We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Keith Harris. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Keith below.
Keith, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Keyz Investments has taken on the mission to provide affordable, available, quality homes for military families while in transition to their local or distant assignment(s). The experience(s) that ignited this passion began when my family and I transitioned to Korea several years ago. Despite trying to arrange some type of housing numerous months ahead of time, the availability was not there when we arrived in the country. My wife and I did lots of praying and brainstorming over the next several days. After speaking with the military housing office, they placed in a nice place-and my family was comfortable. That’s what mattered most to me.
Upon departing Korea and arriving in Washington, we settled in our hotel room. The next day, we spoke with the local housing office. There was no availability again. I had to understand that all housing requests had a wait time of about 6-12 weeks. The housing available through private vendors was extremely limited to units sized from studio to 2-bedroom units. I was extremely worried about having to absorb the cost of having live in a 1-bedroom hotel room with my wife, two teenage boys, 3 years old, and 2 dogs, for the next few months.
While exercising, trying to manage my stress, I had an idea. Why is there limited housing in this area? What can I do to get my family in a place they could call home? I need to get them somewhere; and soon. Well, this kind of situation should not be that hard to resolve. I said to myself, no military family should have a place for their children to lay their heads at night. Hence, Keys Investments: Providing open doors for military families.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
This is a great question. I hail from a small city known as Compton, California. Upon completion of one year of college, I entered the US. Army. While serving in the Armed Forces, I completed 30 years of service. It was while serving, that I “stumbled” into this industry. It was while experiencing the challenges of transitioning duty assignments, that the idea of creating available housing for military families ignited this passion within my spirit.
The primary focus for military families is to gain the beautiful, affordable base housing when they arrive at their new location. However most convenient, it is my opinion that this type of comfortable housing not be restricted to on-base access.
Since Keys Investments provides available housing for military families in transition, this minimizes the worry of searching for costly hotels (if/when rooms are available), and families are in direct communication with a facilitator who’s sympathetic and empathetic to their situation and needs.
Keys Investments provides residence(s) that are in safe, comfortable neighborhoods. The idea is to be within a reasonable distance from the local base to minimize travel needs within the local area. Families new their respective area will have one less thing to worry about with minimal drive time to their military facilities. In an effort to assist more military families in transition, Keyz Investments is increasing inventory as it is available within the local community. Please understand that we may require additional time to ensure a property is in a turnkey state. The goal is to not only have temporary, transitional quarters available, but also have housing for families that want a residence under lease.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
As you may know, my wife is also my business partner. We met while attending Technical College in Savannah, Georgia. Some might say it was simply fate, but we like to believe it was part of God’s plan. It all began when I enrolled in a class to work toward my associate’s degree in Applied Science. I had used my last bit of money to cover the class fees, only to realize afterward that my children needed funds as well—and I had just spent everything I had. I dropped the class to use the funds for my children, only to find out they didn’t actually need the money after all. When I tried to re-enroll in the online class, it was already full, so I went with the next best option and signed up for an in-person class instead. On the first day of class, she walked in. Somehow, I didn’t even need my glasses to see clearly. Everything around me sharpened—colors grew vivid, and time seemed to speed up. I watched her walk from the door to her seat, feeling a wave of excitement wash over me. My classmate and I both watched her as she entered. He said, “She’s going to be my girlfriend.” I replied, “Nope, you’re thinking too small. That’s a real woman. She’s going to be my wife.” He laughed and asked, “What if she already has a boyfriend?” I shrugged and said, “That’s fine. He’s temporary. I’m the real deal.” “Besides,” I added, “I’m her future.” But, of course, for any of this to work, we actually had to meet first! Fast-forward a bit, and we did finally meet—and we clicked instantly. She asked me why I’d been looking at her so intently. I simply said, “Because I’m your future.” I told her, “I’m going to marry you, and you’re going to get your Ph.D.” She laughed and brushed it off. But, as fate would have it, she married me a few years later. And here we are, still going strong to this day.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
As I mentioned, I served 30 years in the military, and the transition to civilian life was challenging. I didn’t take any time off for myself and jumped straight into a role as a Cloud Engineer with Amazon. I quickly noticed that I sometimes reacted too aggressively when coworkers displayed anything less than professional behavior—whether through verbal responses, body language, or actions. When Amazon experienced a massive layoff, I found myself feeling oddly grateful. The paycheck was great, but rediscovering myself was invaluable. I took several months to renew my marriage, my business, my faith, and myself. Since then, I’ve taken on a role with my current employer that allows me to travel globally at a discount, enabling my wife and me to visit our property in Colorado and explore other potential out-of-state investments.
