Levi Rodgers was a 21-year-old soldier when he set his thoughts to purchase a double-huge trailer around Fort Bragg – it experienced a hot tub, right after all.
But Gary Langdon, his true estate agent, sat the young soldier down, tore up the deal for the trailer and gave him 30 seconds of advice. He advised him to invest in a fixer upper a minimal more absent — with blue carpet, no less — that eventually set him on a path not only to a prosperous authentic estate vocation, but a chance to enable other servicemen and ladies discover meaningful and valuable get the job done.
“He assisted me make a right conclusion,” claimed Rodgers. “It took me 12 several years to comprehend how that man coached me and it transformed the path of my whole life.
“His 30 seconds of honesty turned items close to.”
Rodgers was not too long ago named the director of Keller Williams Military, a new initiative aimed at furnishing instruments, education and camaraderie to veterans and their family members users. The goal of the nationwide initiative is to assist veterans and their families go after true estate careers and changeover out of armed forces life into the civilian workforce.
In addition, Rodgers explained KW Military will leverage its KW School of True Estate to help veterans and spouse and children members navigate the pre-licensing strategies that are needed to kick off their occupations as real estate brokers.
“It’s a accurate honor and a privilege to announce Levi Rodgers as our director of KW Navy,” mentioned Carl Liebert, CEO of kwx, the holding enterprise of KW. “A embellished veteran and proven genuine estate enterprise chief, Levi has a deep-seated passion for furnishing the optimum stages of client company for energetic, reserve, and veteran military service associates and their households. “Since my 1st interaction with Levi, I have been deeply influenced by his provider, his sacrifice and his commitment to serving navy family members.”
Rodgers, 44, enlisted in the Army in 1996. He retired as a Inexperienced Beret in the 7th Particular Forces Group, serving in South America, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2009, he was serving as the commander of a Special Forces staff in Afghanistan when his car or truck was destroyed by an improvised explosive gadget. He woke up in a medical center mattress in Texas with most of his bones damaged and 3rd-diploma burns around 40% of his body.
“I was really messed up,” he explained. “It was a two-12 months recovery. I missing 3 of my guys that working day, beneath my route. It is a body weight I nonetheless carry to this working day.”
He took a health-related retirement and, like so several retired support men and women of all ages, had no plan originally how to reenter civilian lifetime or come across a civilian profession. He struggled with position purposes and generating new connections. As his discounts declined, Rodgers resolved to promote his residence in North Carolina.
And that advice to skip acquiring a trailer? It compensated off. Rodgers claimed he manufactured a decent amount of money on the sale of the household and, emboldened by his earlier encounters in authentic estate and Langdon’s suggestions, determined to get his agent’s license and start marketing properties.
“You have to choose emotion out and set logic in,” Rodgers claimed. “Gary assisted me do that. And I will without end be grateful.”
That shell out-it-ahead mindset is what he hopes to have into his directorship at KW Armed forces. He claimed that provider members should undertake a attitude for transitioning out of army existence at the commence of their enlistment — not later — so they can start setting up their exit system for a extra knowledgeable and attainable transition into the occupation marketplace.
“My crew at Levi Rodgers Real Estate Team has presently been executing a large amount of this, but definitely not on this scale. Not only do I want to do this, but I truly feel I have an obligation to do this,” Rodgers explained. “I want to modify life. I want to get care of persons and help them win in daily life.”
He has a confirmed track document of achievement. The Levi Rodgers Actual Estate Group in San Antonio, Texas has more than $940 million in annual income volume. And much more than half of his group users are previous armed service or have spouse and children customers in the military.
“The toughest factor our armed forces faces right now is the changeover to civilian everyday living,” Rodgers claimed. “And I have a accountability to give back and assistance. Actual estate changed my existence. It’s improved others’ lives. We have to put together our transitioning assistance members for everyday living right after the uniform.”