Pat Roach (SW: 1993 – 2006) kicked off the GRS with a keynote Thursday night about “Your ‘Journey Toward Understanding’”—the evolution of a student manager in the business. Pat started a residential real estate brokerage – Southwestern Real Estate – as a part of our company.  After several years of working by himself he has already sold over 7 million dollars worth of real estate in the Chicago market. He stressed a new K.I.S. model for success: “Keep it Stupid,” emphasizing that success at Southwestern was astoundingly simple. His PowerPoint was full of monkeys. 

Two powerhouses from Southwestern Consulting (formerly Success Starts Now!) contributed to the seminar: Dustin Hillis (SW: 2002-2005) and Rory Vaden (SW: 2001-2005). Dustin shared ideas on how to prepare for a Mort Utley summer in a heavily-attended workshop, and Rory Vaden keynoted Friday evening on the value of discipline, that is, the value of “taking the stairs.”

Our international guest alumnus was Rob Lilwall (SW: 1999 – 2001), former Highlander turned author, explorer, and cycling adventurer. Rob shared his tale of riding home from Siberia to London on a most circuitous route. He paid for his three year journey with the money saved from selling with SW!

Each of our alums did an outstanding job of communicating the value of the Southwestern experience, and they all contributed to the GRS’ overall success. As always, we very much appreciate alumni who share their insights and expertise with young student managers.

Imagine powerpoint from Southwestern GRS 2010.