In 2017, LeVar Love left behind his six-figure corporate job, complete with an American Express card, company car, and virtually unlimited expenses. For a self-described “simple guy” who grew up happy with bologna sandwiches and Cap’n Crunch, he had built a comfortable life for his family. Walking away from that security wasn’t simple. “My wife thought I was crazy,” Love recalls.

“The fear was not being able to do all of the things for my family that I had been able to do in the past,” he explains. “You have to understand, my passion is being a business owner. You’re doing it because you love it – not just because of money.”

Today, Love’s real estate development company transforms abandoned properties into affordable homes, provides construction training to local residents, and builds wealth in underserved communities. His story shows how someone can step away from a comfortable corporate job and build something meaningful – not by following a perfect plan, but by preparing smart, building solid relationships, and staying focused on what matters.

Learning the Foundations of Business

Love had built an impressive background: an MBA in finance, a real estate license since the early 2000s, and over 10 years of multi-unit experience with Fortune 50 companies, including Home Depot, Bridgestone, and Advanced Auto Parts.

His very first day at Home Depot taught him an invaluable lesson about job security. As a new supervisor and the only HR representative in the room, he watched as the store manager handled a reduction in force – what they called a “riff.” “My first day with this great company, which to this day, I’ll tell you, still is the best company I’ve worked for, Home Depot. I walked in, and they were letting people go,” Love recalls. “I went home, I was like, ‘Whoa, I’m being hired… but they’re letting people go. There’s no security here.'”

This realization sparked his drive for independence. During his long commutes as a multi-unit manager, Love immersed himself in audiobooks. He particularly valued “Good to Great” by Jim Collins and “The One Minute Manager,” which he listened to each year over five years. “I basically got two or three MBAs instead of just one because of all the audiobooks I listened to,” he says. His corporate role was demanding – “70 hours a week during the spring at Home Depot” – but the education he gained during those commutes laid the groundwork for his future ventures. More recently, he would add “Buy Back Your Time” by Dan Martell to his essential reading list, as this book has helped him scale his business using modern tools and systems.

Love’s personal philosophy shaped his business approach. “I’m a very simple guy,” he explains. “I could go a week with a pack of bologna, a loaf of bread, a box of Cap’n Crunch cereal, some milk, and a couple of packets of Kool-Aid. I’m good.” This mindset helped him weather the uncertainties of business ownership.

From Corporate Life to Business Owner

Love’s path to independence began in 1999 with his first property purchase. His initial strategy was straightforward: “I was supposed to buy one investment property a year for 10 years,” he explains. With properties ranging from $60,000 to $125,000, the plan would have built him a million-dollar portfolio.

His second property purchase proved pivotal. A townhouse bought at the right price turned into his first source of capital. “I got it at an amazing price,” Love explains. “In like six to nine months, it went up like 30, 40% in value because of the comps around it. So my first seed money came from me getting a line of credit on that property.”

With the $20,000 line of credit, Love saw an opportunity in auto repair. “We used that money to buy the furniture, the POS system, and all of the things that we needed to get the Car People off the ground. And we use a lot of used furniture from Goodwill and stuff like that,” Love explains. The business started at around $250,000-300,000 in its first year and grew to do $1.6 million last year.

As his businesses grew, Love faced new challenges. “We got to a point somewhere between a million to two million in revenue, where it was like, we would just start to crash and burn. Because it was burnout, it was frustration,” he shares. This experience taught him a valuable lesson about growth: “Don’t hire to grow, hire to buy back your time so you can go and do something else.”

Love took this same thoughtful approach to his transition from corporate life. “30 days before I left, when our relationship was great, I asked my wife, could we go to counseling?” he recalls. “I wanted to go to counseling in case things got bad and talk through a plan. What if things do go bad? How will we handle it?” This proactive step proved valuable – it helped both him and his wife enter the transition with a sense of security and a clear plan for various scenarios.

Giving Back While Building Forward

Initially hesitant about working with government programs, Love found his true calling through the City of Chicago’s Neighborhood Rebuild Program. His perspective shifted when he met dedicated public servants like Wendell Harris and Will Edwards. “Good people with a great mission, a great vision coming together, that is what’s making this thing work,” he says.

His company also partners with CARA, a pre-apprenticeship program, to provide construction training to local residents. In one West Englewood project, this approach created lasting change. While renovating an abandoned property, Love’s team gives back by teaching local young men skills like drywalling and framing.

When evaluating business opportunities, Love emphasizes looking beyond surface-level numbers. “Sometimes we confuse bad leadership, bad management, maybe bad operational process with a bad business model,” he notes. He points to timing and market readiness as crucial factors. “Right now, I know a lot of people that are talking about solar and the grants and all of this other stuff, but I haven’t went all in because I look at the business model and I say, ah, there’s still a lot of pieces that need to be worked out here.”

He illustrates this point with a practical example: “I go to my auntie and I go to my grandmother and I tell them if I put solar in this house, you’re getting an electric stove. You’re not gonna have your gas stove. Well, then how am I gonna cook Thanksgiving? That turkey, that cake don’t cook the same way in an electric stove.” This ground-level understanding of customer needs shapes his business decisions.

Through the Builder’s Academy in Chicago for minority construction companies, Love learned the value of strategic networking. “Every time he sent me a referral, there was value added,” he says of program leader Kyle Johnson. “I’m literally working with someone right now from a referral and a discovery call I had from Kyle. That’s just how it works.”

Building Your Own Path Forward

“I’m a flipper with amazing relationships,” Love says simply. But his success comes from a clear pattern: start small, spot opportunities, and build genuine connections. He suggests taking those first steps while still in your current job, just as he did during his corporate years.

His advice to anyone thinking about starting a business? “Learn to communicate effectively and network.” But he emphasizes this isn’t about quick wins: “A lot of people go out networking trying to get something right now today. That’s where it comes off like a little used car salesman-type deal. To me, networking is about building relationships with quality people who do quality things.”

“Everything that I do today is because of a relationship that I started a couple years ago,” Love concludes. Looking at his journey from corporate manager to successful business owner, one thing becomes clear: success isn’t about having a perfect plan – it’s about preparing thoroughly, starting small, and building meaningful connections in your chosen field. Whether that’s volunteering at industry events, joining professional programs, or simply reaching out to learn from others doing what you want to do, the path to business ownership starts with a single step.

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