Take a look at the “Origin Story” of James Mansfield, the CEO of West Village GC (212-649-4632). From a high school dropout to a Royal Family butler to founding Manhattan’s luxury general contracting company, there is much to be learned from James’ life.
We are told that the best stories follow a specific path, with the main character easily going from point A to point B. But we know that this rarely happens in real life. The road to point B is often littered with many checkpoints, side quests, and “distractions”. In fact, the best stories are those that don’t follow a clear path at all. This is where the integrity of our characters is often shown. How do we respond? How do we move forward?
Hear one more story of a man who consistently showed his quality at https://www.westvillagegc.com/team-members/james-g-mansfield/
James G. Mansfield, CEO & Founder of West Village GC, shares his success story about his relatively humble beginnings to leading one of the finest luxury renovations in Manhattan. Growing up as the son of a successful developer in Northern England, James says this road to success was not linear, but a series of happy misfortunes that led him to understand his true calling.
He says that even though some people may view his past as all over the place, every situation taught him valuable lessons about being a compassionate CEO.
James cheekily describes himself as a “weird anomaly” in the real estate and construction industry. A high school dropout with the rare gift of special visualization (which means that he can see 2D and 3D models in his head), James spent his early years as a Royal Butler, serving the Royal Family and Sir James Ogilvy for years. He then decided to shift careers to becoming a professional sailor in the Caribbean. It was here that he was given advice that he would never forget, “Stay passionate, James. You’ll live a fulfilled life”.
Quite coincidentally, between race seasons, the owner made James his Jr. Engineer on his mega yacht. James, still unsure of what he wanted to do, studied mechanical engineering, refrigeration, air conditioning, electrical, carpentry, and millwork. He became dedicated to learning how to design practical, comfortable, yet luxurious designs of yachts, which foreshadowed his eventual success in the construction business.
He spent some time on Wall Street but immediately disliked it. He says, "Investment banking would be my ticket out of academic mediocrity. But I hated it. Soon my only dream was being hit by a bus to avoid going to work. Eventually, they fired me for being useless. I needed a new career."
Before being fired, he had bought an apartment in West Village, NY for $325K, and spent $50k on it. This started his eventual career as a luxury general contractor. He eventually sold his apartment for $1 million.
James says that he founded West Village GC with the sole purpose of providing excellent service - his company offers complete luxury renovations for clients across Manhattan, handling every step from design to completion. So far, the company has carried out various high-end renovation projects in the area that you can view on his company's website.
"We operate from a simple standard: Do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it, for the price you said you were going to do it for. It’s simply the West Village GC way," he explains.
James clarifies that although his history may seem like a hodgepodge of careers, each step led him to understand his true passions and skills. His innovative nature and creative spirit have been fundamental in shaping West Village GC into the company it is today.
Go to https://www.westvillagegc.com/team-members/james-g-mansfield/ so you can learn more.
