Meet Michael Rudd

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Rudd.

Hi Michael, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
To tell my story, I have to start from the beginning, I grew up in the projects on the north side of Quincy, Illinois. Right on the Mississippi River a town of about 50,000 people. In that 5-mile radius, the opportunities are very thin, especially for minorities.

I truly believe that the city placed us in that crevice to be hidden away and forgotten about. The only way out is to play sports and potentially get a scholarship or work in a factory for the rest of your life. Very little of that population makes it out of the city most of the youth is influenced by crime and drugs.

The brightest part of all of this was on the north side we had a great sense of community, we all stuck together as one.

In the middle of it, all was my Aunt Penny Lewis who ran the Redmon & Lee Community Center as a youth with not many positive role models around and no vision outside of the 12 blocks that made up the north side. Penny was the role model we all needed, she had programs like the “Dollar a Book” program pushing kids to read. She had the breakfast program that fed all of the kids in our community to make sure they had a meal before school and had a van to drop us all off.

Penny would rent 18 passenger vans and take us to St. Louis Cardinals games, Basketball games, and Six Flags. She sponsored several teams from our neighborhood otherwise a lot of kids couldn’t participate because of the lack of income in our households. Mind you she did all of this while being a coach in Quincy University Women’s basketball program. Penny loved everybody she gave to everybody without any expectations until her passing.

Without her work in our community, I don’t know if I would have developed the vision to see more than the north side of town had to offer. Penny instilled in me the ability to believe in myself and my abilities as a young man. That confidence and love for my community have pushed me to be a visionary, mentor, and leader. Any success I may obtain throughout my life, I owe to a lot of mentors over the years but it all started with Penny Denise Lewis.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The road to entrepreneurship started for me at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. I gave 15 years of my life to the hospitality industry as a General Manager ultimately working my way to becoming an area Sales & Marketing Director of the Kansas City Metro area. During the turmoil of uncertainty in our country American commerce was taking a major hit, especially the travel industry.

During this time hotels were shutting down because of a lack of business, some housed recovering Covid patients just to make ends meet. The hotels I was directly overtaken suffered great losses and I was given an ultimatum to take a pay cut and step down or take a small severance and move on. In a time of uncertainty, I felt like I was losing everything I’d built for 15 years with no sure plan of what to do next. I had to show the courage to believe in myself and my abilities to serve people. I knew I had to become comfortable being uncomfortable I took the severance and moved on into uncertainty like most Americans at this time.

I was broken to my core looking at my children in despair not knowing where my next check may come from “How will I support my family?” That’s when the confidence and resiliency kicked in, I thought to myself what are two businesses I can start that will serve my community and help others achieve their goals in life. Sitting there with my laptop open at the kitchen table I had it Real Estate, Insurance, and financial literacy are vastly needed in our communities. These topics had not been a major part of my upbringing so I knew as a whole the information and education on these topics were not readily available.

I wanted to become that source to make that information easily accessible for all. I bet on myself and began to study to obtain the proper licenses. That’s where #MoneyMakinMondays, Rudd Real Estate Group, and Rudd Family Insurance Agency were born. We have been serving the greater Kansas City area for exactly 1 year and we look forward to serving our community for years and years to come.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Whether we are talking about Real Estate or Insurance the motto is the same “Building Equity in Families”. I believe in empowering people to achieve their maximum success. That’s exactly what I do, through educating clients and peers on their best options in obtaining homeownership.

Also providing comprehensive insurance education and coverage whether it’s to protect yourself, your family, or your business. I can’t stress enough the importance of creating generational wealth for families and their legacy. What sets me apart from other agents is my attention to detail and a tailored made experience for each individual that seeks my help.

Not one interaction is like the other, I pride myself on being versatile while delivering an experience of knowledge and precision to meet my client’s needs. Putting every client in a position to achieve their goals now and into the future is what I do. “Building Equity in Families”

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Over the past couple of years, there has been a major spike in real estate sales. Due to low-interest rates and added options for finding down payment assistance. But at the beginning of 2022 we have seen trends start to shift a bit interest rates are rising and real estate inventory is dwindling.

That landscape will create some difficulties for agents who aren’t familiar with their communities and what ties them together. But overall I don’t see the Real estate industry slowing down any time soon it is still a great time to purchase or sell a home. The insurance industry faces a number of challenges. Technology-driven disruptions. Evolving consumer expectations. Intense cost and competitive pressures.

Profound regulatory change. An unprecedented opportunity in emerging markets. Environmental sustainability. Lingering economic uncertainty. Being an insurance professional I have combined industry experience and technical knowledge to help my clients address these pressing issues.

Contact Info:

• Email: MichaelRudd@reecenichols.com
• Website: MichaelRudd.Reecenichols.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruddtherealtor
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RuddTheRealtor