My name is Paul Shively and this is my account of my weekend in Memphis. Having been in Real Estate Investing for almost 5 years now, I have been involved in some incredible moments throughout my career. However, being a part of the May 12th weekend in Memphis, TN with our partners Memphis Invest was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

The energy of our Mastery Students who joined us down in Memphis was incredible. The high level of teaching and training that I was able to be a part of was one of the best experiences of my career, however that cannot even hold a candle to what we did Saturday night.

I have always wanted to be a part of something bigger, something greater than what I could achieve on my own. FortuneBuilders is a perfect environment for that. Combined with the incredible leadership at FortuneBuilders and the incredible community we have between our staff and the Mastery Student Family, I constantly am in an environment that pushed me to excel and fosters an amazing thirst for knowledge and success.

Saturday night helped me achieve a life long goal of mine. To be able to give back to a worthy cause, and be a part of making an impact on children’s lives that otherwise would not have the resources to survive is an incredible thing. Donating to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was the fulfillment of my lifelong desire to be able to reach out and positively affect the lives of others. Together with FortuneBuilders and Memphis Invest I was able to do this in a way I would never have been able to achieve on my own.

With our partners Memphis Invest, we had the honor of collectively donating a $61,000 check at a special Celebration Gala we held Saturday night to benefit the incredible cause that is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Additionally, with the help of Memphis Invest, our Mastery Students picked up 21 houses this past weekend for their own Real Estate Portfolios. In less than 48 hours we helped raise an additional $23,000 on top of the $61,000 we had already donated to St. Jude Children’s Hospital!

To be able to support such a worthy cause is one of the most rewarding experiences we have had as a company. The ability to not only change our own financial futures, but to be able to impact the life of a child in such an incredible way is truly something that no one can put a price tag on.

Standing on stage with the CFO of St. Jude Children’s Hospital Jeff Pearson and Memphis Invest, presenting a giant check was one of the proudest moments of my life. Knowing that my efforts for the past 4 months will help to save the lives of children with cancer who otherwise would have no other option was truly moving.
In all honesty – I teared up.

St. Jude Children’s Hospital is a phenomenal organization that is on the forefront of Pediatric Cancer Research. They have done some absolutely amazing things in reducing the mortality rate of childhood cancer, and continue to be a major source of innovation in the field. Hearing Mr. Pearson speak to us and our Mastery Students about the work that St. Jude’s does for childhood cancer research was incredibly moving. The idea that “…no child should die in the dawn of life….” is truly a cause to stand behind, and the success in increasing childhood survival rates for cancer is equally as impressive.

I have found the charity that I will be personally supporting for the rest of my life.

Thank you FortuneBuilders and Memphis Invest for such an incredible opportunity.