President & CEO
House Advantage, LLC (13 years in Nevada)
Type of Business: Loyalty Marketing Solutions | Hails from: Southaven, Mississippi | 13 years with company in Nevada | Based in: Las Vegas, NV
How did you first get into your profession?
My grandfather was a tremendous influence. He invented numerous things as an engineer at IBM. He’s one of the original inventors of the typeface ball on the IBM Selectric typewriter. I knew then I wanted to create things for a living and that technology would be involved.
What is your pet peeve?
People who only want to do the bare minimum and don’t strive to achieve anything exceptional.
What business advice would you give someone just starting in your industry?
The primary reason people never realize their dreams is, they repeatedly talk themselves out of it. My advice is to go and do, learn, take those first steps. The more steps you take, the easier they are, and the more sure-footed you will become.
What do you want your legacy to be?
A philanthropic business owner who has altruistic goals relating to businesses and family. I want to provide the younger generation different opportunities through mentoring and employment at our various companies. I also want to continue my on-going commitment to charitable organizations like Make-A-Wish, Olive Crest and the Project Independence Program.
If you could have coined a single phrase of wisdom, what would it be?
Practice the 90-5-5 rule for success. 90 percent of success comes from planning, 5 percent comes from execution of the plan and 5 percent for mitigation of things that weren’t anticipated. If not followed, you will end up with the 60-60-60 rule – 180 percent more time, effort, sweat, cost and, likely, you are still not successful.
What is a little known fact about yourself?
I worked on the Internet for the Department of Defense before it actually became the Internet. When I left DoD, we were working to improve transfer speeds between the US, Great Britain and Israel.
What is your motto?
Work for passion not for money. If you work for money, you will likely be miserable. If you work for passion, you will be happy and money will follow.
What do you wish you would have learned at the beginning of your career?
Collaboration with smart people was something I wished I learned earlier because it affords you and others the opportunities to learn and grow smarter. Now I hate to approach any solution or project in a singular fashion.