We were lucky to catch up with Jay Field recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jay , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about the early days of establishing your own firm. What can you share?

Being in the Finance and Real Estate space at a young age gave me the insight that I would one day want to lead a firm of my own. My aspiration has always been to become a minority Hedge Fund Chief Investment Officer/CEO in an industry where people who look like me are rarely represented. Getting my real estate license and learning the industry from the retail side gave me an invaluable perspective on what clients value when it comes to renting, buying, and selling. I gained a deep understanding of the designs, appliances, locations, and other factors that retail clients prioritize. This knowledge has been instrumental in running a firm whose investment products and funds are built around real estate, generating passive income for our clients on a quarterly basis from their initial investments with us. Nearly two years ago, my business partner, Marques Johnson, and I began planning and preparing to launch this firm. The journey has been incredible, though not without its challenges. We knew we would face trial and error as minority principals building an alternative investment firm, but we remained committed to our vision.

One piece of advice I always share with anyone looking to launch a venture is to approach it with intention and passion. Understand that success takes time—it’s not just around the corner but down the road, requiring patience, dedication, and hard work.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born in Dayton, Ohio, and moved around a lot because my father was in the military—a sacrifice for which I’ve always appreciated him and everyone who has served. Growing up in various places was challenging as a kid, especially trying to make friends. In the 90s, before social media, it was easy to lose touch with people when you moved, especially if, like me, you were relocating to different states. Looking back, I realized something about my childhood that I hadn’t understood at the time. When I was 11 and living in Georgia, I ran a small lawn care business in my neighborhood. It was during that time that the spark to become a business owner began to ignite inside me, even if I didn’t fully grasp it then. Like many kids, I also dreamed of playing in the NBA. But life is full of twists and turns, and I eventually had to accept that basketball wasn’t in the cards for me. I knew I wanted to live a certain lifestyle, and that realization led me to pivot my focus. In college, I switched my major from pre-med to business because spending 12 years in school and completing a residency didn’t align with my goals. I became fascinated with how money works, which eventually led me to intern at an investment firm in Newport Beach, California. That experience gave me a valuable perspective and set me on the path to where I am today in 2025.

Today, my firm is an Alternative Investment firm. We help clients diversify their capital and retirement portfolios beyond traditional stocks and bonds. We also assist clients who want to invest in real estate but prefer not to manage the projects themselves. By investing in various real estate ventures, we provide a way for our clients to achieve safe yet aggressive returns. Our firm offers an investment floor of a 3.8% annualized return, giving our clients peace of mind. We solve key problems for our clients by enabling diversification and offering real estate investment opportunities without the need for a large down payment. With the expertise of our experienced staff, we prioritize safety while delivering strong results. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, especially as a minority-led firm in an industry where over 93% of the players are not minorities. We’re doing something unique, and it’s incredibly fulfilling to break barriers while delivering value to our clients.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Transparency, availability, and treating all clients equally are, in my opinion, the keys to success. One common mistake people make is giving special treatment to clients who are bigger names or bring in more money at the time. What they often fail to realize is that you never know who knows who, where people are in their lives, or where they’re headed. For example, someone might initially invest $250,000 with you, but five years later, they could become your biggest client—not just through their own investments, but because your transparency, trust, and equal treatment earned their referrals. These referrals could ultimately surpass the value of even your largest client. Treating everyone with respect can elevate your career to heights you never imagined. However, this doesn’t mean tolerating disrespectful clients. It means treating every client with the same level of care and professionalism as if you were managing Warren Buffett’s money.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Growing up, prior to my parents’ separation, we lived in a modest, one-income Army household. We were fortunate to live in a newly built home—an experience many people never get to have. However, after my parents split and we moved from California to Georgia in the late 1990s/early 2000s, things became much more challenging. During middle school, I attended three different schools because of the separation. My parents’ split happened just a year after my 7th-grade year, not long after we had moved from California following my 6th-grade year. After Georgia, we moved to Tennessee, where my older sister, my mother, and I lived in a small, two-bedroom apartment with no furniture and barely enough food. We survived on just a few thousand dollars a month. When my sister turned 18 during her senior year (her birthday is in October), her portion of the child support was cut off, further reducing what little we had. Going from having my own bed to sleeping on the floor at 13 or 14 years old, unsure if I’d even have food that day, was a difficult reality to face. Adding to the stress, we were uprooted again to another state, which weighed heavily on me. At 14, I began seeking out jobs to help in any way I could. Moving to North Carolina after Tennessee meant starting over again at new schools, which was draining. The education system in North Carolina was different from Tennessee, and adjusting was difficult. To graduate on time, I had to attend night school while also making it to basketball practice—a hectic schedule, especially during my senior year. Through it all, I’ve always focused on pushing forward. I understand that things could have been worse and that people face even greater challenges every day. That perspective keeps me humble and grounded. It also fuels my determination to ensure that my children never have to experience that level of uncertainty—the “unknown” that I lived through.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rocfieldcapital.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayfieldiii/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-a-field-iii-22580959/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rocfield-lending-partners-newport-beach-2

Image Credits

DTLA Dr Self Tape