Meet Marcelin Paul | President and Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marcelin Paul and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marcelin, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Well I’m a rebel, always have been, and as a result, having my own business was the ultimate goal, doing my own thing. I never really fit into any places I have worked. Always felt like people don’t know what they’re doing or talking about or I can do it better.

In 2005 I started my real estate career, and after the 2007-2008 housing market crash, my idea was to start a business I knew could bring some money in a short time to fund the business I really wanted, which was my own real estate firm. So, I started Statewide Insurance & Financial Services in late 2009, and two years later in 2012, Sunset Realty was founded, more recently Sunset Capital Investments and about a dozen more ventures in between over the years. When I started my first company, the end goal was to retire early and explores the world, teach my son early everything that I learned late in my adult life, and hopefully, somehow put a small dent in the universe and still is. But over the years the most rewarding experiences are handing families the keys to their first home. You can’t put a price on that joy and happiness.

I didn’t start an insurance company out of the passion or love I had for the industry. It was just purely a financial decision at the time and still is.

My advice to all inspiring entrepreneurs bet on yourself, the first venture doesn’t have to be about your passion that can come later, take some risks if you’re serious about being an entrepreneur and more importantly willing to work for free for a long time, I didn’t pay myself for 6 years.

I remembered when I was about to sign my first commercial lease and was a bit nervous. I called a friend, who is a business owner, and told him how I was kind of nervous because I had to personally guarantee the lease payments, and I had less than 6 months in reserve. He listened and started to laugh on the phone. He said, “Paul when I started, I only had the first month.” Always bet on yourself.

Discipline, persistence, and patience, is a must. I believe having the discipline and focus to keep moving forward no matter what is the key, especially for entrepreneurs. Honesty I don’t how you succeed without them.

Have a budget and respect it if you want to build a nest egg. My personal rules; first is delay: delay any instant gratification, delay any financial decision for at least a week. Second, at the end of that week, if the desire still exists, the money has to have already been available and the replacement has been allocated. Stay away from credit cards at all costs, if you don’t know how to use them and understand they’re a cost and benefit to everything. Saving money is never about how much you earn but how you spend and manage your money.

Understands that you are going to make mistakes, lots of them and that’s OK, use them as teachable moments and learn from them as you build your foundation. Don’t expect most people to understand and support your vision, and that’s perfectly Ok too.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Sunset Realty experience is unlike any other, we are truly the ultimate real estate concierge. Making family’s American dreams a reality is what we do! The way I personally overcome any challenges is to classify them as temporary situations instead of problems, I believe that not only and sets us apart but also puts our clients at ease during the home buying and selling experience.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, since I live in a vacation zone, going places to have a good time is not hard. I love being around the water, we would definitely do a cabana day at one of the beautiful hotels down here in Miami or Ft Lauderdale to enjoy the beach, drinks, and food. The Guitar hotel is one of the main attractions now, definitely do that, Wynwood and if the Heats are playing of course we would do that too.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
One of the most influential books that I have read is Money Master the Game by Tony Robbins. In my opinion, this book could be a whole semester of financial education cut down to a day or two. I would advise anyone who is serious about getting their financial situation in order to get a copy. This was a game-changer for me personally.

Website: www.sunsetfl.com

Instagram: @mpaul4

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulmarcelinjr

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/paulmarcelin