Michelle Micalizzi, Artist
All Rights Reserved
ORIGINAL WORK – SOLD | RETAIL Available Soon!
10% of the proceeds from the sale of this work benefited The Arizona Consortium for the Arts
My muse this week is Tres Brooks. Tres owns The Brooks Companies.
WHY TRES QUALIFIES TO BE ONE OF THE 2015 FEARLESS THIRTEEN.
The Brooks Family has been in the land acquisition business since 1969. They have bought and sold over 1,000,000 acres in Arizona, Wyoming and New Mexico. That is an impressive amount of land. Furthermore, he and his company not only survived the real estate down turn from 2008-2013, they have outlived their much of their competition on the other side and continue to get stronger.
The three biggest things that impress me the most about Tres are:
- He is a charismatic maverick.
- He is a survivor.
- He has that wonderful combination of sincerity, generosity, humility and confidence that I see in many wildly successful people that gives me faith that anything is possible.
In a nutshell….
Tres Brooks is the kind of entrepreneur that reinforces that the American Dream is alive and well in our lifetime. The Brooks Company tag line is, “Making Land Ownership Dreams Come True.” A sentient that brings to fruition the goal of any aspiring land owner. Tres continues his Dad’s mission of instilling in prospective buyers that they too can have their very own slice of America. Check out their website www.thebrookscos.com and you will see yourself!
FEARLESS INTERVIEW
Tres took a few minutes out to answer the five Art of Fearlessly Doing Business Questions. You will be surprised to hear that Tres believes that being fearless is actually impossible. He feels that we all have to learn to channel our fear so that we can use fear as a motivator.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM TRES ABOUT BEING FEARLESS?
1.) Failing is Part of Succeeding
Tres learned, at the age of seventeen, when he failed his Real Estate License exam the first time, how not to let failing stop him from achieving his goals. At that early age he learned how to try-try-again. On several occasions during his career, a failure, a backward step, or a bad break was the catalyst for a turning point that enabled Tres to take both himself and his business to the next level. He knows that failing is not something to be avoided; it is actually something to be expected. John Maxwell says it best in his book Failing Forward, “… learn how to confidently look the prospect of failure in the eye and move forward anyway, because in life, the question is not if you will have problems, but how you are going to deal with them. Stop failing backward and start failing forward!” Tres has successfully failed forward in his life by turning fear into a motivator!
2.) No Risk – No Reward
Tres admits that he was afraid to venture out there on his own. He was uncertain about being employed by someone other than the family he knew. Thankfully, his Dad told him it was time for him to work for someone else. It was then that he realized he was ready to take on his own adventure. When he decided to start out on his own he realized that he had the confidence that it was all going to work out in his favor. Tres admits that he was afraid and unsure but then states, “I was more afraid of not trying than failing.”
On several occasions in his career, Tres ventured out to unknown areas where he had no experience. It was then that he decided that the only thing to do was to get over his fear and just jump in with all he had and see what happens because he knew that without risk there could be no reward. There are different types of risk. One of the most common is the fear of losing money. However, for Tres, there was also the fear of failing in his Father’s eyes and the losing his own confidence.
3.) Ride the Storm Out
When Tres’s father kicked him out of the nest he landed him on the path to success. Tres’s dad knew that his son had to find his own legs so that he could know that he was his own man, and that life’s lessons were there to formulate his future. For example when Tres’s first big client tried to duplicate his marketing efforts on their own, Tres immediately recognized the back handed complement and took solace in Charles Caleb Colton’s infamous statement, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
All of this guidance and experience helped Tres move beyond the 2008 -2013 recession. He had the skills and knowledge of how to weather an economic storm. Tres survived by battening down the fiscal hatches, which many of his competitors failed to do. Repeatedly in his career, he learned how to survive, outshine, outlast and outwit his competion, the economy, and his own learning curve. When the sun started to come back in 2013 – Tres and his family company were still standing.
4.) Accept Reality – Monitor and Make Adjustments
Tres is very humble about his current and future fears just as he was about this past fears. He admits there are challenges moving forward. He does not ignore them. He continually monitors risk and makes adjustments. That is how he outlived his competition in the past and that is how he will flip fear on its ear and move forward successfully in the future. He is not foolish enough to think that all of his clients have recovered. He knows that they are still trying to recover from 2008 recession. He also realizes that government regulation is something he has to stay on top of so that he can adjust accordingly to maintain profitability. He does not practice avoidance, he tackles these concerns head on.
5.) Learn to Channel Your Fear
Tres had a Dad who was a self-made man. He started as a gas station attendant and then progressed through his a career establishing a path that landed him at the top of his field in Real Estate as a highly respected, admired and loved man. He did not ask his son to do anything he had not done himself. He tossed him out into the world and forced him to make something of himself just like he had done for himself. Unfortunately, Ben Brooks II (Gentle Ben) died far too soon. However, he left a legacy in his son that has passed onto three beautiful grandchildren. Tres father’s high expectations forced him to learn how to channel his fear. He tells us “Fearlessness is impossible” Tres feels that you have to conquer your fear and use it as a motivator. Misuse of pride can be a counter productive. Pride rightly placed can also be a great motivator. Again and again Tres’ story speaks to how he did not want to disappoint his father and himself. He knew he was afraid and he knew from a very young age that he had to learn to turn that fear into a motivator instead of viewing it as a deal breaker. He had to channel that fear and make it drive him forward instead of making him give up.
Thank you so much Tres for taking the time out to be one of the Fearless 13!
Note from the Artist:
TRES’ ILLUSTRATION’S STORY:
In Tres’ story, his Dad is a big role model and motivator. He also lost his father far too soon due to a tragic accident. I thought about a symbol that would speak to a supportive father who lifted his son up and the piggyback came to mind. Tres and his father shared a passion for riding motorcycles. The tire tracks on the road are not that of a truck or a car. The tire tracks are Tres and his father riding side by side on their Harley’s.
The cowboy hats are indicative of the environment on a ranch. Tres was known for wearing red shirts in the television commercials he did early in his career. Those commercials would become the turning point for his business. The Ranch is one of his ranches near Casper, Wyoming which is ironically named BB Brooks but not because of the Brooks name as I initially thought, this was the name of the ranch when Tres acquired it. Seems like fate to me!
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.