Relentless.
Hello! My name is Adrian, and my passion is service. I am committed to helping Fortune 100 companies take their operations to the next level, converting good brands into great ones and great brands into the BEST. In addition to my work as a brand representative, I am a successful real estate entrepreneur who is also fluent in both English and Spanish.
Born in Hollywood, California, I grew up in South Florida in poverty, the only child of two immigrants. It was my maternal grandfather who saw how much I loved technology and education, and in a move that would benefit me throughout the rest of my life, he financed my first personal computer. That was huge, affording me the opportunity to access technology and education on a wide scale.
When I was 13, I landed my first job, interning at the Miami Museum of Science as a computer lab technician and instructor. You can read more about that program here. Back then, no one knew how to use computers, and part of my job was showing Miami-Dade County public school teachers how to use the new technology. A student teaching a teacher, I learned how to explain technology and consumer products in terms real people could understand. Working hard, I paid my grandfather back, little-by-little.
While I was working, I was also studying several hours per day, and in recognition of my academic achievements, I earned a congressional nomination to Mast Academy Marine Science High School, a nationally known institution for kids of high intellect and ability. I continued to harbor a singular dream of entrepreneurship, earning my income by selling items on eBay and reading four books per week to soak up all the knowledge I could. To this day, I STILL read four books per week, that’s more than even bestselling author Stephen King!
After high school, it seemed like college didn’t make sense for me at first.
There was something that never made sense to me: managers in corporate America TALK about BIG leadership, yet never seem quite able to manifest big results for THEMSELVES, instead pushing young naive people into the trenches to do their bidding. They are terrified of trying anything different. I, on the other hand, was more than willing to try something different. I was unhappy and unfulfilled after fifteen years in the telecom industry, so I resigned from my position – without any severance package.
My only payoff was this: I had finally stopped wasting my time. From there, I began working for a larger competitor, and in my first year, I won the President’s Club ELITE! award, validating my efforts as one of the best managers in the country.
You’ve got to love capitalism! I have done what many say is impossible, elbowing my way into an entrepreneurial role, working for “the man” while saving my money and building my own business. All those conversations I had had with friends and family, trying patiently to explain that my success was just around the corner, had paid off.
I now own and manage real estate portfolios worth millions- ALL mine, ALL to myself. I give back by specializing in providing affordable housing to homeless and the under-housed in the city of Los Angeles. Optimizing and automating my efforts, I followed the rules I discovered in Tim Ferris’s book The Four Hour Workweek, and Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad. I don’t do it alone. I lead an incredible team of people and we work collaboratively to get things done!
For the record, I still don’t have a sense of entitlement. Life is good for a kid who went to college late in life and seemed fated to work for someone else until he was 70! I have made a name for myself, but more importantly, I have fallen in LOVE with my work all over again. I am only in my 30s, at an age when most people are just getting started, and I have the option to retire. There were thousands of other people who were better than I was in any number of measurable ways and who had experience that I didn’t. How did I do it?
I am relentless, never gave up and did things action-by-action! I have built my name on teaching things to my key accounts and sales teams in an action-by-action format. Not step-by-step: action-by-action!
I continue to set high goals for myself, including one day working for top companies like Microsoft, Apple, Facebook or Google. This is not because I NEED to continue corporate work. I WANT to. I love a good challenge!
In my spare time, I am an active member of Miami Beach Toastmasters, and The Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood, California. I also continue private study with top coaches from around the world to continue to hone my craft.
I love connecting with new people, and I would love to connect with you. Please find me online and say “hello!” To get in touch, you can shoot me an e-mail at adrianfernandez@me.com and follow me on Twitter.
