Geist area around the lake, where most homes are million-dollar homes and where the elite live.
The economy was in bad shape in New Castle, and we had to closed C & R Kitchens. I wanted to keep building homes and really wanted to build homes at Geist and around Indianapolis. So, I headed off to Indy and started contacting builders and introduced myself as a builder and a framer and had a crew. I got lucky and a builder Yeager Homes took a chance on me and I got my first framing job off Fall Creek road at Geist. It was not a Hugh house on the water, but it was close. I had about two weeks to put a crew together. I asked a friend of mine named Richard if he wanted to come work for me framing homes. He had no experience, but I taught him into becoming a good framer and later a supervisor. I rounded a few others and now I had a crew and started framing my first home at Geist. We sold the home on Fairway Drive to get out from under the 18% interest rate and moved into a condo that we bought from my uncle on the west side of New Castle. He was a builder, and trying to sell the condos. I bought a condo that was not finished on the inside for a good price. I trimmed it out, finished it then Peggy, Shelby and I moved in. I commuted to Indianapolis every day to frame houses My daughter Misty (from my first marriage) moved in with us, which eventually created a slightly tense situation. But after eight or nine months she moved out. She was a senior in high school. Her mom had some issues, but at least in the beginning, it was best for her to live with us.
I had also bought a small two-bedroom house in New Castle, on Elliott Drive. I rented it to my parents since the economy was doing so poorly, to help them out. Besides, dad was helping me out with some business, but because of his age he could not do much framing, so he trimmed a few houses in Indianapolis with another man.
In the Fall of 1986, we rented out our condo, which we still owned until recently when the IRS took it because the Government took the 2.5 million dollars from us and did not leave me money to pay the taxes. We rented a three-bedroom home off 86th Street, near Geist and the lake which made it easier to take care of my framing jobs. I framed several homes for Yeager and a few for some other builders.
I was itching to build a complete home, becoming a custom home builder myself, and I had begun drawing up house plans for homes I wanted to build, one evening we went to dinner with Seymour and Betty and my idea was to get a construction loan at a bank to build a house "on spec" But I didn't know if I could get a loan without help, since we had just moved there, and my job at that time was just framing' houses. The five of us one evening went to Red Lobster. Seymour loved playing with Shelby and quizzing her on math and she loved it too. Shelby would always order the most expensive thing on the menu. When our dinner was done and we were having coffee, I got enough nerve to tell Seymour I wanted to build a spec home. I really wanted to become a custom home builder in Indianapolis. I told him I already had the plans and had my eyes on a lot at Geist in a subdivision called Windsong. I told him I was going to try to get a construction loan and may need a co-signer. I asked him if he would co-sigh it for me. He sat there for a minute and the silence was killing me. Then he said that he would not do that, and he was sorry. I did not know what to say, I was hurt.
Then after a couple of tense minutes, he pulled out his checkbook and wrote me a check for $100,000. He said Roger I will be your banker and fund your homes. Wow! I could hardly believe my ears and eyes! It just goes to show you that "If you don't ask for something — you will get nothing! "
The only terms were that he would make $2,000.00 per house, plus interest on the money owed. That was a great partnership, and we built many houses, for many years.
I built custom homes for many years in and around INDY, and Peggy and I lived in a lot of new homes I built. My wife was a great decorator, and when people saw our homes and how beautifully decorated, they were, they wanted to buy them! In 1999 1 also became a mortgage broker. I did this because I could see the "writing on the wall" so to speak, that the building business was on the downward swing again.
Our daughter Shelby no doubt learned her niche' for home decor from her mom (Peggy). Today, Shelby owns a successful interior design center in Carmel, Indiana, about fifteen miles north of Indianapolis called Luxe Home Interiors.
By 2008, home builders and mortgage brokers were nearly all shutting down. The economy was crashing. There were no new homes being built. And since there were no new homes being built, there were no new home mortgages to write! Most of the mortgage lenders such as Countrywide, Washington Mutual, and many others had closed their doors. I decided not to renew my mortgage brokers license since I could not obtain any mortgages anyway. We were in a recession. I retired from both.
I was doing some construction, flipping some houses, and starting a networking company that I called Professional Alliance Board (PAB). I recruited professional members to help businesses in the capacity supplying a Board of directors. Helping business owners with decisions that are important and others may hold them accountable. We also provided speakers, such as Ken Dilger (a Pro Bowl tight—end with the Colt's), and Dave (The King) Wilson, a local celebrity comedian in Indianapolis.
Misty got married and moved to Phoenix with her husband. My daughter Shelby graduated in 2002 from Hamilton Southeastern High School. Shelby is like me, in that she is a great salesperson, and aggressive in the right way. Also, not afraid to take chances, and sometimes she does not always make the right decisions, but she perseveres and comes out on top! She's definitely a daddy's girl. She attended a small interior design college in Chicago. She lived in Wrigleyville the whole four years while there. She lived with a roommate and they lived in three different locations in Wrigleyville and always on the third floor where I had to move her three times caring her stuff up the steep stairs. Well, that is what dads are for. She is still friends with her roommate as of today.
One day we were visiting Shelby, and we were drinking, and we walked by a tattoo parlor and Shelby said dad let us get a tattoo.
I said OK let us do it. She said you go first. I had a business card of my mortgage company called Shelby Financial. So, I used the logo which just said Shelby. My first and only tattoo, of course Shelby chickened out and thought it was hilarious.
Their first apartment was above a Starbucks and just across the street from Wrigley stadium the home of the Chicago Cubs. We went to a lot of pleasant bars and restaurants including Dickta's. Those were the fun times.
Chapter Six
If you do not take a risk, you will go nowhere.
In late 2009, a friend of mine named Doug whom I met while in the mortgage business, was my lender rep. He called me one day and said he had a business opportunity that he would like to discuss with me over breakfast the next morning. I said sure as I am always open to new adventures and making money. The next morning, we met for breakfast. He said that his brother, Brad had a recipe to make synthetic marijuana, and he called K2. He said that this product is legal and gives you the same feeling as the actual thing. He said that I was a good marketer and salesperson and thought I could do really well with this product. I told him I would do some research and get back to him. When I got home researched the product, and I could not find anything about it being illegal.
I called him and said I am in and I think we can do well. I agreed to get some sales going, and I believed it was a good product that would become in high demand. We agreed to a deal, and for his brother to send us some product to begin. His brother was sending us the product in bulk, in bags containing a kilo which is 1.2 pounds. The K2 names were already determined which was Summit, Blonde, Blue, Citron, and a couple of others. Summit was the strongest and Citron was the weakest. The strongest gives you more of a high and of course, is the most expensive. The first product we received from Brad was called K2 Summit" We ordered some aluminum bags, printed some labels, bought a set of digital scales, and, well we were in business! I started working on a marketing plan. At that time, I did not know what the ingredients were, but I had to know. I learned that the
