After a decade of corporate work left him exhausted and unfulfilled, he turned a side deal with his mother into JAREST, LLC and moved into house flipping full-time—clashing constantly on budgets and design, then using that tension to build stronger projects. F
He started noticing it long before he quit.
Even after he logged off his work email and put his work phone down. the deadlines. emails. and expectations stayed in his head. For years. he told himself he was doing it right: corporate jobs. a predictable salary. and a career path that looked good on paper. But behind the scenes, he was constantly exhausted, and the work never really stopped.
He bought his first home in June 2020—not because it was part of a master plan. but to make the work he was doing feel tangible. He had been planning to obtain a construction loan when he talked it through with his mom. She agreed he didn’t need to take on the burden. She would partner with him 50/50 on the side project.
That side project eventually became his mother-son business.
The first flip delivered the kind of satisfaction he had been missing. They added nearly 1,200 sq. ft. and successfully sold the house in February 2023. Feeling that momentum, they moved forward with their second home in June 2023.
Then burnout caught up.
Working a full-time job while managing the pre-construction of a 3,400 sq. ft. project proved too much. At that point, his mom and he started talking more seriously about their partnership and what came next.
The idea of a steady paycheck still sounded good. But the live-to-work motto his mom drilled into him as he was growing up wasn’t helping. His work-life balance was awful, and his stress and patience levels were wearing thin.
A wellness retreat pushed him to stop thinking about risk and start acting.
Toward the end of 2024, he booked a retreat at The Golden Door, a health and wellness resort, to disconnect and clear his mind. He didn’t go expecting a life change. He came back with one.
At the retreat, he met two successful CEOs in their 60s who kept telling him that what looked like a massive risk wasn’t actually one. They urged him to “Bet on yourself. Success is driven by those who make bold decisions.”
He took that advice home, spoke with his mom about the plan, and felt her resistance—at first. She was initially against the idea, but seeing him struggle for meaning and happiness swayed her. She agreed.
JAREST, LLC was formed soon after, and the corporate routine fell away.
The change was immediate, and not just in time. Time and routine shifted “like the wind,” he said, but processes and hierarchies weren’t established, and egos clashed.
He and his mom are both stubborn and smart, and they butt heads constantly over budgets and design. He is primarily driven by financial considerations, while she understands where to spend money to improve the product. Even the second project brought disagreements that turned into full arguments.
He fought against spending an extra $15,000 on floating stairs and a double-wide Sub-Zero fridge/freezer—upgrades he said didn’t match other houses in their price range. After a few yelling matches over dinner, she won, especially given that “she normally does, especially when she’s cooking.”
The decision was made and work continued even as the contingency budget dropped to $0. He knew unknowns would still appear, but they proceeded anyway.
The pace then shifted from constant friction to something steadier.
Over time, he says he began to notice a pattern: every time they clashed, the final decision ended up stronger. When he pushed too hard to cut costs, his mom pointed to long-term benefits he hadn’t considered. When she wanted to over-improve, he pulled them back toward what made sense financially.
They sold that house in March 2026.
Now they’re starting their most ambitious project in Beverly Hills, with an anticipated completion in Spring 2027. It’s a dream from childhood—growing up in an apartment in Westwood—and he says his mom’s guidance, financial support, and even the occasional shouting helped get them here.
He won’t be living in a Beverly Hills mansion, but he believes he can at least say he built one.
And the tension? It’s still there, even if it’s not as fervent as before—just strong enough now to carry the work forward.
house flipping real estate investing JAREST LLC startups family business burnout corporate exit Beverly Hills construction Golden Door retreat