MARK LOVETT LLC
PALM BAY, FLORIDA

Recently I had changed schools, from Bullis to Landon, which was more advanced, and as always, I was behind in my studies trying to catch up. Feeling totally overwhelmed, I had reached my breaking point. Whatever I’m doing is not working, I thought. Something’s got to change! Browsing the classified section of Washington Post, I found an $80 month attic room for rent in a house with many interesting characters, took a job as a trainee shoe salesman/stock boy for $3.10 hr, minimum wage at the time, and occasionally had dinner with my father on Sundays. My new found freedom was exhilarating, though I quickly learned that my income provided only peanut butter/ jelly sandwiches, an uncomfortable bed to sleep in, and worries that I was headed down a tough road! First Business My father was an entrepreneur at heart, and given my limited education and skills, he encouraged me to get my own business going. What could I do? I thought I could start a cleaning business, so I solicited my best beer drinking buddy to join me, ran an ad to offering window cleaning services, and American Cleaning Company was born. Before long we had an old work van, and had expanded to offer carpet and floor cleaning. I believe we would have done well if it weren’t for the fact that I was drinking a six pack of beer every night, had no interest in the cleaning business, and my work habits and motivation were severely lacking. Over a six pack of beer one night I remember pondering, what if I dont succeed in the cleaning business? I knew I wasnt giving it my best effort, and the thought of living to the ripe old age of 50 and possibly having to seek employment as a janitor someday sufficiently frightened me into getting out of the business. Of course, the thought of quitting drinking and working hard at growing the business didnt seem to be an option. The idea of learning a skill was appealing. The electrical trade seemed like it would be interesting, offered more prestige than janitorial work, and offered job security! The words I heard, “Learn a trade young man. Nobody can take that away from you! ” was running through my mind, so I filled out an application at WK Trunnell Co and was immediately hired, again, for minimum wage, $3.10 hr, as an electrician’s helper. This was my first experience working with my hands around construction workers and contractors and I liked the blue collar folks and the work. My only problem, and it was a big one, was that I was not a morning person. I was a musician at heart, that played in clubs occasionally on weekends, and struggled to get on an early schedule. After my first six months, I was rewarded with a 10 cent an hour raise, fairly standard for a high school drop-out, beginner, non-union, electrician’s helper in 1973. I’m broke, but at least I’m my employer wants me, and someday I’ll have a valuable skill and my own business. During this time, I was not happy with my work which led me to drink more. I married a lady who loved to drink beer too, as well as take drugs. In a short time, after partnering with Beth, I was a mess, and had hit rock bottom. I sought help for my alcohol and drug use, but she wanted to continue drinking. We had no children, or much keeping us together, so I left, got a divorce. We had been together a total of about two years. At the ripe age of about 24, I was single again, sober, a fairly skilled electrician, but looking for a new career. After looking into the possibility of starting my own electrical business, licensing requirements were 8 years in the trade, and Maryland regulation was stifling. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate my interest in the trade only about 5, and when combined with the stifling regulation and early construction sleep schedule, I found myself looking for a career change. Guitar was my true passion back then. I had been playing since I was eight, and playing guitar and singing on the weekends suited me much better than construction work, so I began focusing on a music career. As half of the Lovett & Moran guitar/singing duo, at one point, we were working 3 to 4 nights a week, even receiving a paid gig in the Virgin Islands working 5 nights a week for a month. As a single young guy with no dependents, I was working a more suitable schedule, doing work I enjoy and making enough money to get by. Although I love making music, I knew that my talent was not exceptional enough to be financially secure, or raise a family. I had no interest in developing the business side of the music business either, and once again, I felt like my career had reached a dead end with no solution in sight. First, I had to take high school algebra again, with no credit, to get up to speed. I spent all my time studying, mostly math, and within a few years I had completed all the computer engineering calculus courses, with a B average. Of course, I was taking other UMD accredited science and business courses at the same time, but came to the conclusion it was taking me too long, at my age (mid 20’s), to get up to speed to complete the computer engineering curriculum within a reasonable time frame, therefore I needed to adjust my career goals once again. I completed my bachelor degree at UMD in business and science, and with my new college degree and new found confidence, decided to pursue commercial real estate. Married, with no children, and keeping my expenses low by living in my mother-in-law’s home, I took a 100% commission, commercial real estate sales job at the Kenneth H Michael Companies. I remember putting on that suit and tie, strapping on that brief case, and initially feeling like an imposter. I felt like an electrician, musician posing as a commercial real estate guy. In any case, I took quite a few real estate courses, passed multiple exams, and partnered with experienced commercial real estate agents, spending all my time cold calling clients and trying to set up meetings. I worked very hard at putting together small deals, to get some income rolling in, and it worked.