AboutIn September 2004, my mother sat my brother and me down to inform us that she and my dad were getting a divorce. I will never forget the sight of the tears running down her face and the emotions of confusion, disappointment and, most importantly, fear. Fear of how a single Black mother of two young boys on the South Side of Chicago would financially provide for her family. Fortunately for my mother, our financial stability was established 13 years prior when my grandfather, who owned several multiunit buildings throughout Chicago, adamantly pressured my parents to purchase a three-unit building. After my parents’ divorce, I lived in that same three-unit building until I went to college. It became the financial lifeline for my family. Fast-forward to 2018: I decided to revive my grandfather’s legacy of building wealth by owning real estate. I purchased my first property at 24 and decided to become a real estate professional soon after.