Story of the Quilt Presented to “The General” Bob Snyder at the VERY FIRST South Texas ISA Regional Training

November 21-22, 2008
By ISA Stacey Powers
Cedar Creek, TX

Facts tell, stories sell……..Here is the Story of the quilt…….

What do you get the man who has everything….or could buy it if he really wanted it??

Something unique, something uniquely Texas - to represent the South Texas Nouveau Riche Community…

A one-of-a-kind work of art for the very first South Texas ISA Regional Training – a gift for our Co-Founder, Bob Snyder - a “small” 3’ x 5’ wall-hanging quilt!

Historically, quilts tell a story of life, so this is the story of the quilt!

This quilt is very much like Nouveau Riche itself. In Nouveau Riche, we have people from all across the United States coming here, to Austin, to build the Nouveau Riche Community. We have people, like my partner, Brent Nelson, who found Nouveau Riche after traveling from Florida to Austin to hear Curt Maly speak at the Real Estate Investment Club of Austin.

Friendships are made, partnerships created, and we are all on an incredible path of growth for ourselves, our businesses, and our Nouveau Riche Community. In this quilt, we included ideas, pictures and symbols that represent many of the things that are uniquely South Texas! We have different pieces coming together, growing and expanding, ever-changing, improving, evolving - much like Nouveau Riche!

I had some ideas. I made a sketch, much like our Nouveau Riche “napkin presentation,” and when I ran out of ideas, I went to some of my community members to gather more ideas and information – some of those ideas are incorporated into this quilt.

Tony Zavala had an awesome training in San Antonio and several ideas that were gathered from some of the community members there are blended into this quilt, too. Like our South Texas Nouveau Riche Community, which has experienced such tremendous growth in just a year, this quilt continued to grow and expand as well….just too many things to include. As you can see, it’s not 3’ x 5 any longer!

At College, we learn about rehabbing – there was a little rehabbing on this quilt, too! We learn about budgeting for a project, and what happens when you change your plans mid-stream....takes longer, costs more! Who has done that one?

In College, we learn about leverage….Bob, I want to ask you to make sure to show Jim YOUR quilt……..and tell him his quilt is waiting for him to come to South Texas – can I book him for February or March? How about a March Intensive™, right before the April College?

While we give thanks throughout the year, at Thanksgiving time, we pay a bit more attention to the things we are thankful for. I am very thankful to you, Bob, and to Jim and Mary, for the vision you hold while creating such an incredible vehicle for changing our lives and the lives of those we touch. I am grateful to Curt Maly and his business partner, Tom Bucacek, for their leadership and dedication to growing the South Texas Community. To Martin Dunn for inviting us to join his family for their 4th of July celebration, to Roy and Diane for their love and support – to all of my new friends and Nouveau Riche family here in Austin and across the country.

I am especially grateful to my partner, Brent Nelson, for the incredible friendship and support he has offered me since the day I attended my first Austin Nouveau Riche meeting. Without the synergy and sharing of ideas, and Brent’s skills with the computer, this quilt would not have become the creation it is.

Of course, we had to include some hot chocolate for Bob, photos of Austin, Houston and San Antonio, and our local “Keep Austin Weird” morphed into “Keep Austin RICHE,” throw in a few Longhorns, and our PRICELESS T-shirt from Nouveaulution, and we were well on our way. Personality types…knowledge is also priceless, so it is represented here by DISC, the colors and the animals, we have learned from Jeffrey Combs. Thank you, Bob, for coming to South Texas! See More Photos!