I own buildings. I'm a builder; I know how to build. Nobody can build like I can build. Nobody. And the builders in New York will tell you that. I build the best product. And my name helps a lot.
I'm not handy.
To his and everybody else's way of thinking, you should build a house with your own hands before you start talking about being an engineer.
Do not be discouraged because you cannot learn all at once; learn one thing at a time, learn it well, and treasure it up, then learn another truth and treasure that up, and in a few years you will have a great store of useful knowledge.
What makes us unique is that we actually build things. Unlike most hotel companies who just manage and have no experience building, designing, and developing a hotel, we started off on the opposite track. We started off building. We're construction guys first and foremost.
Schools should prepare people to build things, not just to think things.
You just try to learn and see what you can put in your repertoire, and that's what I try to do.
I looked at longevity in show business when I was about 13, and the people who seemed to have longevity were the ones who'd spent quite a bit of time learning about what they were doing before they made it.
In high school, I majored in brick masonry. We had the wood shop, the machine shop, so I know about all that. I wanted to build buildings when I graduated from high school. I do know my way around that stuff.
