About

My name is Paul Poco. I’m a father of three, a husband, and most recently a recovering banker.

I’ve spent the last 20+ years in the financial sector (banking), successfully climbing up the corporate ladder and searching for the proverbial work-life-balance without much success.

As a result of a recent reduction in force I am now tasked with a scary yet amazing opportunity:  Redesigning the next chapter of my life.  A reverse mid-life crisis of sorts, without the Ferrari. 🙂

The purpose of Take Exit 925, is to:

• Catalog and share my experience as I transition out of the corporate 9 to 5 life and into full time entrepreneurship in Real Estate Investing.
• Set my goals and objectives publicly in an effort to hold myself accountable in delivering on the many necessary actions to achieve them.
• Assist and inspire others to make the leap – whether by choice or demand – to take full control of their lives.

Why Real Estate?  Why Now? (Extended Play)

I’ve always been intrigued by ownership of property.  Growing up and living mostly in old but very valuable triple-deckers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I’ve always viewed the road to home ownership as difficult one to achieve but a sure path to a good life through passive income.  Even back then in the 80s and 90s, I had already gotten a taste of what it was like to be on top, to be a landlord, through a friend and mentor who later passed away at the young age of 44.  Although our time together was short, he had already planted the seed.

Fast forward a few years and I embarked on a 20-year banking career that would prove very fruitful.  Forcing me to fly past my college years without ever stopping in, a marriage and children, and eventually a relocation to the south.  Florida.

Although fantasies of leaving the 925 were always present, they were just that, fantasies.  It wasn’t until at the ripe age of 41, a halfway point of my working years, when I was being pushed out through a corporate reduction in force that I knew I had to make a life-changing decision.  Find an alternate job within the firm and continue living out the void I felt my entire life, or take control of my life for once and for all.  After all, the veil of security was now completely torn and I could clearly see that the sacrifice I had made to endure stress for the sake of a good paycheck and stability was no longer possible.  I felt vulnerable, defeated, scared, but completely relieved and for the first time in a very long time empowered and excited!

You see, during this 20 year gig, aside from getting a taste of the rat race, my goals and aspirations had changed.  I had changed.  And no matter how much progress I made working up the ladder, or how much my salary or annual bonus increased, I simply felt empty and insignificant.  I say this not because I have a need to be of significance, but rather that I was not making any meaningful contributions to anyone or anything around me.  I began to feel that the whole system was rigged.  That the demand placed on each of us – by choice or force – to stay busy all the time, by design does not allow us to come up for air long enough to realize that we are prisoners.  Self-enlisted prisoners, self-guarded by our own fears and ignorance.

With this void deep in my heart, I turned to God and decided that I needed a complete re architecture of my life and he needed to be at the center of it.  For the second half, I desperately needed a new path with real happiness, security, purpose and significance.  One that would serve me and others well in this life and beyond.  I knew that if I got that right, everything else would fall into place.

So after much contemplation and prayer I was led to a former manager and colleague.  Someone I greatly admired and the architect behind my relocation to the south.  He was now president and owner of a very large national title company.  We decided to meet up for breakfast, and as I nervously drove over the the bridge into St. Pete, I began looking for the name of the restaurant we were to meet at so I wouldn’t miss it.  And there it was, La Casa Del Pane – The House of Bread.  As I recalled praying the Lord’s Prayer that morning, and realizing how important it was to receive our daily bread I couldn’t help but smile.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Perhaps the beginning of the right path.

And so here we are today.  I have been working for my old colleague for just about a year now, helping him manage an investment fund and about to launch a new real estate investing partnership.  Excited, nervous but confident, for this time I know my priorities are straight.

My desire to help others is greater than to help myself. But I truly believe that I must help myself first in order to help and to inspire others to help themselves.

It is my hope that through sharing raw and detailed information on my upcoming projects, that you too can find inspiration and motivation to re architect the rest of your life.

Have Fun.  Make Money.  Help Others.