Personal Bets
Small and Medium Businesses are the backbone of America. I interview those that chose to bet on themselves, and America is better because of them.
Personal Bets
Jorge Sevilla: When The FBI Said No And The Bar Said Yes
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One medical test can erase a “sure thing” career plan. Jorge thought he was on track for federal law enforcement until a color vision deficiency ended the process overnight, forcing a hard reset and a new question: now what?
Jorge walks us through the pivot from criminal justice to the LSAT, law school, and early work that blended immigration law with the real mechanics of business building.
We also talk entrepreneurship, because earning a JD is not the same as learning to run a firm. Jorge shares the fear of starting from scratch, how client relationships created his early foundation, and why expanding your services is really about staying curious and continuing to learn. After moving to Ocala and building a practice shaped by the region’s growth and equine economy, he brings it all back to legacy: succession planning, trusts to avoid probate, and planning for incapacity so your family and your company are protected.
ABOUT PERSONAL BETS
Person Bets is a podcast for the people actually running the business, not the investors, not the board, not the consultants on the sideline. Hosted by Chance Sweat, business broker at FitzGibbon Alexander, Inc. and founder of Foundry Leadership.
🔗 Personal Site: chancesweat.com
🔗 Brokerage Site: fitzgibbonalexander.com
🔗 Follow Chance: @itschancesweat
Cold Open And Facial Hair
SPEAKER_02I love that it's like um make sure you get consent. And it's like, hey, Gemini, uh, I'm talking to an attorney. Do you think I wouldn't ask for consent first? Auri, how are you, man?
SPEAKER_00I'm doing well. How about yourself?
SPEAKER_02Good, man. I've um when I was talking to my wife this morning on what my day looked like. I told her I have a podcast and she asked me who with, and I said, uh, probably the guy with the nicest beer in the BBF.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. It's taking some time. It's taking some time. Um, but yeah, you know, I I'm not allowed to cut it off. Uh, I told my wife a couple of times, you know, I think I want to go for a new look. And she's like, please don't, please don't. So I've had it for over actually, my daughter's born in 2018, so I've had it for as long as she's been around.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. I uh I grew this mustache uh right after we had our first son, so about four and a half years ago now.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02And um my wife wishes it would go away, but I'm honestly afraid of what's under here now, man. Like it's been so long, I don't know what I look like without it.
SPEAKER_00I think it looks good. I would I I would like to do something like that. I even told my wife I would do like a little curled up mustache, and she's like, no, just just leave it how it is.
SPEAKER_02I was like, okay.
SPEAKER_00It's a great sales tactic.
SPEAKER_02People always comment on it. But all right, man.
What A Business Attorney Does
SPEAKER_02I so I'll I'll kind of get started here. I want to ask, you're an affiliate of the BBF, Business Brokers of Florida, for those that aren't uh familiar, but you're not a business broker.
SPEAKER_00No, sir. I am not. What so what do you do, man? I'm a business attorney. Well, not just a business attorney. I help uh business owners and families uh make sure that they're able to establish their legacies and protect their legacies. So what I do is I help individuals who are going through uh merger or an acquisition of another business. I make sure that they set up their structure correctly, uh, make sure that they protect themselves from liability, ensure that the proper agreements are in place. So I do all the due diligence uh and work hand in hand with a business broker.
From FBI Dreams To Setback
SPEAKER_02Now, is that what you set out in life to do? Like, was this like your dream job when you were five years old?
SPEAKER_00Well, five years old, I would say at five years old, I would say I wanted to be an astronaut, I believe, at that time. You know, I looked up at the moon, I looked up at the stars. I used to watch a lot of um movies with astronauts, you know, uh the one with Ed Harris, I can't remember the name right now, of the right stuff, Apollo 13, those were my movies. But as I got older, I got really interested in helping people. And at when I went into high school, I had the opportunity to go to a magnet school in Miami called Coral Reef. And the magnet that I was a part of was the Legal and Public Affairs Academy. I don't let that trick you. I was not interested in becoming an attorney at that time. What I wanted to do was the criminal justice part of it. I wanted to be a law enforcement officer, and not just any law enforcement officer, it was a federal law enforcement officer. FBI was my goal uh coming out of high school. So I had an opportunity. Um, I know you asked me when we first set this up to talk about my first job. So I had a small stint at BJ's wholesale club for about 60 days. I didn't even get through the probationary period because I had applied for a job with Homeland Security. A couple days into uh a couple months into the BJ's position, I got called up and I get the opportunity to work for Homeland Security while I'm attending undergrad for a criminal justice degree. So everything's looking really good. I'm I'm in line to what I want to get to. And um, as I'm about to graduate with a bachelor's, I have the opportunity of going through different interview processes with the Department of Homeland Security's Customs Border Protection, uh, DEA, and uh ATF and FBI. So as I'm going through that, it's a very rigorous process. You have to go take various written exams. You also have to keep up with a certain physical regimen where you're responsible every month to submit your report as to how you're doing on a mile and a half run, 200 meter sprint, pull-ups, push-ups, the works. So I'm going through this process. I feel I feel pretty good about it. Still working with Homeland Security, still get an opportunity to see the inner workings of a federal government. So everything's going well.
Colorblind Test Changes Everything
SPEAKER_00Well, as I graduate and I'm finishing up the application process, I have to do a medical. I'm 20-something years old, I feel pretty good. I don't think there's anything wrong. Well, not so much. I end up finding out I have a color vision deficiency. So what it is is there's an Ishihara exam, it has like a little disc with dots inside of different colors. You're supposed to make out the numbers or the shapes that are in this circle.
SPEAKER_02So at first, these are like the ones that are on the back of like a cereal box when you're a kid, like very similar, right? You kind of see the splinter.
SPEAKER_00I mean, a normal person, a person with normal color vision would be able to make that out in five seconds. Well, not so much for me. I end up finding out when the nurse is telling me to follow the line inside the circle, I'm going one way. The actual line is going another. So I have a color vision deficiency. Well, that disqualifies me from moving forward in the application process. And now I'm like, wow, what do I do? You know, I'm I have a bachelor's in criminal justice, which is tailored exactly to the field that I'm looking to go into. And um, I'm fortunate enough that I've been with my wife since high school, since ninth grade.
Pivoting To Law School
SPEAKER_00And I look at her and she tells me, Hey, you know, words are black and white, the law is gray. Why don't you try taking the L set and go to law school? And I'm like, I didn't think of that. So I did that, and long story short, I ended up going to law school, and that's how I became an attorney.
SPEAKER_02Dude, so I gotta ask when you're a kid and you're looking at the back of the tricks box or the lucky charms, you're like, this is just this is just an ugly photo. Like, why would they put this on the serial box?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for me, like I saw the world in a different lens and I had no idea. Maybe every now and then when my when I was in art class, I'd mix up a purple construction paper, a purple color for blue, but I never really I dressed myself. Luckily, I didn't mismatch. And yeah, I've had a color division, uh, color vision deficiency since I was small, and I didn't know.
SPEAKER_02That's wild, man. Um, you know, it's it's kind of um, you know, I've done quite a few of these podcasts already. I know this is only the the this this will be number seven, I think that comes out as we're spacing them out. But so many of the entrepreneurs I've been talking to have this moment where their wives or significant other was like, will you just do this instead? Or will you just stop talking about XYZ and do this? Yeah. So you met your wife in in high school.
SPEAKER_00Yes, we've been together since 2001. Actually, like about a week before 9-11. Um, actually, 9-11 was the first time we actually spoke on the phone. We're both sitting on the phone, watching the horrific events on the news. You know, this is a national, international situation, and we we got we got a relationship. We built a relationship since then, and we've been together since then.
SPEAKER_02Was um was 9-11 one of the things that kind of motivated you to want to go into federal law enforcement, or were you kind of already on the track before then?
SPEAKER_00Um I'm a military brat, so I guess I always had an interest in serving, serving our country. I had thought about going into the service, but I figured you know, law enforcement was a a more direct way of of how I wanted to serve. So maybe 9-11 did have a motivation. Homeland Security was established because of 9-11. Um now there's a bunch of sub-agencies under that. So yeah, I would say potentially it had it had some factor in it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And does your wife work now or what does she do for work?
SPEAKER_00She actually um she was in finance, so she worked for uh Washington Mutual back in the day before they were brought over by Chase. But then I brought her over to uh Homeland Security as well, and she did a stint of about 15 years uh with Homel Security before our before our third child was born. And once she was born, my wife, uh, we all decided that she stay home and help out. And I mean, she's my right hand though. When it comes to my firm and everything I do with my business, she's she's helping me out. So yeah, stay-at home mom, hardest job in the world. Exactly. Stay at home mom, but also my I call her uh my director of operations.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, she keeps everything, all the trains moving, right?
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, oh yeah. I wouldn't be able to do that.
SPEAKER_02So I gotta ask, right, when your your first job at BJ's wholesale, were you like a bagger? Were you collecting shopping carts in the parking lot?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I was like a slash, you know, like a slash everything because I started off as a cashier, but I was always so interested in helping that when you know the tire department needed assistance and moving tires back and forth or there was a shortage of carts, I would raise my hand and I'd be the one out there trying to pick up carts in the middle of the rain. But it was a fun experience. Um, one of the I actually that year we hit we were hit by a number of hurricanes down south. And I mean Katrina came through and it wasn't as bad as you know it built up to be to hit uh New Orleans. But we were out there till, you know, we had tropical storm warnings, and we were out there till about seven. So by the time I left that evening, we had electrical, um, those big uh bucket trucks, FPL bucket trucks, rain was coming down. It was so flooded I couldn't make it back to my mom's house where I was staying. I had to go and stay with my with my wife's family um because it was just so flooded in that area. So there were some fun times, some experiences there at BJ's.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but as soon as you got the call, you're like, I'm out. Like, this isn't this isn't it? Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I went and I spoke to the general manager. Uh, I remember him telling me, Oh, well, I guess you're gonna be one of the guys at the airport. And I'm like, no, not so much. I'm actually gonna be working in an office uh downtown, assisting some officers and doing paperwork and bureaucratic stuff.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So how do you so you take the LSAT, you end up
First Legal Work And Immigration
SPEAKER_02going to law school. Where did you end up going?
SPEAKER_00Actually, um, in Miami, I went to FIU for undergrad, and I decided that I wanted to stay local. I had opportunities to go to Tennessee, but it just didn't make sense for me at the time. Um, being with my my wife, we were engaged and we were planning to to um get married. So I ended up staying at Florida International University. Uh, they had just gotten accredited maybe less than five years before I started there. But you know, I saw a great opportunity with uh up and coming law school, and now they're one of the ones that score the highest on the bar every year. Um the students are always you know excelling at the at the Florida bar. And I know a number of colleagues who have gone to some major positions with the government and open up their own firms as well. So it was local.
SPEAKER_02I decided to stay at a you know, I um kind of a curious question is uh a little more than a decade ago, I opted not to go to med school. And I remember talking to an emergency physician that I was working with, and uh I was like, Does it really matter where you go to med school? And he goes, Chance, do you do you know um what they call the person who finishes last in their med school class? I was like, I don't know. He goes, doctor? Like just it doesn't matter, like go. Um, but I feel like with law school, like I feel like there there's this the connection, there's this um camaraderie, there's the the the network effect, and then of course you want to go to a school that actually helps you pass the bar. Um would you agree with that kind of assessment?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I guess it really would depend on what your overall goal is. I mean, if you're obviously trying to get into to Wall Street or big law and big corporate firms, then yeah, you're gonna shoot for the Ivy League schools, you know, the the big uh the big names. But again, when I was looking at it, I was on the mindset of still trying to get within the government, still becoming a government attorney. So I just wanted to ensure one, that I got my degree, and two that I that I passed the bar.
SPEAKER_02Okay. So you get out of law school, you pass the bar. What's your first job out of law school?
SPEAKER_00Man, you know, it was a little tight. You know, is it right after the the financial crisis? You know, I'm coming out of law school and on literature. Yeah, around 2000. Well, actually, now we're talking about 2012, 2013. Okay, so a little bit later, a little bit later, but I tried it, I tried to, like I said, I wanted to be a government attorney, so I tried to apply for different um state attorney's offices, both in Miami and Orlando, and it just wasn't working out. Fortunately, I had done uh an internship, uh clerkship with the Orlando Immigration Court. At that point in time, I was clerking with the judges, and I had an opportunity that I I really liked one of the judges I worked with, uh Judge Ortiz, and he was able to swear me in. He decided that um, you know, hey, wait a second, I know somebody that I might recommend to you that's actually looking for an attorney because I'm like, I'm ready to just put up my shingle, start working. And he's like, wait, before you go, before you go that route, you know, my wife was pregnant, we were waiting for our second um to be born uh a couple of months later. So he's like, you know, meet with this guy and see see what the opportunity is. So I had an opportunity to work for a small firm that handled immigration matters, the gauntlet of immigration matters, working with Homeland Security. I had that experience, so I kind of was drawn to it. And I got to do a number of cases ranging from you know citizenship, residency, deportation defense to helping investors um open up their businesses and also merge their businesses or um transfer their businesses to the United States, and that's kind of like what I fell in love with. I fell in love with helping individuals who are looking to get into the U.S. markets, grow their businesses, and that's how I got into doing that. And I decided, you know what, at that point, I I want to try to do it for myself. So I opened up my own practice in 2015 and been doing it ever since.
SPEAKER_02Nice man.
SPEAKER_00But you're not in Miami anymore. No, no, I I actually when I left Miami, I was working for a small firm a couple of years in Orlando. Uh they're not too far from downtown. I moved to Okoe, which was a smaller place. When I first moved to Okoe, we didn't have a Publix there. So it's like it was very new to me. It's like, what is this place? You know, I tell my wife, everything's shut down by like nine o'clock, eight o'clock, nine o'clock. I'm used to, you know, places being open, you know, past 12, 24 hours. If I need a cafecito, I would go around the corner and get one. I Okoe was like life-changing or just open eye-opening experience. And um slowly it started getting better, but it was it was a really big shift from Miami to to O'Coe.
SPEAKER_02My wife, whenever we're traveling anywhere, or uh, you know, just last week we were shooting some content for uh a friend's business uh out in Wedgefield. And my wife's question always when we're out there, she goes, Where's the nearest Publix? Like, where do they get their groceries from? Um, and I feel like you know, our business used to be in uh Ovida before we sold it. And, you know, back we saw photos of back when the business was first opened back in the 90s, and it was just, you know, there was a Popeye's and a firehouse across the street, and then the shop the building that our building is our shop is in, and like a church, and that was like it. And like now they're talking about like 1400 apartment units going up and like all this stuff. And it's like two Publix is down the road. And I think that's when you know a town's made it, is like when I was just gonna say that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, once once we got a Publix, you knew that things were were building up. It's a Publix and a Starbucks. They must do some really good market studies because when you when they see the they see it coming, so they start developing right away.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I went through a uh commercial investment uh class thing once, and they said one of the first things that they they look up is you know for Starbucks locations, just Google Maps, Starbucks locations, and that's where you kind of draw your circles and you're like zip codes I'm interested in.
SPEAKER_00Exactly, exactly. So that's what kind of happened is they know what we got the publics eventually, then we got the the Starbucks. So you know, I I I really get it. I see it.
Starting A Firm And Facing Fear
SPEAKER_02So I'm curious because you feel like um I feel like a lot of folks who go into what I call like a terminal degree, right? So like you know, getting your um your uh your JD, right? That's kind of the end of the road, right? There's like there's some other degrees and certifications you can get, but like that's kind of the top. That your your med school degree, you know, your pharmacy degree, like that's a terminal degree. It's kind of the end of the the road, if you will. I feel like a lot of folks that I know that own their own practice, whether law or medical or a dentist, like they got into it for the love of what they were doing. And then once they got out and they realized, oh crap, I also have to be like a business owner as well. You you mentioned there that before you kind of started working with that immigration law firm, uh, when that when that judge kind of you know put you in touch with them, you thought about hanging up your um shingle there. Did you always have kind of this? I know your your your drive was law enforcement forcement, I want to serve, but when did that kind of like spark of like, hey, I want to, I want to own something, I want to build something start to really rise up in you?
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, just after being an attorney for a couple of years, talking to my wife and and just seeing the way that certain things were managed, it's like, well, maybe I could do this for myself. You start believing in yourself, you start having a spark, uh, you know, and and somebody supportive, like my wife, I kind of said, you know what, that's not a bad idea, like to build something. And I I had thought about it, you know, initially when I became an attorney and and talking to the judge. And then I had also mentioned it to my to my prior employer. I had said, you know, maybe one day I do want to have my own practice, you know, I want to manage my own practice and and grow my firm. So it there were there was always something there, and and eventually I just it just took hold and I said, okay, well, let's do it.
SPEAKER_02Was there a moment where you're like, I just can't do this anymore? I need to be my own boss, or was it just kind of like, I gotta give this a shot? Like I I at least have to give it a yeah.
SPEAKER_00I think it was a mix of both. I think it was a mix of both where you you're seeing, you know, working for someone else, you you're building their practice, you're building their dream, but at the same time, you ask yourself, well, is this the same is this where I want to be, you know, five, ten years down the road? What is it? Do I want to build for something for myself or where do I want to be? And that that that's kind of the position and and the crossroads I found myself, you know, before I started my own practice. But you scared? Oh, for sure. I mean, there's always there's always fear. But you know, you you um I have two boys. Uh, you know, I have a son that's in high school, another one that's that's becoming a teenager and he's in middle school. So I tell them that you you know, you have to face your fears. You have to, I try, I'm trying to teach them as as I go, and as I continue to learn, I'm trying to show them that what I've been through, and you have to face your fears. I mean, fears is is a motivating factor, but you got to understand it, and then you got to plan because inaction leads to to no results. So I definitely believe in that.
SPEAKER_02Do either of them want to be attorneys?
SPEAKER_00That's uh that's a possibility. I mean, my son, he's into patterns. Uh he he loves data, he loves finance, he loves the financial aspect of it. So I told him, hey, you know, there may be uh an opportunity for you to become an attorney that handles more of that area, maybe tax law, maybe finances, maybe some something in that's in that realm, and maybe we can continue to grow the business if if that's what you decide to do. So that that that's a potential. I see that as a possibility.
SPEAKER_02I've talked to a few um second generation, even one who's actually technically a fourth generation uh family member working in their business. And it what I've kind of found, and I'm curious, you know, as from a perspective of a dad, would you have like let's say your oldest son's like, yeah, dad, I'm gonna become an attorney, I want to come work in the business. Would you let him, or would you have him go out and do get some experience outside of your firm first?
SPEAKER_00You know, that's an interesting uh point. But I think just like with any other business, um, there's enough work here. I think that he can get it, you know, if if he chooses that he wants to try somewhere else, yeah, yeah, go ahead and try it. But I think here we can continue to build something. It's just like uh any other business that has opened up and the families continue, or generation and generation just continue to learn that and make it better, you know, just with new systems that are coming out, with AI and the technologies we have nowadays. I think that you can get that experience while working for the family business and then also learn these new technologies, learn these new methods that can make the business better and continue to thrive or continue to grow. Um, so I I think it's a possibility that he can do both, or he could just stay on with me if that's what he wants to say.
SPEAKER_02So I want to go back to you mentioned kind of the fear that that comes with owning a business and and doing things. I'm I'm curious, like those first few days, first few months of of hanging up your shingle and doing your own thing. Um, I'm imagining that business probably wasn't just pouring in in the beginning, or maybe it was.
SPEAKER_00No, no, I mean you're right. You know, it did take some time. You know, you're starting from starting from scratch. Uh one of the opportunities that I found myself is that, you know, I had prior clients, and unfortunately, the Florida Bar um indicates or lets people know that the clients are the ones who choose who to go with. So there's really no non-competes when it comes to attorneys. Uh the client has the right to choose. And I I did have some individuals that came with me, and and I think that that's what helped set up the foundation for my business is that word of mouth that people who already had a relationship with me and relationships are very important. Um, that helped grow the business. But yeah, you know, it wasn't we didn't take right off. It it took some time, but I think that that foundation helped set up those building blocks for for me to be able to grow the business.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. How did you manage that fear in the beginning? Was it just I've got this?
SPEAKER_00Like, yeah, I mean, there's some sleepless nights, of course. Um, but you know, you just gotta learn that aspect of it. I had to really delve into how to be a business owner, understand that I've I've I've I myself had helped other individuals set up their businesses here in this country coming from abroad, not knowing either the language or not knowing the processes. So I took that knowledge, I took that that experience and said, okay, well, I have to take those similar steps. You know, yeah, law firm is a different type of business, but it's still a business nonetheless. So I I did take those pro I to take those procedures and processes and applied it to myself. And I have to continue to learn. And just like any other attorney, we have to continue to learn the law. But as a business owner, you still have to educate yourself on how to manage your business and how to be an entrepreneur.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I love that, man. I love that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I feel like there is this.
SPEAKER_02I feel like maybe maybe you're not in this boat, but I feel like after a while, you're like, all right, I feel pretty comfortable. I feel like I'm on the right path. And then, you know, something comes out of nowhere where you're like, well, I've not experienced that before. And then you're you're kind of jumping hurdles. You know, you've had your practice since 2015. So you're going into year 11 now. Do you still have those learning moments?
SPEAKER_00Oh, always, always. You know, that there's always an opportunity to learn something new or to adjust um a method or a practice that you're you're taking place. Um, because as as I was mentioning, you know, when I first started my practice, yeah, a lot of the focus was immigration-based. But now I cover four different areas of law where I'm I'm starting to practice, you know, well, not starting, but I've been practicing in these different areas. And one kind of led to another. As I was helping individuals who are investing into the United States and creating their businesses and shifting their businesses here to the US markets, I I took, I took some time where I was just like, okay, well, if I'm helping individuals or foreign nationals do this, well, why can't I do that for individuals who are already here in the state of Florida, who are either starting up their businesses or acquiring new businesses? So that's where I kind of started bleeding into, okay, well, now I can handle business law. I can handle business formation, structuring a business, restructuring it, or or uh helping individuals go through a merger of purchasing a different entity or different business. So I took that knowledge and I started just growing that into different areas. And I think that, you know, like you said, um, there's always an opportunity to learn or kind of adjust, and that's exactly what I've been doing over the last 10 years.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's awesome, man. Do you ever look back and you're like, man, I can't believe I'm that I'm that I'm a grown-up one, right? It's like, oh, I can't believe I'm a grown-up, right? I'm an attorney. Like, I get I hit that myself all the time. I'm like, I'm a business broker. Like, that's wild. Like, I'm I still think of myself as a little kid, but do you ever think back to like the version of you when you were at BJ's wholesale? And like, could you because that could that kid have ever imagined of what you've built?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I don't think so. I I think that you know, if you would have told me then, it's like, are you sure? Are you talking about the same person? And no, I'm just a completely different person, but that's part of life, right? You grow, you become a dad, you become a a homeowner, a husband, and you're just wearing these different hats, but you're continuing to grow, and you're now using that knowledge to create new things, you know. I mean, I'm I'm a I'm a father of three and and a proud husband. And yeah, I mean, each one through each one of my children, I've learned something different. I mean, when I first got my law degree, we had one. And as I was finishing up my um, well, I was when I first got into law school, we found out we were having one. So I going through law school and and and tackling that and being a parent and and trying to, you know, manage a household and a marriage. But then as I became an attorney, we had another. And then as I had just started my practice two or three years in, we had our our third. So it's always, you know, life is just full circle. And you're you, you know, you're not only that entrepreneur, but you're also growing your family at the same time as you're growing your business. So it's always a fun challenge. And um, you know, I'm open always to to new experiences. I'm hitting 40 now, but it's not the end of the road. It's just it's just gonna keep keep going and keep growing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. There's there's that can't, I'm not, I'm gonna misquote it, but it's that quote that like what you learn in your 20s, you apply in your 30s, and then start to pay off in your 40s. I'm curious if you feel that way. Like now that you've you're I mean, you're a decade into your firm, and you like you said you're turning 40. Do you feel like this decade, your fourth decade, is the one that's gonna just gonna go up and to the right?
SPEAKER_00Yes, I do, I definitely do.
Expanding Services And Moving To Ocala
SPEAKER_00Um, you know, I I started my practice uh 10 years ago and I've matured into uh what you see here is now Okala Equine ESQ. So it went from Sevilla Law to Okala Equine. And it's just the reason why is that I made a shift uh right after COVID. We decided, well, I've always been virtual, but we decided to move. We we relocated our family to Ocala just because of the area, the the and and the space that we were looking for wasn't what we wanted in Okoi, wasn't what we wanted, and we just kept looking further further north and we landed in Ocala and it's a great community, it's a horse capital of the world. So now that shift of of knowledge and and and the experience I have with that firm led me to create this firm. And I'm just providing the same type of service, but it's more tailored to these this community that I'm now in.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Do you still get a lot of immigration law and people e2 visas, people coming in? Or I imagine that's probably more of a South Florida thing, but I imagine that it's I mean Orlando, that's one of the buyer for my business was an E2 visa. Is it the same in Ocala? People are still coming in looking to invest.
SPEAKER_00I mean, the last couple of years, Ocala has gone through a boom and it continues to grow. Uh so there's definitely a lot of opportunity for entrepreneurs and business owners. So I do still see that. I do still see a lot of E2s, uh, a lot of investors who are looking for an opportunity, not just here, but within the northern central Florida region. Because yeah, everybody's been coming up, you know, from South Florida, they've just been kind of coming up. Even unfortunately, for the events that we've had in the last couple of years on the West Coast, people have kind of decided they want to leave that area too, and they're and they're kind of shifting over. And then we still just have so much international traffic uh coming into these areas. So there's always going to be opportunities within the immigration field.
SPEAKER_02I I'm curious if your firm represents some of these crazy transactions I've read about and heard about in the uh the equestrian space.
The Money And Culture In Horses
SPEAKER_02You know, I we had horses growing up. My my uh grandmother had a little 10-acre uh you know horse farm and she boarded horses and whatnot. I think we bought a horse for like 900 bucks or something like that, like my first horse or whatever. And then I hear about these horses that are like 60, 70, 80 grand.
SPEAKER_00And I'm like, Yeah, I just saw that. Um actually today I'm part of the uh Ocala Chamber of Commerce or the Ocala Chamber of Economic Partnership. And in their newsletter, they said an individual bought a horse for about 70,000. They turned around and flipped it and sold it for like 1.8 million. So it's it's it's just I knew this was a thing.
SPEAKER_02You know, my my my wife's family is um very into um uh horses and and showing and that kind of thing. And and so I knew that like, you know, what's the um Kentucky Derby? Like, you know, if you win the Kentucky Derby, like that horse, you know, might make it 10, 20 million over its lifetime, you know, fathering other race horses. And like I was like, all right, so you know, that's a I figured that was a very small portion of the the pool, like not a real real representation of what and and then I met a guy who I used to I used to work with, and his dad was a vet for one of those breeders. And um, I was like, oh, okay, that's kind of cool. Your dad's a vet. And then I saw his house, and I was like, oh, oh, there's I didn't realize there was that kind of money in in uh horse breeding and that thing.
SPEAKER_00It's it's amazing. And there's so many different species, so many different events that are related to the to the equine industry. It's amazing, and I've gotten the opportunity in the last couple of years just to be a part of it and to see it grow. Um, you know, every year there's new opportunities here. They just had the uh a tournament out at the WEC, which is the World Equestrian Center. If you haven't been, I would definitely recommend you come and bring the fact.
SPEAKER_02That's pretty impressive, right?
SPEAKER_00And like oh yeah, it it continues to grow, and and there's always um different types of events. Last year I got to participate in um and sponsor a Clydesdale show for Grands View Clydesdales. I mean, these horses are huge, massive horses. And I got to ride on one of the carriages, and it's just amazing the sound that it makes when they're they're coming into the arena. Um, yeah, there's just so many different things out here. So O'Caill's gonna continue to grow and and and they want people to to educate themselves and to be involved and to understand what this industry is because you know that it's beautiful. I mean, you're you're dealing with an animal that you know is just blessed to to to help us, and and and and it's amazing, just really amazing. If you get the opportunity to come here, I would definitely recommend it.
SPEAKER_02I feel I feel like, man, there's a great marketing opportunity for you to drive to and from work in a stagecoach, man. Like I feel like that would be great.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I don't know if it's street legal yet, but we'll see. I mean, in Ocala, it's gotta be street legal, right? Like in certain parts, yeah, closer to the to the farms, but it it's just so so amazing. You're driving down, you're headed to work, or you're heading to a meeting, you look left, and you just see these big old farms and these horses just running or just hanging out, and it's it's completely different.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So did you guys move to Ocala? You said the more space, right? Obviously, Orlando's been growing like crazy. I mean, even 10 years ago, it was it was still getting uh crazy. Now you see like Claremont and Sanders growing ridiculously. Was it to move out and get property? Was that the plan? Just to create some more space for the family.
SPEAKER_00No, I mean, I mean, it's just an opportunity. I mean, we were looking for a bigger home um for the family. It was three of us now, well, five of us at that point. And, you know, we were looking for places near Wintergarden or or or Windermere in that area, and it's just either the newer builds were too close together, very choked up, you know, or you had to purchase a an older home and put a lot of money into renovations. So we kind of slowly made our way. We looked in Claremont, we were looking in Howie in the hills, and and we kind of just made our way up and I didn't know Callum. We're like, okay, well, this is a nice spot. And you know, coming four years ago, it's not what it is now, and it's just continuing to boom. So we enjoy it. It's peaceful, it's quiet, there's a lot of opportunities. We live close to Silver Springs. We've done the glass bottom boat tours here, and and it's it's just really good for a family.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I went there a ton uh growing up. My my family's in in Inverness, so okay. Yeah, we went there a ton growing up as a kid back when they had the concerts, and I remember sitting this far away from Lee Greenwood when he played the little band show there. Like, wow, what a what a different time. But um, so I'd love to ask you, you know, obviously you got that spark, that little bit of um a fire in you, and you're like, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna go out and do my own thing.
Advice For Would-Be Firm Owners
SPEAKER_02How how would you, what kind of advice would you give to that young attorney who's maybe working in a practice, um, maybe they're clerking for someone and and they're just not sure if they're meant to be an entrepreneur or if they're meant to have their own practice. What what advice would you give, you know, that young attorney on should they take that chance? Should they put should they put that bet on the table?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I said you got to believe in yourself. Nobody's gonna believe in you more than you. Uh, if you believe in yourself, if if you if you're confident and you build that confidence and only and by practice, by by being consistent, by by taking that that chance, by taking that opportunity to say, hey, I'm gonna learn this. Take that opportunity because you're just expanding your knowledge, you're building up your confidence, and at a certain point, you gotta take the leap. You know, like I said, you're gonna have there's gonna be fear, there's gonna be, there might be even doubt at times, but you gotta believe in yourself. And even if you're you feel like, oh well, you know, maybe it maybe it's not up for me. Like, no, it is. Look in yourself. I mean, you've made it this far, you've gone through law school, you've gone through L sets, you've gone through the bar. What's another challenge? Just you know, put your head down, learn something new, and be willing to take that charge.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Do you think there's uh folks out there who maybe they're better set being that jet fuel or operator for someone who owns their own practice versus doing their own thing?
SPEAKER_00I mean, yeah, I mean it it's not for everybody. Being an entrepreneur, I mean, I'm sure you you know it uh as well. You know, being an entrepreneur is not for everybody. There may be some individuals that say, you know what, I'm okay where I'm at, and that's fine. But if you have that, if if that thought comes through your mind, it's for a reason. Look into it, you know, feed it, learn it, and just just you know, don't hold yourself back because the longer you take to to make that decision, you know, you're just you're just holding yourself back. And I don't think you should. If you have that desire and if you have that thought, it's for a reason. If not, then then you know there's there's a role for everybody and in this in this world to play.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I had a great conversation with John King. He's an EOS implementator, and I was asking him, you know, is it risky to go out on your own? And um, you know, his thoughts were, you know, yeah, it's a little risky in the beginning, but if you're working for someone, then technically you really only have one client. Now, the law is unique, like to your point earlier, that you know, a client can choose which attorney they work with, but you know, his his argument was that if you have a boss, then you really have only one person you're trying to please. Whereas if you have your own practice, you know, he's a business coach and you've got 30 clients. Well, you've got 30 right bosses, if you will. So if you lose one, it's not the end of the world. But if your boss doesn't like you, you know, you might be without a job. So I feel like there's this idea of risk and fear of going out on your own. And it might it might be riskier in the beginning, but once you've laid that foundation, I'm sure you feel way more com comfortable now in life, even with inflation and other things that might be going on, because you have a full practice that you've built and you're not just serving one client, not to speak for you, but no, no, and that and that's right.
SPEAKER_00You know, at the end of the day, the potential is there, you know. But you're not gonna you're not gonna see that unless you take that risk, unless you take that chance. And yeah, at first it was very hard, you know, trying to find clients and and trying to build that steady stream of of income. But, you know, let your work speak for you. And that's that's what I've learned in this journey is that I know the type of level of the level of service I provide, the the the way that I communicate with my clients and the way that I handle them, that you know, somebody else may not, there may be very few people that do that. So that's the level of service that I'm providing to them, and they understand that and they're willing to pay for it. And yeah, the potential is exponential. It it's grown to to to limits that I didn't really imagine when I first started this practice.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
Family Drive And Making Your Luck
SPEAKER_02How do you not take your foot off the gas once you're successful? Like once you got successful and you've built this practice, how how do you keep yourself from taking the foot off the gas? Is it just something innate inside of you or something you have to remind yourself of?
SPEAKER_00No, I mean, it's what I have around me. It's it's the the core group that I have around me, is my family. I'm providing for them. I'm helping them set up uh a future, uh, give them opportunities that I myself didn't have. My parents are immigrant parents that came from Nicaragua. And I just tell myself, well, this is this is why I'm doing it. I I see them every day. I have an opportunity to be around them uh as opposed to having them go to school. Uh my kids do virtual school and they're home. But you know, if we want to set up a trip or if we want to go on on a road trip or do something, I I have that ability to do that. But at the same time, I tell them too. I was like, in order for us to live this type of lifestyle, it's like you have to work hard to get there. And that that's that's the constant motivating factor I have is I have to work hard to continue to live the life that I want to live and the future that I want to set up for my children and my family.
SPEAKER_02I love that. I love that so much. I I had a feeling that there was this underlying drive on why you practice in in immigration law and and kind of worked with all these people because I and I was hoping you were gonna kind of bring it out during the course of the conversation. And I I think that's just because you're legitimately living the American dream. Yeah, your parents came here and now look at you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's exactly it. I mean, just you know, being through what I've been through. I mean, my family was they were doing well, they were doing okay. My my grandfather was a civil engineer in Nicarawa. He helped design some of the first roads and some of the first uh subdivisions and things like that, and they had a good life, you know. But at the same time, you know, my parents came here because of the political strife, and and it was to start all over again. And you know, they may have an opportunity, they may have had opportunities there, but they weren't able to see those opportunities through. So what happens? You have to come to this country and you have to work and you have to figure it out, you have to make a life for yourself and your family. And that's what they instilled in me is that you have to work hard for what you want, one, and then two was make sure that you get an education. Uh and whatever it may be, just make sure that you're doing it and you're doing it right. And and that's that's what they instilled in me. And that's you know, my wife and I we talk about it all the time, is what we were just trying to instill in our in our own children is that hard a hard work ethic and and being willing to take a risk.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Right, how how much do you attribute your success to just plain hard work? And how much of it, you know, was luck, right, right place, right time.
SPEAKER_00I think you make your own luck, you know. There's forces out there, you know. I'm not I'm not very religious, but I do believe spiritually, I believe in God. And sometimes I, you know, based on the work that you're putting in, there's gonna be doors that open up for for you. There's opportunities that I've had throughout my life because of somebody, you know, seeing me and seeing that you know the type of work ethic that I have to say, hey, let's give him the opportunity. But had I not taken the time to focus to put in the work, then I don't think that luck would really present itself. So it's a mix of both, I would say. It's like you have to make your own luck. You have to have a drive, you have to have stay hungry uh throughout life in order for you to have those opportunities. Awesome.
Protecting Business Legacy With Planning
SPEAKER_02Well, man, I'll I'll love to give you kind of a minute here. I I'd love to hear about the practice, right? Brag on yourself for a minute. How can people find you? And then um, I do have one kind of closing question after that. But how can people find you? What's your perfect client? Who do you want to talk to?
SPEAKER_00My perfect client is an individual who is a business owner and a family man or a family woman. Uh, why? Because as you're establishing your business, as you're setting yourself up, you want to make sure you have the proper structure in place. Whether it's you, whether it's multiple partners, you want to have the agreements in place that are going to protect your business. That that time that you've taken, the blood, the sweat, the tears that you've put into this business, don't let it go to waste. Make sure you have the proper agreements in place, the right corporate structure, and the right succession plan. So that's where I come, I get involved with clients is you know, well, once you have your business plan and your structure set up correctly and your legacy, well, how do you protect that legacy? Do you have an estate plan for your family? You have to have I would recommend a trust. You want to avoid probate if something were to happen to you, have the right power of attorneys in place, the right documents in place, and and to ensure that if something not, I mean, that comes for us all, but if something were to happen to you where you're incapacitated, who's making these decisions on your behalf? Who's making those decisions for your business? So I I the way I see it is it's it's uh I take a whole holistic view of when I'm helping a business owner. I'm not just thinking about their business and a temporary fix of their business. I'm thinking long-term. What is your overall goal on your business? What is your overall goal with your family? And let's get those plans in place. Let's get those right structures in place, financial documents in place. And the same thing goes for immigration clients. Is that if they're coming here to the country, well, what's their overall purpose? Are they looking to stay here temporarily, build the business, sell it, and go back home? Or are they looking to eventually gain a status here where they can remain more permanently? So that's the overall view that I have when I'm when I'm serving clients. It's a white glove service. They're talking directly to me, they're not talking to my paralegal or an assistant. It's they're having direct access to me. Because I know as a business owner, your phone doesn't just go off at five o'clock. You have questions, you have issues. Um I'll be there for you. I'll be there for you even after hours if need be. So that's the type of level uh type of service and the level of service that I provide to my clients.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we before we started recording, I was telling you about the listing we had go live on Friday morning and all weekend it was phone calls. And um, you know, I always try and think about it, and the reason I became a business broker, I think I may have mentioned this to you when we first met, was I didn't have a great experience with the first business broker I worked with. And uh thankfully the second one who actually sold my business ended up becoming my boss, if you will, uh at Fitzgame and Alexander. And it's that thing where I'm sure you feel the same way, but when I'm working with a business owner, like it's probably the first time they've ever sold a business, most likely. And it could they could have owned it for 50 years, and that's it's like another child to them. Or on the buyer side, you're talking about very serious money and personal commitments sometimes with an SBA loan that they come after everything else, right? It's a personal guarantee. So you I'm sure you feel the same way as an attorney, but like it's not just a transaction. There's a there's a personal piece to this. Someone's staking their future on an E2B. Visa and coming here and buying a business.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And they're leaving their family and friends at home for this potential new future. And you want to work with someone that understands that that's just not a uh an hour's worked fee schedule situation. It's a big deal.
SPEAKER_00I agree. I definitely agree with that. I've had individuals tell me similar things where it's like, well, you know, when I first uh did my first acquisition, or when I it's like I nobody told me this, or or that last individual didn't didn't show me that, or they didn't present that to me. I'm like, well, I'm trying, like I said, I'm I'm thinking outside the box for you because I've seen these situations. I've seen the the the bad the bad side of it when somebody hasn't taken that additional step or hasn't considered this scenario, that's what you're hiring me to do is to be able to guide you through that process and plan plan a strategy out on how to deal with that should it end up happening. Hopefully it never does, but if it does, we'll be able to take care of it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
Recommendations And Closing Thoughts
SPEAKER_02All right, last question for you, man, as we kind of um wrap up here. But I always ask people for any recommendations they have on books, podcasts, other areas that they could learn and better themselves. Do you have any recommendations, favorite books, favorite podcasts, movies? I know you said you wanted to be an astronaut.
SPEAKER_00Well, recently I I've been listening to um Diary BCEO uh podcast on Spotify, you know, it's just dealing with the whole gauntlet of issues. You have people that you know, Matthew McConaughey was on there, uh Tony Robbins, I believe. Um and then they're just talking about current events. What should you personally plan out? You know, depending on what's going on with AI, you know, how how do you handle that as a business owner and as a per and as a personally on a personal end, you know, those are different things that I like to stay on top on top of. You know, I listen to uh the news. Um right now I'm reading uh the 12 rules of life. Okay the um I can't remember the author off the top of my head, but that's one of the books I'm reading right now. And it's just trying to stay informed. You know, there's always so many things going on, and you can't be on top of everything, but I would just recommend staying informed as much as you can and and continue to to grow, continue to to to set goals for yourself personally. I would recommend, you know, I've as I've gone through life, I've I've I've played different sports and and I've done different workouts and different things. So I would take care of yourself. You know, I started doing yoga a lot more in my 30s, and I I want to continue doing something like that. Meditating is also something good that you know it helps the body, it helps the mind, um, clear yourself. So those are things that I would definitely recommend is don't forget about yourself. You know, in a world where we're so connected to TV, media, computers, phones, sometimes it's good to just disconnect, take that walk, or you know, take that time to to go work out and and find something that you like to do. So that's that's definitely something I would recommend.
SPEAKER_02After you listen to this podcast, of course.
SPEAKER_00After this.
SPEAKER_02All right. I mean, I appreciate your time today, man. I was been looking forward to this one because I wanted to hear your story and and talk through kind of uh who you are as a person. Uh, because a lot of people go to these networking events, like you and I met, and they come in, they sit down, have a cup of coffee, a drink, and then they're they're out. And you know, the people you want to actually work with are the ones that are willing to put themselves out there and walk around a room and shake a hand and give a business card and and tell you why you should work with them. Um, so I appreciate that about you because I think we we connected on that that level there. So definitely, I appreciate your time. Thank you for coming on the pod. I hope to have you back in the future. And when you're in Orlando or I'm at the Equestrian Center, we're gonna have to get together, man.
SPEAKER_00For sure. I definitely agree. Thanks again, chance, for the time, and you have a great rest of your day.
SPEAKER_02Okay, man.