Vergara loves a challenge, and he wants fellow Hispanics to challenge themselves, too. “I’ve seen clients plan for retirement by banking on their savings and their home being paid off,” he says. But Vergara is on a mission to educate Hispanics to think bigger. “I want to bring Hispanics together to purchase real estate they wouldn’t be able to purchase on their own,” he says. He does that by uniting mostly Spanish-speaking investors, who each purchase a fractional ownership interest in large commercial projects. He closed 27 transaction sides last year totaling $10 million. 

A LESSON LEARNED: Early in his career, a few transactions fell apart because of Vergara’s mistakes. Those taught him key lessons. “If you think a transaction is standard, it won’t be,” he says. “Now I don’t take anything for granted.” 

ON THE GO: Vergara’s an action junkie. He’s training for a marathon and loves thriller movies. “They make me cringe, but that’s what I’m there for,” he says. “And I love not being in the office every day, being at real estate projects, and putting 25,000 miles on my car every year.”