When I was a child I loved to draw and paint. Back then my parents did not encourage to pursue this, because, you know the story of the starving artist. Post your drawings, sketches, paintings. I will start, I drew this with charcoal as gift to my wife.

When I turned 18, I was faced with the sophisticated choice every American teenager is meant to make with extreme clairvoyance and levelheadedness. Go to college or Go to work In the contemporary professional climate, both choices are laden with their own respective risk. Over-qualification seems to be a phenomenon in the developed world, while higher education offers unparalleled social & educational development, it continues to be framed as the “safe bet” in the prevailing narrative. Influenced by my father's "get up & go" old school American bootstrap values, I decided take the road less traveled and get to work. I moved around the continental US for a while, exploring different career paths trying to find my place. I held a couple different jobs, I was: - a bouncer at a famous Jersey Shore nightclub - a Los Angeles mailroom clerk - a roadie for a Hasidic DJ for weddings in Brooklyn - a hillbilly carpenter - an assembly-line worker in a solar panel factory But after a while, I eventually got my "big break." At 21, I was hired as a junior project manager for a residential construction company in the upscale neighborhood of Rumson, NJ. I was making what felt like serious money at the time: $16.50 an hour. Very quickly in my new position, I realized that I had a lot to learn. I had some experience with woodwork & light electrical, but I was employed by a general contractor. I needed to know a little of everything to communicate between subs, keep track of projects, and be a point of contact for the homeowner. I had no particular edge, so I got to looking. I began to realize that (at least within the northern Jersey shore area) different cultures occupied different trades in the construction industry. It tended to loosely follow this structure: - Millwork & Finishing: Eastern European (Slavs, Poles, Slovaks) - Framing, Gypsum, & Roofing: Latinos (Mexicans, Guatemalans, Salvadorians) - Flooring: Brazilians - Masonry: European Portugueses - HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, & Insulation: Americans

Here's a new category to connect with other real estate entrepreneurs that share your interests! Think of it like a virtual "water cooler" to talk about any off-topic hobbies or activities you enjoy outside of making money. Personally, I haven't played a gig since 2024 (and that was the first in many, many years!) but I had a chance to join my friend's band for some Christmas songs this weekend in front of 2,500+ people! Connect with me on Linkedin to see how rusty I was! linkedin.com/in/roberthytha And comment below if you're a musician!

Lessons from Nobel Prize Winner Marie Curie I like history and this popped up in my online feed this morning. I thought it was interesting and that these snippets from the article were pertinent to our group. Marie Curie once said: “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” What did she mean by that we are gifted for something? When she later urged people to "believe that we are gifted for something," she was talking about the years of research conducted under harsh conditions, with limited resources, and with a level of dedication many described as almost superhuman. Marie Curie’s achievements remain unmatched. She became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person ever to win two Nobel Prizes, and the only individual to earn Nobel honors in two different scientific fields. And that’s exactly what her iconic quote leaves us with today: it's a cue that difficulties don’t define us. What defines us is the confidence to keep moving toward the thing we’re meant to accomplish, just as she did. If you want a quick break from investing, you can find out more about her life and struggles: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/quote-of-the-day-by-marie-curie-life-is-not-easy-for-any-of-us-but-we-must-have-/articleshow/125782343.cms