New Beginnings – www.BajaBOSS.com
This has been a week of many relationship endings, both personal and professional. I want to thank all my friends who took the time to write or talk to me with kind words of support and encouragement. This small gesture by so many had a huge impact on my ability to acknowledge these endings and give me the strength to continue on without the desperate need to look back and wonder “what ifs” or have regrets. Your thoughtfulness is very much appreciated and has made a tremendous difference.
These Random Acts of Kindness have made me feel part of a growing community and the reason I call this place home. I am going to share the story of how I came to be here.
In October 2003, I was a successful ReMax Realtor in Victoria and invested in Loreto Bay, never having known David Butterfield or been to Baja California. However, I was so excited about the project that I met David and told him that I would be interested in being part of the team sometime in the future. After talking for an hour, he wanted to hire me and said I needed to meet Jim Grogan.
A small group of realtors, who were also investors, were invited to come to Mexico in November 2003 to write contracts for the first event. Sure, a free weekend… why not! I had no intention of buying or ever living in Mexico. I happened to be sitting at the front of the bus from the Loreto airport to Nopolo and we came to the spot where the road had been washed out from a hurricane a few months back. At that moment, it hit me like a brick wall … I knew this place!
Ever since I was a small child I have had a reoccurring dream of this exact spot. Sometimes I have the dream 3 or 4 times a year, and sometimes I don’t have it for a couple of years, but it is always the same. There are mountains on my right, the ocean on the left and the road is washed out. I am always alone in the car and sometimes attempt to cross through the flood, and sometimes I stop at the edge. I have never reached the other side. When I came to this point in the road, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is where I needed to be.
We went through the weekend having a good time, and my realtor friends got caught up in the excitement and we all bought a house together. I introduced myself to Jim Grogan and gave him my resume, but had no chance to talk to him as we sold 52 homes that weekend and it was absolute madness.
As I was walking through the lobby towards the waiting airport shuttle to leave, Jim came over to me and excitedly said that it was serendipitous that he saw me. He read my resume and I was welcome to come to Scottsdale as soon as I could to join the core team. No position or salary was discussed.
I planned a Christmas trip in 2003 with my daughter, then age 12, to Scottsdale, San Diego, and Loreto, to see if she would be agreeable to moving. I sent her out with the Realtor in Scottsdale with my list of criteria and Carlie basically picked out the house she wanted. We had a wonderful sightseeing Christmas in San Diego, and then spent a few days in Loreto. Carlie was a real trooper and agreed to leave behind her friends and Victoria so that I could pursue this dream.
We returned to Victoria, where I sold my waterfront home, rental properties, filed non residency status in Canada, obtained working visas for the USA, only taking what would fit in my little Mercedes including my daughter, and drove to Scottsdale leaving everything behind us. My friends and family thought I was absolutely insane for leaving a successful career, taking a 50% pay cut, with no assurances or support system. I told them that my decision was not about moving to Scottsdale, nor was it particularly about Loreto Bay Company. I HAD to do this because I knew that it was a stepping stone that would take me to a “better place” metaphorically speaking. Even though at the time I had no idea where or what that may be.
I think I have found that better place, and since this journey began 3 years ago, I have not had the dream again. So now, we start with New Beginnings …
I am pleased to announce my new company Baja BOSS! The website www.BajaBOSS.com includes other Mexican companies that I have with partners and the services that they will provide. The one thing not here is my new brainchild … Nellie’s Tapas Bar which I mentioned last week. This will not be widely advertised and certainly only be known as Naughty Nellie’s to my friends. There are too many drunken fisherman that could get the wrong idea and that’s not the clientele I want to attract.
I have accomplished a lot in the last week, by hiring new people, organizing all the trades and materials, all of whom speak very little English, making headway into permits, licenses and registrations. I am very excited about my team and the opportunities ahead.
My priority will be to have Nellie’s Place B&B Hotel and Tapas Bar up and running by December 2006. This will be The Visitors Center during the holidays and a place where everyone knows your name. I am now taking reservations for Christmas at the regular rates.
Have a look at the website and let me know what you think. Our success is dependent upon your honest feedback and we will continually evolve to exceed your expectations.
See you in Loreto!
Email: Nellie@BajaBoss.com
This has been a week of many relationship endings, both personal and professional. I want to thank all my friends who took the time to write or talk to me with kind words of support and encouragement. This small gesture by so many had a huge impact on my ability to acknowledge these endings and give me the strength to continue on without the desperate need to look back and wonder “what ifs” or have regrets. Your thoughtfulness is very much appreciated and has made a tremendous difference. These Random Acts of Kindness have made me feel part of a growing community and the reason I call this place home. I am going to share the story of how I came to be here.
In October 2003, I was a successful ReMax Realtor in Victoria and invested in Loreto Bay, never having known David Butterfield or been to Baja California. However, I was so excited about the project that I met David and told him that I would be interested in being part of the team sometime in the future. After talking for an hour, he wanted to hire me and said I needed to meet Jim Grogan.
A small group of realtors, who were also investors, were invited to come to Mexico in November 2003 to write contracts for the first event. Sure, a free weekend… why not! I had no intention of buying or ever living in Mexico. I happened to be sitting at the front of the bus from the Loreto airport to Nopolo and we came to the spot where the road had been washed out from a hurricane a few months back. At that moment, it hit me like a brick wall … I knew this place!Ever since I was a small child I have had a reoccurring dream of this exact spot. Sometimes I have the dream 3 or 4 times a year, and sometimes I don’t have it for a couple of years, but it is always the same. There are mountains on my right, the ocean on the left and the road is washed out. I am always alone in the car and sometimes attempt to cross through the flood, and sometimes I stop at the edge. I have never reached the other side. When I came to this point in the road, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is where I needed to be.
We went through the weekend having a good time, and my realtor friends got caught up in the excitement and we all bought a house together. I introduced myself to Jim Grogan and gave him my resume, but had no chance to talk to him as we sold 52 homes that weekend and it was absolute madness. 
As I was walking through the lobby towards the waiting airport shuttle to leave, Jim came over to me and excitedly said that it was serendipitous that he saw me. He read my resume and I was welcome to come to Scottsdale as soon as I could to join the core team. No position or salary was discussed. 
I planned a Christmas trip in 2003 with my daughter, then age 12, to Scottsdale, San Diego, and Loreto, to see if she would be agreeable to moving. I sent her out with the Realtor in Scottsdale with my list of criteria and Carlie basically picked out the house she wanted. We had a wonderful sightseeing Christmas in San Diego, and then spent a few days in Loreto. Carlie was a real trooper and agreed to leave behind her friends and Victoria so that I could pursue this dream. We returned to Victoria, where I sold my waterfront home, rental properties, filed non residency status in Canada, obtained working visas for the USA, only taking what would fit in my little Mercedes including my daughter, and drove to Scottsdale leaving everything behind us. My friends and family thought I was absolutely insane for leaving a successful career, taking a 50% pay cut, with no assurances or support system. I told them that my decision was not about moving to Scottsdale, nor was it particularly about Loreto Bay Company. I HAD to do this because I knew that it was a stepping stone that would take me to a “better place” metaphorically speaking. Even though at the time I had no idea where or what that may be.
I think I have found that better place, and since this journey began 3 years ago, I have not had the dream again. So now, we start with New Beginnings … I am pleased to announce my new company Baja BOSS! The website www.BajaBOSS.com includes other Mexican companies that I have with partners and the services that they will provide. The one thing not here is my new brainchild … Nellie’s Tapas Bar which I mentioned last week. This will not be widely advertised and certainly only be known as Naughty Nellie’s to my friends. There are too many drunken fisherman that could get the wrong idea and that’s not the clientele I want to attract.
I have accomplished a lot in the last week, by hiring new people, organizing all the trades and materials, all of whom speak very little English, making headway into permits, licenses and registrations. I am very excited about my team and the opportunities ahead.
My priority will be to have Nellie’s Place B&B Hotel and Tapas Bar up and running by December 2006. This will be The Visitors Center during the holidays and a place where everyone knows your name. I am now taking reservations for Christmas at the regular rates.
Have a look at the website and let me know what you think. Our success is dependent upon your honest feedback and we will continually evolve to exceed your expectations.
See you in Loreto!
Email: Nellie@BajaBoss.com
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