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Meet Maxwell Ventura of Discher Group in Downtown Gaslamp

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Maxwell Ventura.

Maxwell, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in Kennett Square PA. During that time of my life, I loved being active & playing sports. Growing up, I played basketball & rugby while competing in amateur boxing for a few years during highschool. When I made the decision to go to college, the easy career choice was anything related to kinesiology. Ultimately, I Graduated from West Chester University w/ a B.S. in Kinesiology to become a Health and Physical Education teacher. However, about halfway through my curriculum, I could feel my career aspirations starting to shift. As I started to become immersed in personal development, I slowly began to realize the simple model of the “safe & salaried 9-5 position” just wasn’t for me. After I graduated, I moved to Philadelphia (45 mins from WCU) and went right into a 100% commission sales position for an exterior remodeling company – Russell Roofing – as a project manager.

This is where I met my first pair of mentors that would put me on my current trajectory; my direct manager Ron Hall and the owner of the company, Russell Kaller. Although I had no prior sales experience, these two men saw something in me and took me under their wing. This is really when my personal development journey began to take off. I felt my eyes were beginning to open, that anything was possible and we are all capable of achieving anything. I began reading books and listening to audio tapes to the likes of Brian Tracy, Napoleon Hill, Tony Robbins, Zig Zigler, and Tom Hopkins.

After two years at Russell Roofing, I stumbled upon a great opportunity to move out to Southern California. Some of my best friends on the east coast had already moved out to SoCal a few years prior and were starting to establish themselves in the competitive solar industry. So, when I came out to visit them on a short vacation, it didn’t take much convincing for them to get me out here to go to work w/ them. I had a career lined up & sunny Socal waiting for me.

Since I had lived in the same general area my entire life (my college was 20 mins from my high school) I decided to take the risk and go for it. This was five years ago. I knew if I didn’t do it back then, I probably wouldn’t have done it. It was tough leaving. I have some great friends back east and it wasn’t easy to leave them & my family behind and start all over.

Nonetheless, I decided to do it & moved out to SoCal three months later after my prior visit. My good friend David Kingery and his wife Lauren were gracious enough to allow me to take their spare bedroom, even though I had very little money at the time and really couldn’t afford rent. I remember flying into San Diego on the night of March 9th, 2015 and starting my solar training the very next day w/o unpacking any of my clothes yet. I was hungry for success.

Being an outside sales rep in SoCal was great. Our main office was located in Temecula and we would drive up to two hours in any given direction for an in-home consultation. This was fantastic because I was able to explore every bit of Southern California in a relatively short amount of time. I got to see LA, OC, the high desert, Palm Springs, San Diego, and every beach between Imperial Beech all the way up to Malibu.

Initially, I took off in the outside sales role and was promoted to a Regional Manager position seven months later. I managed a team of ten for the next three years. Although things were good and I was surrounded by great people, I slowly felt like something was missing in my career. I just wasn’t super excited about what I was doing. I didn’t have that spark every morning that I felt I should have. I also had a growing desire to get down to San Diego after being in the Temecula area for so long. I believe this was amplified because I had initially lived the much faster-paced, Philadelphia environment.

Finally, I made the decision to move into downtown San Diego. I always wanted to live in a high rise in a major city so when I moved down here I did exactly that. I decided on the newly built apartment highrise, “The Rey” in the core-columbia district. It turned out to be a great move. I befriended a now close buddy of mine who lived in the same building which led to a whole new group of great people, which led to meeting my girlfriend, whom I now live with in Bankers Hill.

Soon after moving to San Diego, I was fortunate to get accepted into the only downtown BNI (networking) group. During my time at BNI, I developed a relationship the realtor/broker of the group, Jeff Discher. I saw how he conducted himself and his real estate team. I felt He and I had a lot of common interests including health and fitness, diet, reading, and similar YouTube influencers we were into.

Growing up, real estate had always been an interest of mine. In talking w/ Jeff everyweek in and out of our meetings, I began to connect the dots. One day I mustered up the courage to ask him to mentor me. I told him I wanted to be a realtor and join his team. This was about 1.5 years ago.

Since then my life has transformed and I’ve been able to instill habits I haven’t had before. Our core group is very passionate concerning all matters of self improvement. We wake up super early between 3 to 4 am EVERY DAY and go through our respective morning routines. I have a new passion and confidence in my career that I’ve never had before, and it continues to grow. All the cliches are true… When you do what you love it doesn’t feel like work.

Recently, we opened our new state of the art 3200 sq ft office in the Samuel Fox lofts in dowtown San Diego 92101. Everyday I’m ecstatic to wake up, go through my morning routine, and be the first one in the office to progress my career. 1% better everyday is the motto of high performers.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I’d have to say leaving Horizon Solar was the hardest decision I’ve had to make since moving to Southern California. There was a sense of obligation on my part and I felt I was turning my back on my friends who were instrumental in getting me out to SoCal and helping me secure a position w/ the company. Since then, they also decided to leave to go off and launch their own solar company, “Current Home” that is doing really well to service the residential community throughout Southern California. I’m grateful to say we still keep in touch frequently, I’m one of their biggest fans, and continue to root for their success.

In regards to real estate, many people are aware of the high failure rate for 1st and 2nd year real estate agents. It’s somewhere between 90-95%. So, is real estate hard? Absolutely. But if you’re consistent with the work, and have a vision of where you want to go, you’ll get there.

Please tell us about your business.
I Specialize in the downtown & Metro Area.

I love the San Diego downtown life & walkability it offers. I love the fast-paced (maybe its the Philadelphian in me) environment the city life brings. The restaurants, breweries, games, views, culture, being social, meeting new people and going on new adventures.

I love the diversity of all the different types of real estate sprinkled throughout the Metro Area, including the history behind it. Most of all, I love being the go-to expert for my clients to help them make the tough choices between the varoius neighborhoods & condos available to them. There are a lot of misconceptions and its surprisingly easier to get into a home and start building wealth than people think.

Lastly, our central location in the gaslamp district, our teams experience in the SD market, and dedication to excellence help set us apart. We work out of a truly state of the art office; A 3200 sq. ft. space equipped w/ an infrared sauna, green screen marketing room, coffee & tequilla bar, and even a metronap pod. It’s a very open, inviting space that our clients love to visit to strategize on their real estate goals.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Jeff Discher, Ron Hall, Russell Kaller, Skip & Lauren Kingery, Tj Embler, Dan Iacovella, Mike Pasceri, my lovely girlfriend and of course my parents for all their support. I’m leaving plentey out as there are way too many to mention. I’m grateful for everyone that has come into my life.

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
Jeehon Photography

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