thirties before getting into property - it was also a rather full-on and difficult career. Adversity tends to teach good lessons to those who know how to deal with it and, fortunately, I'd learned how to do that over my life; I thank my parents for the initial grounding and my own never quit attitude for the development of those base-skills.

Sure, I wish some of these things never happened, but whilst being incredibly damaging, they have been uplifting also and the lessons I learned have carried forward to be used over and again to this very day. Rebuilding my life and career has, in turn, rebuilt me...or should I say, built me, as I am a work in progress.

Compared to what I have done in the past, my current role seems like a walk in the park although it is an incredibly demanding and fast-paced role. I enjoy it though and get to apply many of the things I've learned in other roles and through life itself. I think it's pretty cool how a person can turn what seems like a catastrophic event into a positive experience and even though that event may cause negative and lasting changes there's also the opposite and it's seeing those lessons, carrying them forward that truly matters.