Mark Hudson

Mark grew up in Pearl River, New York, the youngest of ten children. He has seven sisters and two brothers. Needless to say, there was always something going on in their house and he had to figure out pretty quickly how to get along. Although their house was big, they had only one bathroom, so some would consider it a functionally obsolete home in today’s market. They did not know any different. While Mark’s siblings would argue that he was spoiled, he worked to make money any way that he could: washing cars, delivering newspapers, cleaning floors at the local convenience store and scratching my sisters’ backs…

After graduating from high school, Mark attended American University in Washington, DC. He chose to major in political science because he always had an intense interest in politics and government. During his last two years at American, Mark tended bar in Georgetown. He earned enough to pay all his tuition and upkeep, thrilled his parents, and had a great time working in a college bar – Mark thought he was pretty cool! After deciding that he did not want to remain in the restaurant business, he took a job as a radio dispatcher in the services division at IBM; it was just about the lowest level job you could get. From there, he moved into an administrative position in the marketing division and eventually worked his way up to being a marketing representative. Mark’s ten years at IBM were invaluable, but the greatest thing he learned during that time was how to see your customers as your partners, always treating them fairly and bending over backwards to do the right thing on their behalf.

For his next career move, Mark became a mortgage loan officer with BF Saul in Bethesda, MD, a change that gave him the opportunity to work for a smaller company and be more of his own boss. Within his first year, he had moved into the top 10% of all loan officers in the company. Despite his success and how much he enjoyed the work, Mark had three small children at home by this time and needed to switch to a job with a steadier source of income and benefits.

His next stop was Cap Gemini, the largest computer system integrator in Europe with a small footprint here in the States. By luck, Mark found his way into the telecom department during the telecom boom years. He was in the right place at the right time; he did great system implementations for their clients and the work was fun. The customers appreciated Mark’s efforts to do right by them and fix any issues when they arose. He spent seven years at Cap Gemini – every year his sales were in the top 5% and one year, he was the top salesperson in the entire company in the United States. All in all, it was a great experience. When the boom ended, Cap Gemini merged with another company, and he decided that it was time to move on to his next endeavor.

Remembering how much he enjoyed being a loan officer and the real estate business, in general, he decided to take the plunge and become a real estate agent instead of returning to lending. Looking back, he has to say it was a pretty gutsy move – Mark was getting into a business that 80% of new agents get out of after just one year. But, by that point, Mark had a solid sales history, loved working with people and knew he could handle it. He has now been an agent for fifteen years – he has sold over three hundred homes and over $150 million in residential sales. Mark absolutely loves his job. He has met the most interesting people and no two days are the same. While he works odd hours and his weekends are not always free, he has never regretted the decision to become an agent for a single minute. This career choice has also given him flexibility; he works hard for his clients, has never missed something that is important to his kids, and his success is 100% dependent on himself.

Mark’s spare time is spent with his four kids: Keegan a graduate of University of St. Andrews in Scotland, Reilly is a graduate of Towson University, Quincy is a junior at Towson and Tully who is a at Montgomery College.