Bruce Snell's Life Synopsis
At the age of 12 years, I came to the realization that I was a different kind of person. I began to realize that I was put on this earth to help people. That may sound corny or even egotistical, but it was how I felt. Even though I didn’t know how, or what form helping people would take, I knew I was here for that reason.
Even in my early years, I questioned things internally. I kept them to myself, however, while trying to decipher what everything meant. When I would try to express thoughts to my peers, the looks and comments usually caused me to retreat inwardly.
I was a very happy person and felt tremendous love and respect for my father and mother. Both sides of my family were hard-working and good-hearted and possessed a strict sense of conscience, always trying to do what was right. I perceived myself very much like my family.
I seemed to get along better with older children and adults than with those my own age. I also sensed that most teachers didn’t like me but those who did, did so passionately.
My mother always supported and defended my actions without hesitation. My daddy reinforced in me the need to stand up for what was right, to finish what I started, and to never run away from anything. He taught me to stand my ground and do what was right.
In grade school, I was a fighter and often got into trouble. My mother always went to bat for me. She took it upon herself to step in because Daddy worked two jobs and was absent much of the time. With five kids, there were times when Mom had to solicit Dad’s help. He always tried to be there to support her.
Eighth grade was the biggest turning point in my life; I was asked to go out for our junior high football team. In order to play sports, I had to achieve academically in school. Soon, I started to look up to my coaches as being successful and I respected them for giving me direction and input. I had great rapport with my coaches starting in the ninth grade. I remember Coach McCory using me as an example of being tough, taking a hit, and standing firm. That made a great impression on me and built my self-esteem. To increase the quality of my performance, I would practice hours on end, until he made me stop.
I learned some early lessons from my daddy. He kept encouraging me to go out for basketball. I finally did and made the team. The lesson I learned was that a child, at an early age, sometimes can’t make decisions. He must listen to and take advice from his elders/parents who can help him make sound decisions that might possibly affect other choices in life. I would later think about how close I came to not playing basketball, football, and baseball. Because of the encouragement of my daddy, basketball became my favorite sport both to practice and to play.
The next milestone in my life occurred during the high school years when I was playing football for Coach Bill Bacon. He was known by the students as being a tough disciplinarian. I went through those years never having a problem with the coach and developing a great respect for him. In reality, I became quite fond of him. Because of my lack of size at that time (I ultimately played football at 280 pounds), I listened and did exactly what he instructed me to do. In so doing, I became very sound in the fundamentals of football and ultimately team captain.
I tore all the ligaments in my ankle playing basketball my junior year causing me to miss football spring training. To catch up, I started running three miles a day. Once practice started, I was able to get back into shape. I was always in the top two to three running linemen.
One day everyone was complaining to Coach Bacon about the amount of practice, when he asked how much I had run before practice. I told him three miles. He said, “That’s paying the price!” I hadn’t thought anyone noticed, but apparently he did. It felt great!
Daddy always told me to be the first one on the field and the last one to leave. He said the coach would play someone who hustles. I never missed drills, practice, or school. I was always the first to volunteer and would hit until they pulled me out.
In my senior year I played both offense and defense and was on all the special teams. Because I was always soaked from head to toe with sweat running to the line and then back to the huddle, everyone thought I was too tired to go on. I always hustled, just like my daddy taught me. At one point, word got back to Coach Bacon that I needed a rest. He pulled me out of the game. I went to the coach and asked him why. He told me he thought I might need a rest. I told him that I had rested enough in my junior year. With that, he sent me back in the game and never pulled me again. I learned another lesson that night—work hard, do my job like I was asked, and if I paid the price, I would play.
I did well enough in high school, just getting by without really studying. Then I had college scouts starting to look at me. That meant college admission tests. To everybody’s amazement, I did very well, actually scoring in the upper percentile.
Leaving home, I went to junior college at Marion Military Institute on scholarship in football, basketball and baseball. I worked hard and became a very good student and football player. After junior college, I went on to a four-year school on scholarship (Mesa State College in Colorado). During my junior year of college, I bought a house, I was working five part-time jobs, carrying a full business load, and playing football. Again, I had some great mentors and teachers. One whom I admired very much, Nick Anderson, took a special interest in me. When I would speak in class, other students would look at me and think I was crazy. Mr. Anderson, however, said I was “right on.” He took the time to encourage me. He believed in me and made me believe I was of value; he continuously reinforced my self-worth. Mr. Anderson became my good friend and mentor. Again, I had learned a lesson: people will help but you have to ask, and if you are willing to pay the price, you will get the rewards.
I went on to graduate from Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado. I had come a long way from my Alabama home. After college, I was signed as a free agent for two years with the Denver Broncos. Those were the days of the “Orange Crush” defensive linemen in Denver. After trying out twice, I found I just didn’t have the speed or strength to compete at that level.
Between the end of school and later working at a coal mine, I bought into a pizza place, working many hours with not much reward. Eventually, I fell out of the deal, but worked through it with my family and friends.
I worked at the coal mine on the belt lines where my job was to shovel coal when it fell off. During a second shift, I drove a truck. I worked hard and felt I was one of the best workers they had. Everyone else complained, but I was happy to have a job.
For two years, I ran wild and worked hard. Then I met the woman who is now my wife of many years, Karen Ordway. By then I was ready to move my life and career to the next step. Karen stepped up to the line and supported me both financially and emotionally while I tried different things.
I decided that I needed to move to California because Colorado was having tough times. My wife, Karen, and my good friend, Mark Harsha, lent me money to lease a new car. With $400 in my pocket, I headed for California to catch my dream.
On the way to California I stopped in Las Vegas and called my mother. She said she had friends in California and thought I could stay with them until I got my feet on the ground. I had planned on sleeping in my car and showering at a health club where a friend, Stan Fenn, had given me a membership. Instead, I stayed eight months with Grandma and Grandpa Leszinski and with Nancy and Bob Franz. These were very good people. The lesson I learned from this experience was that if you help a friend in need, you sow a good seed that will grow and bear the fruit of friendship that will last a lifetime.
My first job in California was data input for a commercial real estate company. When they asked if I could run/operate a computer, of course I said yes. Because of the hours I was willing to work, I learned my job and how to run the computer. I analyzed the job I was doing, deciding on the most logical way to collect data, download files and manage the data. Within six months, our office was up and running well ahead of the other offices. Soon, I was asked to help open the Los Angeles office. I did so with great success, finding their needs different from the other offices. They needed a different software program.
Then I started to learn something the professors had never taught me in college, office politics. Some of the lessons I learned were:
I eventually went on to my next sales opportunity/job, after being unemployed for about 30 hours. In my first 18 months in commercial real estate, I worked 114 hours a week. Working around the clock, I sold during the day, and after work I did research, wrote letters, completed paperwork, and studied the business.
Almost every day I heard, “It’s not how hard you work, but how smart.” I was sick of hearing that! At that time I was spending about $10 to $15 a week on food and had $200 left in the bank. I soon closed my first deal and made enough money to live for a few more months (thanks Ken Smith!).
My colleagues made fun of me at sales meetings because I was spending too much time with my clients and needed to turn more deals. I didn’t let that discourage me; I kept working hard and in a year I closed many deals and moved from Number 45 to Number 11 in the office while out-performing my rookie co-workers. The next year I finished as the Number one Broker and out of 2,000 brokers nationwide, I was in the top 16%.
After four years of closing many deals and making many friends, real estate was no longer rewarding or challenging. During all those years I had been a team player, but for some reason real estate in Orange Country was not the team sport for me.
I became very successful but did not feel fulfilled inside. A friend that I did business with was having a bit of trouble with his company. Sales were dropping after a steady climb. He asked me if I could help. That was the start of my “life of quality.”
Even in my early years, I questioned things internally. I kept them to myself, however, while trying to decipher what everything meant. When I would try to express thoughts to my peers, the looks and comments usually caused me to retreat inwardly.
I was a very happy person and felt tremendous love and respect for my father and mother. Both sides of my family were hard-working and good-hearted and possessed a strict sense of conscience, always trying to do what was right. I perceived myself very much like my family.
I seemed to get along better with older children and adults than with those my own age. I also sensed that most teachers didn’t like me but those who did, did so passionately.
My mother always supported and defended my actions without hesitation. My daddy reinforced in me the need to stand up for what was right, to finish what I started, and to never run away from anything. He taught me to stand my ground and do what was right.
In grade school, I was a fighter and often got into trouble. My mother always went to bat for me. She took it upon herself to step in because Daddy worked two jobs and was absent much of the time. With five kids, there were times when Mom had to solicit Dad’s help. He always tried to be there to support her.
Eighth grade was the biggest turning point in my life; I was asked to go out for our junior high football team. In order to play sports, I had to achieve academically in school. Soon, I started to look up to my coaches as being successful and I respected them for giving me direction and input. I had great rapport with my coaches starting in the ninth grade. I remember Coach McCory using me as an example of being tough, taking a hit, and standing firm. That made a great impression on me and built my self-esteem. To increase the quality of my performance, I would practice hours on end, until he made me stop.
I learned some early lessons from my daddy. He kept encouraging me to go out for basketball. I finally did and made the team. The lesson I learned was that a child, at an early age, sometimes can’t make decisions. He must listen to and take advice from his elders/parents who can help him make sound decisions that might possibly affect other choices in life. I would later think about how close I came to not playing basketball, football, and baseball. Because of the encouragement of my daddy, basketball became my favorite sport both to practice and to play.
The next milestone in my life occurred during the high school years when I was playing football for Coach Bill Bacon. He was known by the students as being a tough disciplinarian. I went through those years never having a problem with the coach and developing a great respect for him. In reality, I became quite fond of him. Because of my lack of size at that time (I ultimately played football at 280 pounds), I listened and did exactly what he instructed me to do. In so doing, I became very sound in the fundamentals of football and ultimately team captain.
I tore all the ligaments in my ankle playing basketball my junior year causing me to miss football spring training. To catch up, I started running three miles a day. Once practice started, I was able to get back into shape. I was always in the top two to three running linemen.
One day everyone was complaining to Coach Bacon about the amount of practice, when he asked how much I had run before practice. I told him three miles. He said, “That’s paying the price!” I hadn’t thought anyone noticed, but apparently he did. It felt great!
Daddy always told me to be the first one on the field and the last one to leave. He said the coach would play someone who hustles. I never missed drills, practice, or school. I was always the first to volunteer and would hit until they pulled me out.
In my senior year I played both offense and defense and was on all the special teams. Because I was always soaked from head to toe with sweat running to the line and then back to the huddle, everyone thought I was too tired to go on. I always hustled, just like my daddy taught me. At one point, word got back to Coach Bacon that I needed a rest. He pulled me out of the game. I went to the coach and asked him why. He told me he thought I might need a rest. I told him that I had rested enough in my junior year. With that, he sent me back in the game and never pulled me again. I learned another lesson that night—work hard, do my job like I was asked, and if I paid the price, I would play.
I did well enough in high school, just getting by without really studying. Then I had college scouts starting to look at me. That meant college admission tests. To everybody’s amazement, I did very well, actually scoring in the upper percentile.
Leaving home, I went to junior college at Marion Military Institute on scholarship in football, basketball and baseball. I worked hard and became a very good student and football player. After junior college, I went on to a four-year school on scholarship (Mesa State College in Colorado). During my junior year of college, I bought a house, I was working five part-time jobs, carrying a full business load, and playing football. Again, I had some great mentors and teachers. One whom I admired very much, Nick Anderson, took a special interest in me. When I would speak in class, other students would look at me and think I was crazy. Mr. Anderson, however, said I was “right on.” He took the time to encourage me. He believed in me and made me believe I was of value; he continuously reinforced my self-worth. Mr. Anderson became my good friend and mentor. Again, I had learned a lesson: people will help but you have to ask, and if you are willing to pay the price, you will get the rewards.
I went on to graduate from Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado. I had come a long way from my Alabama home. After college, I was signed as a free agent for two years with the Denver Broncos. Those were the days of the “Orange Crush” defensive linemen in Denver. After trying out twice, I found I just didn’t have the speed or strength to compete at that level.
Between the end of school and later working at a coal mine, I bought into a pizza place, working many hours with not much reward. Eventually, I fell out of the deal, but worked through it with my family and friends.
I worked at the coal mine on the belt lines where my job was to shovel coal when it fell off. During a second shift, I drove a truck. I worked hard and felt I was one of the best workers they had. Everyone else complained, but I was happy to have a job.
For two years, I ran wild and worked hard. Then I met the woman who is now my wife of many years, Karen Ordway. By then I was ready to move my life and career to the next step. Karen stepped up to the line and supported me both financially and emotionally while I tried different things.
I decided that I needed to move to California because Colorado was having tough times. My wife, Karen, and my good friend, Mark Harsha, lent me money to lease a new car. With $400 in my pocket, I headed for California to catch my dream.
On the way to California I stopped in Las Vegas and called my mother. She said she had friends in California and thought I could stay with them until I got my feet on the ground. I had planned on sleeping in my car and showering at a health club where a friend, Stan Fenn, had given me a membership. Instead, I stayed eight months with Grandma and Grandpa Leszinski and with Nancy and Bob Franz. These were very good people. The lesson I learned from this experience was that if you help a friend in need, you sow a good seed that will grow and bear the fruit of friendship that will last a lifetime.
My first job in California was data input for a commercial real estate company. When they asked if I could run/operate a computer, of course I said yes. Because of the hours I was willing to work, I learned my job and how to run the computer. I analyzed the job I was doing, deciding on the most logical way to collect data, download files and manage the data. Within six months, our office was up and running well ahead of the other offices. Soon, I was asked to help open the Los Angeles office. I did so with great success, finding their needs different from the other offices. They needed a different software program.
Then I started to learn something the professors had never taught me in college, office politics. Some of the lessons I learned were:
- Don’t start off too fast because your co-workers take notice and it puts them on the defensive.
- Keep to yourself; don’t trust until it has been earned.
- Management doesn’t make the most logical decisions based on data, and some are insecure and have hidden agendas.
- There is more involved in work than doing a good job at all levels.
- It’s easier to stay the same than to change.
- Good work is noticed by both good and bad people.
I eventually went on to my next sales opportunity/job, after being unemployed for about 30 hours. In my first 18 months in commercial real estate, I worked 114 hours a week. Working around the clock, I sold during the day, and after work I did research, wrote letters, completed paperwork, and studied the business.
Almost every day I heard, “It’s not how hard you work, but how smart.” I was sick of hearing that! At that time I was spending about $10 to $15 a week on food and had $200 left in the bank. I soon closed my first deal and made enough money to live for a few more months (thanks Ken Smith!).
My colleagues made fun of me at sales meetings because I was spending too much time with my clients and needed to turn more deals. I didn’t let that discourage me; I kept working hard and in a year I closed many deals and moved from Number 45 to Number 11 in the office while out-performing my rookie co-workers. The next year I finished as the Number one Broker and out of 2,000 brokers nationwide, I was in the top 16%.
After four years of closing many deals and making many friends, real estate was no longer rewarding or challenging. During all those years I had been a team player, but for some reason real estate in Orange Country was not the team sport for me.
I became very successful but did not feel fulfilled inside. A friend that I did business with was having a bit of trouble with his company. Sales were dropping after a steady climb. He asked me if I could help. That was the start of my “life of quality.”