I consider myself very fortunate. I’m happily married with a very successful real estate career that is growing rapidly in a tough market.

Prior to beginning my real estate career, I was a restaurant manager looking to find a career where I could actually pursue something that I cared about and had passion for. I was already buying, rehabbing and selling homes so it was a natural transition to move into the listing and sales side of the business. Furthermore, working on those houses helped to provide a foundation that was more beneficial to selling real estate than any class that I ever took in college.

In October of 2003, my wife, Samantha, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Three days after the diagnoses, my wife looked at me and said “let’s buy a house”. It was the spirit that “not even cancer can stop us from realizing our dream” that still inspires me today to dream, work, strive and believe that nothing can stop the human spirit that has the strength to believe in themselves in the face of what can be the worst possible set of circumstances anyone can face – their own death.

Three years later, our daughter was born – the beauty and miracle that many take for granted was to us, almost a miracle. The chances that we could have a child were slim and many thought not possible. But the cancer battle and newborn child left us in less than great shape financially and the time I had spent caring for my wife emptied my pipeline of business and I was wondering if real estate was going to be a viable option for me and my family.

That’s when I made a fundamental paradigm shift into the online world – the “new” way of real estate, so to speak.

I took my inspiration from Samantha. Knowing that she could stare death down and truly believe that nothing could stop her, no matter what she faced, gave me the inspiration to believe in myself. That if she could face that, I could find a way to save my career and give our family a safe, stable and secure future.

Fast forward two years to today and we are quickly approaching the five year cancer free mark. This is the gold standard of success that all cancer survivors hope to achieve. It also coincides quite nicely with the success that the internet has provided me in my real estate career.

I have a team of agents working the leads and recently turned it into an official “group”, The Ryan Ward Group. I’ve worked hard, and become a student all over again because to me, providing service to clients requires skill, information and real care for their needs.

It’s times like this when I reflect back on my story that I like to take a look around a make a few assessments of the other people and businesses that I come in contact with and interact with. Some others that inspire me to be the best I can be.

In the blogosphere, Jay Thompson continuously makes me better. Jay seems to have the same feelings I have about cancer that I do. Jay, I’m sorry for your loss and I’d like to share my condolences.

Someone else’s work that I admire is Louis Cammarosano right here at HomeGain. I’m not sure if it’s Louis or the Greater HomeGain philosophy, but, I admire that they position themselves as true partners of real estate professionals, quite different from some other large “third party vendors”.

As I’ve grown, what keeps me in real estate is the same thing that got me in to real estate. I love it.

I have a passion for it and I have a passion for helping people realize their dreams the same way Samantha did three days after being diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s what makes me tick, what makes me wake up every day and ask myself what I am doing to stay relevant and how I can help others achieve their dreams.