Preface: You Don't Have to Be Extraordinary to Do Something Extraordinary

As a kid, I loved making people happy. I still do.

Looking back, I can see I was always searching for something deeper, trying to figure out why I’m here and how I could make a real difference. That search has never left me. And while insecurity has been a loyal companion, it also sparked my drive to find something more: agency. The ability to do good. To matter.

At thirty, I chose business…not one of the traditional “helping” professions. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to help. I just couldn’t imagine how to make a difference and make a living at the same time. So I did “just business,” and for a while, it left me unfulfilled. I still craved meaning. But slowly, the pieces started falling into place.

I’m relieved, and grateful, to say that I’ve found a way to do more good than I ever imagined. And that’s what this book is about.

Since 1985, I’ve worked as a commercial real estate agent. I’ve represented tenants and buyers in over 1,100 leases and purchases, mostly for office uses, but also for warehouse, industrial, medical, and retail. And always in and around Chicago. My clients have included companies, nonprofits, and foreign governments. Real estate may not seem like a helping profession, but, as a tenant-rep, it has been for me.

I’ll admit it, I want to do BIG good.

But like a lot of people, I’ve often felt limited by resources… and by some of the less-than-perfect decisions I’ve made along the way. That frustration, the gap between wanting to do more and feeling unable to, has been a constant companion.

So I’ve spent years asking myself questions. How can I make my life more meaningful? How can my work have more impact? How can I help more people, in more ways?

This book is my answer to those questions. It’s a story, yes. But more than that, it’s a practical guide. I want to show you the tools I’ve discovered, the mindset I’ve adopted, and the systems I’ve created. Because I believe if you use them too, we can do far more good together than either of us could on our own.

Like much of life, this journey hasn’t been a straight line. It started with a real estate deal. Nothing extraordinary. But over time, I realized I could turn ordinary things, like everyday transactions, into something extraordinary.

Recently, I’ve found a way for just about anyone to do good far more often, monthly, weekly, even daily. It’s not about heroics. It’s about being a consumer who cares. It’s about using the marketplace, where we all spend time and money anyway, to do a little extra good.

When I talk about doing good, I mean it in the broadest sense: creating benefit for more people in more ways. That benefit can take many forms, depending on what matters to the person receiving it.

In this story, the “receivers” include buyers and sellers in real estate deals, tenants looking for space, consumers like you and me, and the companies or professionals we buy from. But it also includes the less obvious ones: your community, a nonprofit across the country, someone you love, a total stranger, or a cause close to your heart.

The help I’m talking about isn’t saintly or self-sacrificing. It’s not the stuff of heroic headlines. It’s lowercase “help.” Help that’s practical. Help that fits into real life. I haven’t devoted my life to solving one monumental issue, maybe because I’m a realist, or maybe because I’ve been afraid to go all in. But the urge to help has only grown stronger.

And that’s what led me here: to a way of doing good that’s practical, impactful, and sustainable. A way that brings real relief, not just for the people you help, but for you.

Because once you see how easy it can be, you realize something beautiful: you don’t have to be extraordinary to do something extraordinary.