Hometown Impact
Kevin Spivey, 29, has created a thriving real estate company, but that’s not all he’s building. In 2015, after his first daughter was born, Spivey left his dream job with the CIA and moved across the country to the small Washington county where he and his wife grew up. He wanted to make an impact on his hometown, where property prices had bottomed out during the Great Recession. Selling real estate emerged as a natural path to his investing goals. Besides helping clients buy and sell homes, Spivey invests in rundown properties and brings them back to life. When he decided the town needed a good breakfast spot, he and his wife renovated a restaurant space and operated it long enough to show the demand. The restaurant remains a hot spot. “It’s cool to see your impact so quickly,” he says. “I’m doing what I hoped to be doing.”