I Moved to Tucson, But I Haven’t Left Seattle

One life, two places

Moving to Tucson wasn’t the same as leaving Seattle.

The first thing I say in the video is that I haven’t left Seattle. I mean it. I left a big piece of my heart there: family, friends, coworkers, a real estate team, and relationships built over most of my adult life. A move does not make those things historical.

Seattle is where I learned the business, worked alongside people I respect, and built systems with them. The Pacific Northwest is also where many of my closest relationships remain. I still care about what happens in that market and to the people I worked with there.

This is not an “I escaped Seattle” story. Tucson added something to my life; it did not erase what came before it. That distinction matters personally, and it matters professionally. The Seattle + Tucson part of this site exists because both places are still part of the same story.

A different vantage point

Why Tucson?

Sunshine, more time outside, and a different pace were part of the attraction. But the deeper appeal was space: enough distance from familiar routines to ask whether I wanted to keep working in exactly the same way.

Moving makes ordinary things new again. You learn the neighborhoods, the housing stock, the climate, the drive across town, and the rhythm of a place. You also notice which habits followed you because they are valuable and which followed you simply because you have been repeating them for years.

I didn’t move to stop working. I moved to make room to think differently about work. Tucson became both a place to live and a new market to learn. I’m not claiming to have figured it all out. I’m interested in what changes when I pay attention instead of automatically recreating my Seattle schedule in a warmer place.

Still connected

Seattle is still part of the business.

The Madrona Group remains an important part of my work. I am still connected to the team and to the people who have built it with me. That experience does not disappear because my mailing address changed.

Years of working in Greater Seattle real estate taught me how much a business depends on trust, local knowledge, and follow-through. It also taught me how difficult it is to build good systems around those relationships. I still bring that perspective to the team and to the work I do now.

So if you knew me in Seattle, I haven’t vanished. And if you discovered me in Tucson, you are meeting someone whose professional roots are still in another market. I think the connection between the two places can be useful.

A practical bridge

Building a Seattle-to-Tucson relocation business.

We just made the move ourselves. It was exciting and challenging, sometimes on the same day. That experience does not make me an expert on every neighborhood or every move. It does give me firsthand questions worth answering and a real reason to learn the Tucson market carefully.

People considering a similar move have to make decisions in two places at once: when to sell, when to buy, what to do with the overlap, and how to evaluate homes from a distance. The housing stock, climate, and daily routines are different enough that familiar assumptions do not always transfer neatly.

I want to document those practical details honestly: what we learned, what surprised us, and what I would ask earlier if I were doing it again. I am building my Tucson real estate work with that perspective, while remaining connected to Seattle. Explore the Seattle + Tucson hub →

Income with context

Multiple streams, without pretending I have it all figured out.

For much of my career, income came from businesses that needed my direct attention. I’m curious whether experience, an audience, useful content, and better systems can create several smaller streams rather than making everything depend on one giant thing.

That might include real estate, consulting, technology partnerships, recommendations, content, and investments. Some experiments will be worth keeping; some will not. I want to be clear about the difference and about any financial relationship behind a recommendation.

That is why What Works for Me is built around things I actually use, have used, or am genuinely testing. A product does not become good because there is a referral link. The context is the useful part.

A different kind of reset

Starting over at 53.

In the video, I say I feel as though I’m starting at ground zero. That can sound strange after decades in real estate and business. I do not mean that I have no experience, relationships, skills, or history. I mean I am beginning again at the question of what I want those things to be for.

Starting over at 53 does not mean erasing the first thirty years of my career. It means deciding what deserves to come with me. I know how to work hard. The newer challenge is choosing where that effort goes and what kind of life it makes possible.

I expect to bring some of my strengths forward: sales, teaching, building systems, explaining technology, and connecting people. I am less certain which old obligations still belong. That uncertainty is part of the work, not a failure to have a plan.

Understanding myself

Understanding autism changed how I think about the future.

I was diagnosed with autism later in life. It did not replace my history with a new explanation for everything. It did give me a framework for understanding patterns in how I work, focus, use energy, build routines, and respond to change.

That understanding affects the questions I ask about the future. What kind of environment lets me do good work? Which obligations create useful structure, and which just drain me? When is intensity a strength, and when do I need more room around it?

I’m still learning. I don’t need this article to become an autism explainer; I do want to be honest that the diagnosis is part of how I’m designing the next chapter. There is more about that on REINVENT.

Still in progress

I don’t know exactly where this goes.

I don’t have a perfectly mapped-out five-year plan for this, and I am trying to stop pretending I need one. I know the questions I want to pursue. I know there are things I have learned that may help someone else. I know Seattle matters to me and Tucson is giving me room to see what else is possible.

At the end of the video, I go to the gym and then make dinner. That is not a throwaway ending. The next chapter is going to happen in ordinary days as much as in big announcements. I will keep sharing the work in real time, as honestly as I can.