Who is Scott Michael Simmons? Would you, could you trust him? What does he bring to the table? Why would you want Scott to work for you? I will answer these questions by giving you some information about my background and what I do now. I grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. My father and my mother were a hardworking, honest couple. When I look back at my father's life, the way he got ahead financially was by using the simple concept of home ownership. My dad was a firm believer in buying the worst house in the area and fixing it up. From the age of 6, I can remember hauling bricks in my wagon and replacing the chimney. The Simmons family loved work and just for the fun of it, we would go and help someone with their house and yard. By the time I was 10 I could help wire a house, help plumb a house and had helped my dad built a kitchen from scratch. Every time I smell rose wood being cut, I can remember dad's old Beaver Lumber table saw stalling out and him having to pull on the belt to get it going. Between my dad and my uncle it seemed as if I was going to renovate half of Vancouver by myself. I learned by doing and my knowledge of building techniques will benefit you as you search for a home on Salt Spring Island. As I grew up, I could hardly wait until I could move out and travel the world. Being an adventurous person, I thought how am I going to travel the world and still get paid? One day, I saw one of those corny "THERE IS NO LIFE LIKE IT" ads, and the next day I signed up with the Royal Westminster Regiment. I always liked the regimental motto "Pro Rege et Patria" (For King and Country). I spent one year as a "westies" where I was reviewed by the Queen of England. Then I transferred to the regular army for ten years. In the Canadian Army I traveled the world. If you are a hard worker and athletic the army will love you and, for me, it was an amazing career. I had the honor of serving in the Canadian Army's Field Engineer as a sapper / paratrooper / combat diver / mechanized trooper.  I loved the loyalty and duty of the Royal Canadian Engineers and God bless all my former colleagues who are in Afghanistan or doing incredible humanitarian work around the world cleaning up land mines. The leadership / organizational training in the army is excellent and little did I know it would serve me so well running my own business. I was fortunate enough to be posted to West Germany where I lived on a vineyard close to Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg is known as the crossroads of Europe. I could catch the midnight train and wake in Rome. Living there, I experienced the European lifestyle. Being a good athlete and being into sports like sailing (I joined a great sailing club in France on the Rhine river), running, skiing and cycling, I could always find a way of turning work into one of my passions. For example, the army really promotes running. All I had to do was to run a mere 42km. and I could get time off work to train in exotic places like Greece. I ended up on the Canadian Army marathon team and went on two week trip to Greece to run from Marathon to Athens. When in Greece I met my wife to be and life long partner June. June was from Calgary and thought she had seen the last of me but I was determined to see her again. If it meant 30 hr. in the back of a Hercules transport going to Edmonton so be it! I ended up my army career (I just knew I would not make the rank of General) and moved to Calgary. Love does strange things to men. After our wedding June & I bought a small downtown condo as our first step on the property ladder. However, I found that without a background in the oil industry, my options in Calgary were limited and decided to start a career in sales. I worked selling books, cars (Nissan's) and even solar panels used for heating swimming pools. I started a national trade publication for the swimming pool/hottub business that led me to taking over one of my advertisers, Factory Direct Hottubs in Calgary. After a make over, the business was rebranded and became the market leader in Calgary. Our factory manufactured our own acrylic hottubs and had two retail stores. I had the opportunity to meet the greatest customers ever! It was a great place to be on a busy Saturday. There was so much positive energy that people just loved coming into our stores. I do miss those days and the people. We had all types of customers from the well-heeled to the not so well-heeled. It was like the Cheers of hottub stores. It was an exciting ride, I loved everyday but it was time for a new adventure for the Simmons family. So June, Keith, Thomas and I sold everything and decided on to head west to the coast. But to where? Victoria? Nanaimo? Comox? No, no and no. We wanted rural with flair and panache but without sacrificing the great things of urban living like restaurants, theater, music, golf, tennis and sailing. We wanted a place with a strong sense of community and schools up to grade 12 and a hospital. Well a Google here, a Google there and we found this magical place in the middle of the Gulf Islands called Salt Spring Island. Our island adventure began with the purchase of the semi (we have a small road in front of the house) water front house in need of major renovations. It took five years and lots of reading, enthusiasm and hard work but June and I have transformed this bare bones of a house into BerryHill berry farm. We grow blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, apples and pears. We are also raising organic heritage chickens and turkeys. I return to my one of my passions - sales. Selling is fun, interesting, challenging and rewarding. It's all about the great people you get to work for and making them happy. After personally selling over 2000 hot tubs, dealing with over 100 suppliers, and working with over 200 employees, I am confident that I can provide high energy and personalized service to you and your family in your real estate purchases. I can help you get VALUE for your money, enable you to find that right place and help you avoid the worst real estate scenario: the trap of PAYING TOO MUCH. Cheers, Scott Simmons |