Career Path of a Founder at GreatBuildz

When I first started college, I wanted to study psychology. My family didn't support that, so I chose business administration with a concentration in marketing. I was pretty sure from the beginning that's what I wanted to do.

Marketing is essentially psychology with dollar signs attached. From the start, I was interested in how the mind works, what makes people do things, and what drives buying decisions, particularly from a marketing perspective. That's the path I essentially began with in school.

I've always held jobs, looking for something to do during summers and other times. Even in high school, I had various odd jobs. In college, I made sure to have an internship at least during the summers. For my last two years, I also had internships or jobs during the school year.

My first internship was at a brand new coworking space around 2011 or 2012, when coworking was still a new concept, especially in the suburb where I was working. I was technically employee number three, and I had no idea what I was doing or what marketing really was. It was a funny experience, learning on my own while also learning from them and teaching them things they didn't know.

That experience led me to work for a mobile payments company, similar to Square's payment processing. It was also a startup, and this company had received funding. It was a team of about 10 to 15 people. I lived at the warehouse, which was also the office and the workout space. It was a very different, startup-like experience.

That's where I learned a lot more about direct sales and online marketing. After that, I had a few other internships and jobs. The biggest one during school was for the marketing department of ASI at Cal Poly. I handled promotions and various marketing programs for the rec center and other ASI programs on campus.

I consider that my first official job in marketing. I did it for about 15 to 18 months, working roughly 20 hours a week. I managed marketing campaigns, executed email newsletters, social media campaigns, and did some graphic design, including managing designers. It gave me my first professional experience in what marketing can be.

After graduating, I thought I wanted to work in marketing. However, as I learned more during school, I realized I didn't think I liked marketing. Everyone told me it didn't matter if I liked it; I should start my career in sales. They said sales is a great place to develop essential skills, applicable to sales, marketing, communications, or PR.

I worked at Oracle, a technology company. It was a cool experience, and it's right for many people, but it wasn't right for me. Through that experience, I learned a lot about myself, the kind of work I enjoy, and the type of company I want to work for.

After that, I worked for the Jewish fraternity I was in during college, Alpha Epsilon Pi. I was a traveling consultant for them for two years, traveling mostly by car across the country. I visited different chapters, worked with their leadership, and helped them plan and execute various programs, from fundraising to event planning.

That was a really rewarding experience and my first time having autonomy in a role. I had ownership over my territories, which I got a little bit of at Oracle, but it had too many strict boundaries. At AEPi, I had my territory of 20 schools, and it was entirely up to me what to do, how to do it, and what my priorities were, with only a little oversight.

Without dwelling too long on AEPi, those life experiences led me to look for my next opportunity once I finished. I was considering consulting, diving back into marketing, or maybe sales. My uncle and I started chatting, throwing ideas back and forth. One thing led to another, and within a few months, I moved to Los Angeles. We decided to start our current company, Great Builds.

Great Builds is a home remodeling service that connects homeowners with general contractors. None of this has a direct connection to anything I've done before. However, starting this company has shown me that I do like marketing and sales, as long as it's something I believe in. If it's a business I can get behind, a concept or guiding purpose that aligns with my values, I'm all in.

I wouldn't have been able to do this without the sales experience that taught me what I need in a company. And it wouldn't have been without the consulting experience with the fraternity that helped me realize I like autonomy and having control over what's happening. I feel like everything I can do now at Great Builds is because I've learned from all those other experiences.