Like a lot of us, at eighteen years old, I thought I had it all figured out. Having found a book on real estate principles at a garage sale, I was ready to dive right in after graduating high school. My mother, however, had other ideas. She encouraged me to attend college and learn to put my talents to use helping others. And, well, you have to listen to momma.

I initially leaned towards a major in engineering, but having a broad array of interests, I wasn’t dead set on anything until speaking to the head of the English department. He explained to me the wide reach of the English program, and how that field of study helps you learn to analyze any kind of information—even contract analysis for law school. This attracted me. I wanted that caliber of communication. Later on, it would serve me well in contracts, negotiations, and working with real estate clients. But right out of college, I had a different calling.

After graduating from Humboldt State University, I became an English teacher. For the first four years, I worked in a community school classroom with twenty of the most hardened kids in town. It was my goal to help them, to identify with their struggles, and to be a good mentor. It wasn’t easy. Oftentimes, the kids in that school were nearly homeless. Their lives were very difficult, and they simply weren’t happy. As I spent time with these students, I started to see something I could do.

Many of my students didn’t have a good support system. That was the key. I started an after-school program centered around organic gardening. With the aid of other volunteers, I taught the kids not only how to grow food, but how to cook it. We did more than instill practical skills: we made sure to be there for them—to provide listening ears and answers to their questions about life. And we taught them to give back to others, too. I will never forget the joy they had when taking the food that they themselves had grown and giving it to people at the homeless shelter. Their behavior improved both in and out of the classroom, and I found such great fulfillment in helping those kids to change their lives.

Later on, I found myself in a new situation, going from 20 students to 120 in a mainstream classroom. These students had different challenges, were performing poorly because they were so demotivated. It wasn’t that they couldn’t succeed; it was that they didn’t care to. One of the biggest reasons they didn’t care was that they’d never had a teacher who was invested. They expected the same from me. What they got instead was a teacher who put his blood, sweat, and tears into them, working 70 hour weeks and writing more on their papers than they had written themselves. It opened their eyes: when they saw how much I cared about them, they did the work for me that they had never done for another teacher. In just one year, they went from the 15^th percentile to the 85^th on statewide tests. It was an awesome thing. My students loved me and I loved them, but the sad reality is that there wasn’t much reward besides intrinsic satisfaction, and I couldn’t support a family on intrinsic satisfaction!

I count myself lucky to have had the opportunity to work with those kids, but I knew I needed to move on. I was out of gas. I had a newborn son, and I just needed a brief pause. I decided to start my own business for the first time. I knew it wouldn’t be forever, but it would serve my family well. After my college graduation, I had traveled to India, where I discovered and fallen in love with chai tea. When produced authentically, chai has some amazing health benefits; and I’ve always placed a high value on fair trade and natural, organic products. With that inspiration (and some money we had set aside from a real estate sale!) I founded SLO Chai. It was a brand new way for me to make life better for my family and connect with our community.

That was supposed to be a short stint, but it energized us for almost eight years! Then fate would intervene again. I spent three days in the hospital with a life-threatening infection from a surfing accident. That experience truly opened my eyes to the miracle of medicine, and after I sold SLO Chai, it seemed like a great next step for me. I started taking prerequisite classes with the intent to become a physician’s assistant, and soon found myself an internship at a sports therapy clinic.

During these few years, I began spending many hours helping in my community. I coached baseball and basketball, and even spent two years as President of Central Coast Little League. This time was so inspiring to me that I wrote a book for kids, titled A Youngster's Guidebook of How to Play Baseball!

At the time, my sights were still set on med school, and with my GPA, I was shooting for Stanford. Still unsure of how to pay for it, I had a fateful conversation with my friend Carly, who told me about a real estate deal she was getting into. My heart started to jump out of my chest as I recalled that distant passion, and I felt an intense need to move forward!

It had been over twenty years since my teenage self had first read that real estate book, and here I was back in the midst of that passion. The more I thought about it, the clearer it was. I was already in paradise living in Cayucos, and my kids were attending a phenomenal school. There was no need to uproot my family so I could attend med school. Instead, I had a new opportunity to share my paradise with others by going into real estate full-time.

With my very last check from SLO Chai, I signed up for real estate classes. After a couple years in the industry, I’ve been able to be the catalyst for people to realize their dreams—their BIG dreams—in a very healthy way. With a strong respect for the environment as well as people, I decided to become Green Designated and print a real estate publication called “Green Homes of the Central Coast”. With my knowledge of resource-efficient measures, I can help clients both to save money on utilities in the short term and to increase their property value in the long term!

I want people to understand that they have choices and to pursue their biggest dreams; and I would love nothing more than to lend my knowledge and experience toward helping you do just that. However, I don’t expect your business simply because of our relationship—I only ask that you interview me and see if I might be the best agent for you.

Buying or selling real estate is often an enormously important transaction, and the representation you receive from your agent can have significant impact on your results. It is important for you to choose the person who will do the best job for you, and who is the right fit for your particular needs. I make it a point to match my clients with homes that are right for their specific lifestyles and desires, and I’ve worked hard as a professional to be able to provide the highest level of service. But I want you to know that if you do not choose me, I will never be upset. But if you do, I promise to work diligently to exceed your expectations.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about me. Whenever you are in need of a real estate agent, I hope you give me the opportunity to help you achieve your dreams.

Sincerely,


Joel Pace
Realtor®
Cell: (805) 703-0778
CalBRE#: 01946105
Email: JoelPaceRE@gmail.com