Today we’d like to introduce you to Edward Fernandez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Originally from New Orleans, I came to Atlanta in December of 2008. I was prompted to visit by my high school girlfriend who had relocated here as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
Driving up 85 into the city, I remember coming up on all the big buildings looking like ‘this is the place I was meant to be all of my life. At 20 years old, I hadn’t been many places but I was confident in that moment that Atlanta was tied to my destiny in some weird way. It was a feeling I’ve gotten twice in my life so far, a feeling that says I don’t know how and or why but this is it. This is what was meant to be! Following that feeling and a successful weekend visit, I went back to Louisiana, loaded up my car, and with $2300 in the bank, relocated to Atlanta.
Nowhere to live, no job, no family, no certainty, no nothing; but I had a feeling I had to pursue at all costs and I had to pursue it at that time.
My family thought I was crazy. My grandmother thought I had lost it and she cried and cried and then finally said “ I have to let you go because I know I can’t stop you once you feel so strongly about something.
With her reluctant blessing, I embarked on my new life.
I came back to Atlanta and my now girlfriend who initially promoted my visit became my Bonnie. She left her parents and together we got an apartment.
Let me just say it here, IT…WAS… TOUGH! Being from the projects of New Orleans, I thought I could survive anything so I thought starting over in Atlanta would be a piece of cake. Boy, was I wrong. Atlanta chewed me up and spit me out too many times to count.
I initially landed a job but it wasn’t enough and my girlfriend was making $10 per hour and it too wasn’t enough because soon enough, I got sucked into the Atlanta lifestyle. I wanted the condo at the twelve, a nicer car, nicer clothes, etc… I wanted the life and our relationship paid for it. Our credit profile told the failed story but I was determined to make it still.
In September of 2010, still broke, credit ruined, relationship failing and a weekend alone in the city I knew I was called too, I faced myself. My girlfriend had left me and went back to her parent’s house and I was on the couch in our apartment reflecting on where I truly was. It was in that come to Jesus moment that I made the decision that I had to do differently if Atlanta was going to do for me what I envisioned.
Begging and pleading and a lot of Facebook posts professing my love, my Bonnie came back and when she did we got married in the Fulton county courthouse on September 27.
The next year we gave birth to our son Xzaiver and his life truly became our turning point. We both continued to work but the entrepreneur in me kicked in and I was determined to give my son the life I didn’t have.
A changed man but still attracted to the glitz and glam of Atlanta, I decided I would start a business in the entertainment industry. Back home in New Orleans, I started doing plays and I knew I was good at em so it seemed the easiest path to go down.
I wrote, directed, produced and starred in my first show that sold out valentines weekend of 2015 at the Ferst Center for the Arts. What God Joined Together was my masterpiece. It was a hit and more importantly, it made me money that took the pressure off of our daily lives.
The success was short-lived however. In April of 2015, we decided to put back everything we had made and invested and do the show again, on a much larger scale, at the Famous Fox Theatre.
That was the hardest time of my life. To see your name in lights and go home to our lights off was devastating to say the least. The Fox was a different type of beast. Over 100k was lost there. The people in my life that I trusted who pushed me there failed me. They failed me because their livelihoods were too intertwined with me being on stage. If I wasn’t putting on a show, they weren’t working.
Just when I thought I was about to make it. Just when I thought my date with destiny had finally come, my world had come crashing down. Life had floored me. Business had floored me. And what was different about it this time is that I was floored with a kid and a wife who were both depending on me to figure it out.
Now long after, the grandmother who had reluctantly given me her blessing, the grandmother who had supported every effort and dream became ill.
When my grandmother got sick, it truly was like my life went from bad to worse. I went from being floored to feeling like my world was truly ending. I returned home to begin to spend more time with her and to convince her to go to doctor as often as she should. She was stubborn when it came down to things like that but she would do anything for me, so she went. There were days it seems like things were getting better and other days, the opposite was true. However, during this time of being there for her, I also had to be there for my wife and child.
That year, another idea was ignited but this was different from the glitz and glam I was after. This was boring but I felt I could be on to something. Collision Connections, a property damage firm in insurance was birthed and started by me. It took off and it took off fast.
When I started it all we had was a $5,000 tax refund check and an idea. I invested that 5k into our startup cost and in one month we were making that per week. In six months, we were making double that per week. It truly finally hit and showed no signs of slowing down until I got the dreaded phone calls of screams.
My grandmother who was a mother to me had been rushed to the hospital and this time she was more than likely not going to make it. Halfway to the hospital, I received another a call. It was the call that confirmed the worse. My grandmother was gone.
Life didn’t look the same then. The roaring of telephones booming with business didn’t sound the same. My world had officially ended. Or so at least I thought. Finally her passing, I immediately came back to Atlanta and I flew weekly back and forward to continue running the company I created there.
The travel started to become too much and with me not being there daily I saw the changes in business and I knew it was time to cash out. I sold that business and I took the money and started in extended stay hotels in Atlanta.
One of the first jobs I ever had was managing Hyatt places so I was pretty familiar from an operations standpoint.
My then wife at the time thought I was crazy because even though the business was changing we were still making more than 300k per year but I saw something differently.
Five years later, though divorced and three amazing kids we share, my ex-wife and forever friend doesn’t think I’m crazy anymore lol.
Through getting out when I did and now at 34 I’ve amassed a pretty impressive portfolio. Three hotels in the Atlanta area, 1 apartment complex, two restaurants, a property management company, transitional housing, a security company, and being known as the ‘go to’ in the Indian community for all things business, Atlanta definitely proved to be the place I was called to. Between businesses and properties, my portfolio total more than 20 million dollars and that all came from a feeling that I applied my will to never give up to.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It hasn’t been a smooth road but it was a road definitely worth traveling. There were some hiccups along the way, some potholes, and some people who I thought would still be here when I arrived but that’s okay. I’ve learned that it’s not the destination but it’s the ride itself that has to be survived and managed.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Right now, I am known for joining in on combating the Affordable Housing crisis in Atlanta. I have made hosing Atlanta’s homeless population my mission by utilizing every resource I have and partnering with a lot of government agencies.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Consistency. Without it, you will never be. You will never make it. And you will never have all that God has called you too.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.1stplacemgmt.com
- Instagram: YepThatsE
- Facebook: Edward Fernandez
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/uKcdviXzWCU
Image Credits
Tevin Mike NewLensOnLife
