Day 1: It was the best of times...it was the worst of times.

So, here I am in Atlanta. In the middle of a my boyfriend's dining room, which has been conveniently converted into an office. Four IKEA black glass tables puzzled together in the center of the room with charger chords funneling through the middle. A workspace that can only be described as that of a startup. It's no place for a private life. His two brothers, his cousin who's a local photographer, and his brother's girlfriend share the space with us. It's a residential 4 bedroom mini compound and we're all here to work. 

There's no days off, there's no real sleep. Someone's always dropping by or hanging out. We also have the leftovers from a recording studio in the front room. So, you can only imagine. Yes, it gets loud and we have the occasional local celebrity coming by to record and "chop it up" with us, as they say. 

My boyfriend Mark is a serial entrepreneur and in many ways a kindred spirit. I have to give him major props for pushing the inner champion out of me. "You weren't made for a cubicle." He'd joke. And then, after eight years of dutiful service in the ad agency world of Columbus, Ohio, I took a chance. I finally said, "you're right" and quit. All the blood, sweat, and tears (blah-blah-blah) didn't mean squat when I placed that two-weeks notice in. It took about four hours before they were shopping my position to a replacement. (End Scene)

With a meager savings (and I do mean meager), I set about to help out "the boyfriend" with his new startup, Kingsman Group. Sitting as CMO, my goal's to assist in the development and business growth model from an agency standpoint and bring in new business. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy what I do and I'm good at at it. But I've ended up pretty much where I left off, but this time with a startup. I know, crazy right?!

This led me to reaching down really hard to truly discover what thing(s) make me happy. What thing(s) do I enjoy doing that seem like no work at all. That was two things: acting and real estate. 

Now with the acting, I've had some successes but nothing noteworthy. A McDonald's commercial here and featured extra role on Lifetime movie there. But nothing groundbreaking. I didn't have the time or financial means to truly dedicate myself to "the craft". 

With real estate, I almost became an agent after the most remarkable experience in buying my first home. I was told I truly had a knack for finding great houses and had expensive taste. Or as my mom would say, caviar taste on a value meal budget. God, I love that woman.

So, my true goal has now become the marriage of these two. How can I get them both in the same room? Well, that's what this journey is all about. Using real estate investing to further my passion in the arts. Starting from the bottom. And, real estate made me do it. 

(Kanye shrug)