Why I Chose Entrepreneurship and Real Estate
I started college right as the AI era was taking off, and I didn't know exactly which part of business I wanted to go into. A lot of my classmates seemed to have it figured out already. Finance, accounting, consulting. I knew I liked business, but I didn't have a clear answer when people asked what I wanted to do with it.
Two things helped me figure it out: the classes I took and the city I was living in.
Taking entrepreneurship courses at the University of Miami showed me a side of business I hadn't really thought about. Instead of learning how to fit into an existing company, I was learning how to build something from nothing. Spotting a problem, coming up with an idea, figuring out who it's for, and making people care about it. That process felt natural to me.
Living in Miami pushed it even further. Miami is a city full of entrepreneurs and opportunities. You meet people who started their own brands, restaurants, and companies, and it starts to feel less like a far-off dream and more like something you could actually do. Being around that energy made me realize I wanted to be an entrepreneur.
What I've gravitated toward is starting a business that solves a problem I deal with, and that a lot of other people deal with too. I've learned that the businesses that last are the ones with real passion behind them. When the founder actually cares about the problem, it shows in everything from the product to the brand to how they treat customers. I want to build something I care about that much.
I've already gotten to practice. In my Marketing for Entrepreneurs class, I built a beverage brand called Bad Habit from scratch, from the name and tagline to the logo, color palette, and label copy. Right now I'm also working as a student consultant for Habits Collegiate, helping a real founder think through marketing and growth for his college apparel line. Working on real problems for a real business has taught me more than any textbook could.
At the same time, real estate has always been part of my life. I grew up in downtown Chicago, surrounded by buildings and constant development. Watching new projects go up was always fascinating to me. You see an empty lot or an old building, and then a few years later something completely new is there, and it changes how the whole area feels. A neighborhood that nobody talked about suddenly becomes the place everyone wants to be. I love watching a vision come to life and change a city's dynamic.
I've also gotten to see real estate up close. For the past two summers, I interned at Latsko Interests, my dad's real estate firm in Chicago. The first summer, I mostly shadowed. I went on property tours and site visits, sat in on tenant meetings and lease discussions, and started to learn how a real estate business actually runs day to day. The second summer, I had a lot more responsibility. I read through leases, emailed tenants to coordinate renewals, walked properties to check on their condition, and built websites for some of his other businesses. Going from watching to actually doing the work showed me how much goes into managing property, and how much of it comes down to communication and relationships.
When I put all of this together, entrepreneurship and real estate don't feel like two separate paths. Real estate is entrepreneurial. Every development starts as someone's idea, and someone has to take the risk to make it real. Both require vision, problem solving, and the ability to work with very different people.
That last part is something I've always had. I grew up with "FITFO" instilled in me from day one: figure it out. When something doesn't go as planned, you don't wait for someone else to fix it. You find a way. I think that mindset is exactly what both entrepreneurship and real estate need.
So that's where I'm headed. I want to build my own businesses and work in real estate. I don't have every step mapped out yet, but I know what I care about, and I know I'm someone who figures it out.
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