US MARINE FROM SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

[Raymond Sylverne]

Hey, fellow Real Estate Investors! My story begins in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti where I was born and raised for the first half my childhood. My family later on moved to the states where I grew up on the mean beaches of Miami, Florida. At the age of 18 I moved to sunny San Diego where I completely fell in love with the culture, weather, and all things related to fitness. I have professionally competed in Boxing, MMA, Power Lifting, Jiu-Jitsu and recently took an interest in Bodybuilding. My goal is to transfer all of the principles and disciplines that I acquired from these different sports along with my military experiences to the realm of REI. When I used to compete in MMA I lost my first 3 fights before eventually winning the next 9. Every time I wanted to quit my coach would say "You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it." At the time, all I could think of is I pay you to teach me how to win not lose fights. In hindsight, I now realize that it was a very humbling and necessary experience that ended up making me a better and stronger person- in and out of the octagon. I look forward to meeting you all -newbies along with seasoned veterans. Semper Fi!