Michelle Micalizzi, Artist
All Rights Reserved
ORIGINAL WORK – SOLD | RETAIL Available Soon!
10% of the proceeds from the sale of this work benefits The Arizona Consortium for the Arts
My muse this week is Andrew Bloom. Andrew is a senior partner and owner of BVO Luxury Group.
WHY ANDREW QUALIFIES TO BE ONE OF THE 2015 FEARLESS THIRTEEN.
I first met Andrew in 2010, a year after I moved to Arizona, through the former North Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce. Andrew was a founding member of the Chamber that has since merged with the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce.
Andrew has a strong personality and he is the quintessential networker who speaks his mind. When he is at an event you cannot miss him nor do you want to. I have been to many fundraisers at “La Casa de Bloom” where over 2000 people show up amid a festive environment that can include lizards in pink harnesses and inflatable Super Bowl field graphics as lawn ornaments. It is a sight to be seen. He and his gracious wife Babs are the consummate hosts. Yes, Andrew is outlandish and that is part of the reason he qualifies to be one of the Fearless 13 but not the only reason.
The obvious reason Andrew is one of the Fearless 13 is because he is the number one RE/MAX salesman in the country, which is a huge achievement. He has been with the company for eighteen years, and jokingly said he stays because he does not like change. He has won the prestigious RE/MAX Lifetime Achievement, Circle of Legends, Hall of Fame and Chairman’s awards. He sells more than one hundred homes a year in an area that houses one of the wealthiest zip codes in the country. When he says he sells a lot of real estate, it is simply the truth. A lot of people know this about Andrew as does he. In fact, he will be the first one to tell you that he is good at what he does. He is rightfully confident. His words are backed by the numbers and the rave reviews of countless satisfied customers.
What some people do not know about Andrew is that he comes from humble beginnings. He grew up in a very unhealthy home and was taken from that home when he was eleven years old and put into a Los Angeles orphanage for three years. In fact, he began living on his own at the tender age of fourteen. He dropped out of high school, then got his GED, spent a year in the Israeli Army and ultimately put himself through college at Arizona State University where he received a Masters in Social Work. After graduating from college, he worked for the city of Phoenix as a Housing Advocate. Oddly enough, social work is what lead Andrew to real estate. His transformation is extraordinary. When you are at a party at the Bloom home it is hard to believe amid the kids enjoying pony rides, the giant inflatable games, and the twenty-five table charity poker game that this man literally came from nothing. Yet, it is his truth. Andrew is a completely self-made man who was lucky (and smart enough) to have an exceptional woman supporting him from the very start of his career.
Andrew is a family man. He and his wife Babs will be celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in March of 2016. They have four gorgeous kids that they lovingly adore. You cannot talk to either one of them without hearing about the other and the children. I have had the pleasure of getting to know this family over the years and it has been an honor. When you ask Andrew what his “why” is, he will tell you, his “why” is his wife and children.
The three biggest things that impress me the most about Andrew are:
- How far he has come from where he started.
- His relentless work ethic.
- His unbelievable networking skills.
In a nutshell….
Andrew is a man with a mission and he is a force to be reckoned with. He is at the top of his game in spite of an absolutely devastating recession and real estate crash, and there is no chance of him slowing down anytime soon. I have no doubt that Andrew is in the process of taking his business to a whole new level.
FEARLESS INTERVIEW
Andrew took a few minutes out to answer the five Art of Fearlessly Doing Business Questions. You will be surprised to hear that Andrew came from extremely humble beginnings and he served in the Israeli Army for a year.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM ANDREW ABOUT BEING FEARLESS?
1.) Think Out of the Box
As a young man Andrew saw both an opportunity to serve and to grow at the same time. He was brave enough to propose a solution and to ask for funding. This kind of out-of-the-box thinking is what many entrepreneurs bring to the table. We do not merely abide by mainstream standards and assumptions. We see problems yet do not look the other way. We offer solutions. We implement those solutions. We get stuff done. Andrew started his career this way and he continues to think out-of-the-box by making things happen. He offers solutions to his clients that they may not have been able to find elsewhere or on their own. He finds a new path and he closes the deal.
2.) Take a Leap of Faith
Every one of the Fearless 13 has addressed this idea in their own unique way. There is a time when one has to let go of security and just leap, trusting that the world has good things in store for us. We do our research. We try to prepare ourselves the best we can. Andrew also ultimately had that moment while balancing a baby on each hip and grasping his wife’s hand. He decided to let go of the limited but secure state job and believed that he had what it took to make a leap to potential limitlessness.
I have never had to make this choice with children and a spouse so for me the leap that Andrew took is truly fearless. Most people in that stage of life with family and career responsibilities would hold onto the stable paycheck. Staying within the known and being risk adverse is the norm, but reaching for the “limitless” potential is a life changing choice. Andrew had previous leaps of faith in his life and even as a young boy of fourteen, while taking care of himself, he learned how to jump with all his might and he brings that little boy with him in every transaction he closes.
3.) Create Structure & Be Disciplined
The reality of spending three years in an orphanage would be an unsettling environment for the typical person, however, Andrew recognized that even this situation was an opportunity to grow. He responded well to the disciplined structure of the group home environment. It taught him a valuable lesson that he has always come back to whenever he waivered from best practices or chose to make a bad or unlucky decision. He manages these moments by bringing himself back to center and creating structure so that once again anything is possible. He practices this in his business, within his family life and in his fitness commitments. When he falls off that balance beam of life, he dusts off the chalk marks and gets right back on. This kind of focus is what has enabled him to be a leader in his industry.
4.) Seek to Understand then to be Understood
Social work actually is an excellent foundation for a realtor because buying and selling real estate is all about emotion. What is more dear to a person than their family and the roof over their heads? Most of these roofs involve serious money, which makes exposing your financial situation to the entire process a very vulnerable position to be in for clients. When there is a lot of money on the table, or off the table, there is additional stress. It is clear that Andrew understands the psychology behind selling real estate and that he chooses to make the transaction with a client by understanding where they are coming from. He also applies this philosophy in his personal relationships by acknowledging that a client’s real estate decisions are nothing to take personally. When his friends and associates choose to work with another realtor, he does not allow it to ruin a relationship. He has come to understand that everyone has to do what they feel is best for them and for their families.
5.) Do the Right Thing and the Result will Follow
When I asked Andrew about life’s bumps and challenges, he openly acknowledges that there have been some. However, he does not falter from his core belief that if he keeps pushing forward, takes the right actions and maintains his integrity that eventually the results will follow. He also knows when he feels challenged by learning how to be a good leader that if he keeps at it he will be as good at leading others as he is at closing real estate transactions. He definitively knows that if you keep stringing together good stuff, eventually the payoff is coming.
Andrew is not afraid to be vulnerable and honest with his team about his mistakes or what he can or cannot do. He knows that if you are going to be bold you are going to make mistakes and you are not going to have all the answers. Mistakes are part of the process, they are part of succeeding. He sees no point in hiding them or his shortcomings from others. This is how he dealt with the changes he faced in Arizona during the recession. He just kept chipping away at it. As the saying goes: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!” He does not allow fear to penetrate his confidence.
Andrew’s favorite Hebrew song: Kol ha’olam kulo by Rabbi Chaim Nachim of Breslav says it best:
Rabbi George GittlemanRosh in his sermon Hashanah 5770, The Whole World is a Narrow Bridge, explains that when we are stuck in fear, we are like a deer caught in the headlights. We know we need to act but we stand still. We allow our fear to paralyze us. What he is telling us is that as humans, we are not without fears. However, it is within our power to make decisions to choose to act consciously, in spite of that fear.
Thank you so much Andrew for sharing this song with me. It is the perfect message to end this series with because it encapsulates the theme of the entire Art of Fearlessly Doing Business project. Each interview has spoken about acting confidently despite our fears! What an inspiringly sweet note to end on. Thank you!
To learn more about this beautiful song and concept:
LEARN: Hashanah 5770 – The Whole World is a Narrow Bridge, A sermon by Sermon by Rabbi George GittlemanRosh
LISTEN: YouTube Video
Thank you so much Andrew for taking the time out to be one of the Fearless 13!
Note from the Artist:
ANDREW’S ILLUSTRATION’S STORY:
I am so incredibly touched by this song and the concept of Kol ha’olam kulo and how Andrew has held on to this concept his whole life from the time he served in the Israeli Army as a young man. When I told Andrew just how deeply this story touched me he told me that he was on a bus with Israeli soldiers driving through Jericho in the West Bank when their bus came under fire. He told me “The soldiers on his bus jumped off the bus and began firing M16’s into the darkness. It was crazy. Then they all got back on the bus and started singing Kol Ha Olam Kulo.” The only thing I could paint for Andrew is a bridge. What else would I paint?
Work was shown from December 18, 2015 – January 04, 2016 at {9} The Gallery
Thank you to our 2015 Partners: Peg Quinn | The Arizona Consortium of the Arts | Photos by Elena & Jim | Bradford Jones, Bradford Jones Photography | Jackie Wszalek, Splash Print & Marketing | Dennis Frazier, Cater Phoenix | Tony Medlock, PJ’s Florists
#Fearless #AoFDB #Entrepreneurship #VisualJournalism #Art #OneThing #Artizona #SocialPracticeArt
Entrepreneurs and inspiring stories of all kinds are Fearlessly Deliver’s muse and focus. As an artist, a business woman and a visual journalist Michelle Micalizzi paints with a purpose. The Fearless Art Projects are collaborative social practice art engagements that connect art + business + community.
THE ART OF FEARLESSLY DONG BUSINESS is an unprecedented and unique project celebrates the fearless entrepreneurial spirit by highlighting thirteen unique and fearless business leaders.