What valuable life lessons have you learned? To be humble and appreciative. Communication is a skill and the better you are at it the more you learn. It takes a while to learn. I think of who I used to be and I’m not the same. Tough times have shaped me to be who I am.
Traditionally I’m an atheist but I’m a firm believer in treating people the way they should be treated.
What unique experiences or struggles have you had?
When I was younger I had fun traveling around playing music with my friend, Jim. I played guitar, drums, and vocals. But when I was twenty he committed suicide. That was very humbling and changed my life direction. After he died I didn’t want to touch the guitar anymore. I took a break from music.
Then eight years ago my brother’s oldest son passed away at age three and recently another son was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Through everything my family has supported each other. My mom is a rock and I’m very grateful for her.
How is your nephew doing now? He’s doing well considering. He started losing vision before they found out he has Batten disease which causes loss of muscle control. Mentally he is all there and he was able to participate in a clinical trial. There are new genetic manipulations available and we are hopeful for the future.
If you could only have one food for the rest of your life what would it be?
I love Japanese food [especially] sushi.
When did you first have Japanese food? When I was twenty and moved to Boston. I was still involved in music and I dated a girl who suggested trying sushi. I did and never looked back.
What States have you lived in? Michigan,Texas, Massachusetts, and Florida—where I’ve lived for fifteen years.
How did you end up in Florida? When I left Boston I returned to Michigan and stayed with my brother and a friend. My old high school principal was actually our landlord.
Then my girlfriend called from New York and said she was moving to Florida. I decided to go with her.
Where is your wife Rivka from? She’s from Long Island, New York. Her parents were born in Israel, but her mom was raised in the Philippines.
How long did you and Rivka date before getting married? Twelve years.
Do you have any children? We have a one-year-old son and five-year-old daughter.
Have you ever been to Israel? We went two summers ago to a family wedding. But we didn’t get to tour as much as we wanted.
Did anything surprise you about Israel? Rivka and I had different upbringings—she came from a strict Jewish family and I was raised Catholic. I expected a very religious presence there. When we arrived in Televeev there was a large gay pride parade. It was like being in Miami!
Do you raise your children with any religious traditions? We aren’t religious but we celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah. We want our daughter and son to figure [their beliefs] out themselves. My daughter’s preschool is a mixed community and has Jewish-style prayers. My wife wanted her to know some traditions.
What was your last moment of bliss? When Oscar was born.
Do you have any secret obsessions? I have none. I’m very open. It’s not good to bottle stuff up.
Are peoples’ first impressions of you accurate? I’ve often thought of this myself— what I think people think of me VS. what they actually think of me. I like to believe they know I’m caring.
Sometimes people clash but they’re on a different plane then I am. I try to be genuine. Like the Ten Commandments are basic rules for society, follow those and you’ll be alright.
How do friends describe you? Genuine and loud.
What is a unique experience you have had? We went to Thailand for our honeymoon and were passing through Tokyo. We only had one night there. I told the concierge that I wanted the best sushi Tokyo had to offer and she asked, ‘How much do you want to spend?’
When I told her around $500 she said I was looking at $1200 for the best. But she recommended a place within our budget.
In Tokyo you rent a space and get a table for an hour. Whatever the chef serves is what you get. At the restaurant there was a big long bar with a couple of tables. There were only twelve or fifteen people there and the people at the bar were having a party. One of the guys from the party started talking to us in English. We said we were on honeymoon. He told another guy who knew the chef.
The chef started sending really fancy and amazing things to our table and the guy told us that he’d pay for everything—a $500 dinner! Then we took us out and showed us Tokyo. I had the most amazing experience.
Who is your hero? Hero is such a strong word. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. I don’t necessarily look at them as a hero...I guess I have a hero for different things. If I had to choose, it would be my parents. They have always taught me to take the bigger road and that there is no time for revenge. They taught us on what is important.
What have you learned this week? How vulnerable we are on the planet.
What was your first job and what do you do now? I had steady gigs playing music at a steakhouse and in hotel lounges in Texas. I also played for weddings and in country clubs. But then I went to Boston for the Berklee College of Music Program. It's a different area than Texas. There are so many college kids playing and they pay for free. I wasn’t able to make money as a musician anymore so I got a real job for Newbury comics.
Now I’m in real estate. I’ve been growing my own business since 2006.
For a while I didn’t have the income I wanted. Then five years ago I was able to start it full time.
Do you like your work? I like what I do and like spending time with my family. I set my own hours. I can do marketing at night, calls when the kids are in school, and take a break in the middle of the day to pick them up. I have flexibility. It feels good to help people out.
But some of the jobs feel insignificant and I feel like there is a higher purpose for me. Realty is my vessel to get me to my destination. I want to be more involved(for example in charities focused on people with diseases).
I admire my dad who is very involved with environmental things. Mega farms in Hillsdale county started polluting lakes and water in the late 90s and it wasn’t regulated. He took photos and sent them to the EPA and has had regulations put in place for his efforts. I want to contribute like that to a larger part of society.
What’s your passion? I love video editing, music, and food.
I never want to be a chef but I love to cook.
The better I got with music the more difficult it got to share my passion with friends. It’s hard to share when someone isn’t as passionate as you are. But everyone likes food, so your audience is bigger. My wife cooks very well too and my daughter already knows how to make eggs.
What skill would you like to develop? Reading.
What’s your superpower? I adapt well to my environment. I have friends from everywhere—a melting pot of friends. I love different cultures and that’s one thing that has taken me far in life.
What was the last time people surprised me? That people still support the **** in the White House.
What’s your favorite scent? Campfire. We had a wood fireplace at home and I had campfires going all summer as a teen. A few years ago my wife even got me some smoke-scented shampoo!
What do you get complimented on the most? My smile.
What’s your biggest fear? Losing another loved one.
What fear have you overcome? Stage fright. In Texas at 2 p.m., I had to do sound-checks for our gigs we had that evening. People were in the restaurant having lunch and it was uncomfortable.
Now I’m pretty comfortable in front of a crowd.
You seemed very outgoing growing up, one may be surprised that you got stage fright. Why do you think that was ? I was comfortable in Waldron because I had known everyone there for so long.
When was the last time you sang out loud? This morning. My daughter and I sang Queen.
What is one thing most people don’t know about you?I built all the music sets for the movie Rock of Ages in 2011.
What is your greatest achievement? Learning to critique myself and accepting it. Looking at myself from an outside perspective. Most people don’t do things with malicious intentions but you look back and say I could have handled this better. I try to do better.
