Mark and Jake Slade at Fairview Lake, NJ
Mark Slade was struggling mightily in 2008 and 2009. The financial crisis and trends in the fashion industry — where he had worked as an executive vice president — had left him unemployed and with scant prospects. On top of that, divorce was putting further strains on his personal and financial life.
“It was really tough for me emotionally,” said Slade in a recent interview.
But, says Slade, the South Mountain YMCA “made all the difference.”
“My relationship with the Y goes back to when I was living in town, I had lost my job … and the industry was imploding and consolidating at the time.” Slade said that the difficulties were particularly bad because he “had always been successful. I always grew my income every time I left a company and went to another, so not only did I always land on my feet but actually was fortunate to climb a step above.”
This time was different.
After applying for jobs at half his salary and even offering to work for free for three months, Slade found that he still “couldn’t get arrested. And basically my unemployment ran out and at the same time I was getting divorced. So It was tough and trying times for me.”
Slade decided to get into real estate “figuring at least I could be in charge of my own destiny. I always loved architecture and I love people, so I thought real estate might be a fun venture to explore.”
However, Slade didn’t know how to manage the necessary flexibility that he needed to do the job with his eight-year-old son needing care before school, after school and through the summer months. “It’s not as if real estate is a structured job like others,” said Slade. “The customer is first and foremost. That means if they need me to take them out and show them houses at 4 o’clock or 7 o’clock, I have to find a way to make that happen,” said Slade. “When Jake is not in school or off for summer,” he wondered, “what do I do?”
Slade’s next door neighbor had the answer. “She said to me that she had gone through hard times and that the Y does sometimes offer scholarships so I applied and they granted me scholarships which made all the difference in the world to helping me spend the time I needed to develop my business while my son was being properly cared for.”
“To make a long story short, skipping ahead four years I’m doing some serious business in real estate and the Y came back to me and said, ‘”Rarely have we had someone go from needing our help to sharing so generously so many resources!'” Slade had become an award-winning, top-rated broker at Keller Williams Mid-Town Direct Realty.
Slade told the Y, “Nothing would give me greater pleasure,” and made a President’s Club donation. He gave a speech at the annual President’s Club dinner at the Montclair Country Club in 2013 detailing his experience (you can read it below).
“So I wrote my speech and, you know, broke down in the middle of the speech. My son was there. It’s always tough to remember. I didn’t know I’d come out the other side.”
Slade said it was a revelation to him that the Y gave out scholarships. “I didn’t realize how much money they give out because it’s a lot.”
Meanwhile, the Y was able to provide a safe environment for Jake physically and emotionally. “It was nice to know that for him things hadn’t changed so he was able to have as much continuity pre- and post-divorce and pre- and post-job life.” (Jake’s older brother was in college at the time.)
“Almost every meeting I have at the YMCA, someone asks me how Jake is doing, which just warms my heart,” said Slade.
For its part, the Y could not be more thankful to Slade for his support — and his message.
“In my years as a YMCA Executive,” said South Mountain YMCA Executive Director Marcia Meehan, “I have seen how life can change in an instant and, sadly, too often these transitions impact children as well. We all need support at some point in our lives and I am so happy that our long-time Y member, Mark Slade, reached out to the Y in his time of need and we could be there to provide continued child care for his son during a transitional time. Mark had the courage to ask for help, and now he has the generous heart to give back and share his story – one to which so many can relate. Mark has become a such an strong advocate for our mission – to build a stronger community.”
Meehan explained that each year the Y conducts a campaign to raise funds to provide support to those in need for child care, camp and enrichment programs. “This support can make it possible for individuals to stay employed and in their homes,” said Meehan. In fact, during the past year the South Mountain Y provided over $275,000 in direct support to community families.
“Children were able to participate in and remain in child care programs at the South Mountain Y despite unexpected job and medical changes, and other hardships. We believe that every child deserves a Y and truly thank generous donors like Mark Slade and all the donors and volunteers that made this possible in 2014.”
If you would like to be a part of this campaign to provide support to families in 2015, please contact Marcia Meehan at mmeehan@metroymcas.org.
To hear more about Slade’s personal and career journey, visit Career Night at Keller Williams Mid-Town Direct Realty, January 14, 6-8 p.m., 181 Maplewood Avenue, Maplewood. Visit here for more information.
Here is Mark Slade’s speech to the Y’s President’s Club in 2013:
Thank you, YMCA, for having me here to “thank you,” and also to speak for just a few minutes about “us”, you-all and me.
Yes, to avoid any confusion, I, as so many others, owe the YMCA and all of its contributors and personnel a great deal of gratitude for helping when times were challenging for me. You see, I worked my way up from a Macy’s Trainee to an Executive Vice President in the fashion Industry, only to fall victim to the economic downtrends and consolidations, as so many people did. A divorce simply made a tough situation even worse.
Then, to add fuel to the fire, I was hit from behind in traffic by a texting driver and my car and my labrum were destroyed by an accident on the Tappan Zee Bridge on the way to a job interview. My soon to be former marital home then became a short sale despite emptying my bank accounts, 401K’s and even my cashing in my “cash value” in my life insurance policies to try to keep afloat.
It got worse as after replying to over 300 companies for job postings, my unemployment ran out, leaving me no choice but to get on line at 60 Rector Street in Newark (anyone know what building is there?), yes it’s the closest Welfare Office to Maplewood, NJ and where you have to go to apply to Food Stamps. This is not a part of my life I like to speak about very much, but it is a part you deserve to know about me.
You should also know that, like you in this room, I don’t believe in giving up. And I certainly wasn’t about to let this situation get the better of me and my family, so I enrolled in classes to get my license in Real Estate and joined up with Midtown Keller Williams in August of 2009. Ironically, this put even more stress and strain on me as I was legally responsible for half of my son Jakob’s child care—including before-school, after-school and summertime vacation, without yet having closed a single sale and without any income to speak of other than the food stamps.
A wise friend and neighbor suggested I contact the YMCA to see if any scholarships might be available to me to help with my son’s care needs.
I can happily report that the rest is now history! The YMCA was gracious enough to hear me and provide me with the necessary assistance that would allow me to both be a good father and also invest the necessary time and effort to re-launch myself as a Realtor. YMCA is not an organization, it is people helping people. YOU are the YMCA. YOU gave me the second chance Jakob and I needed.
Freed up to concentrate, create and explore my entrepreneurial side and developing a Social Media strategy that propelled my business, I can proudly say that 2 weeks short of my four year anniversary now with Keller Williams, I became my agency’s number one agent after winning several awards along the way. Keller Williams was my choice in company because it exudes many of the same ideals I have as an individual and as being part of a Community. As do YOU, the YMCA.
Now, in addition to training new aspiring agents, as well as helping any of our agents with social media, blogging, Vlogging, and more, I am in the process of building a team, which means I will go from a start-up sole practitioner to a business owner. The transformation from food stamps some 4 years ago to successful business owner wasn’t easy and wasn’t always smooth, but there is no doubt of the role played by the YMCA.
I vowed to never forget those that helped me, gave me the comfort and compassion in my time of need. I am a believer in what they call “Paying it Forward”. So, in addition to many recent charitable donations, I was truly excited to be able to join the Presidents Club at the YMCA. Frankly, I was surprised to see that I was the only local Realtor that was helping to support the YMCA in this way. Hopefully, I, and perhaps with some of you helping as well, will set and boost a trend so that many of my other fellow Realtors will look to give back to the communities they serve in their own businesses. Giving, as I do, to and through you, our invaluable YMCA.
Thanks for listening. God Bless You.
