Over the years we’ve done a lot in our community and a lot with this business.  We never claimed to be perfect but we learned a lot along the way and we’re willing to share with local businesses, small businesses (SMBs), and women-owned businesses (WBEs).

About Carl:  Not for the purpose of bragging but to give you an idea of who I am and where I’m coming from.

 

While in high school I scored a perfect score in math on the SATs, twice, and I didn’t do badly in verbal skills.  As a junior, my combined total was 1376 and the next year it went up to 1402.

In SAT aptitude tests, I scored in the 99th percentile in nine out of nine types of engineering.  In five of the nine, my percentile was 99+.

I do my own research and documentation for ideas involving intellectual property.  One patent attorney wanted to charge me $15,000 for a patent application until I showed him the Prior Art Search, the description and abstract plus illustrations.  In fifteen minutes, his price went down to $2000.

I’ve taught pro bono classes for Google’s tools (Docs, Sheets, and Slides)

I was Race Director for the Crooked Creek Triathlon from 2002 to 2008.

In 1996, I was foreman for a $10.5M subcontract in San Francisco out of a total project price of $110M.  There are at least three success stories I could tell from that job site alone but I can also say I learned something there.  One of my coworkers told me privately “You need to laugh more” and he was SO right!

I was recognized as a problem solver for many of the companies I worked for.  In one situation, three other journeyman glaziers were unable to come up with a solution.  I figured out how to fix the problem in approximately 45 minutes and applied my solution until lunch time.  After lunch I was ready for a new challenge.  Stories available on request.

During slow years in construction, I earned a real estate license in California.  From 1992-94, I worked in finance to learn that end of the business.  I learned directly from the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac manuals which gave me an edge over my peers.  On one loan, my officer manager (also a loan agent) who had been in the industry for 17 years said “I didn’t know you could do that!”

In 1994 I switched hats and started listing property for sale and representing buyers.  My first listing had been For Sale By Owner (FSBO) for a year before the sellers got serious about getting it sold.  They appreciated my financial background and I coached them in a nearly risk-free strategy of carrying a 10% second mortgage on the property to attract more buyers.  The risk wasn’t extreme for them; their retirement home had already been bought and paid for.  Outcome:  We had five offers in the first five days at a price that ended up $12,500 over the previous asking price.  Bonus:  The sellers had their extra 10% in hand within two years.

Although I am officially a college dropout, I believe it made me a well-rounded person.  I have been a lifelong student and researcher and have outperformed engineers in their own field through my unique God-given problem-solving approach.  As I said before, stories are available on request.