We were lucky to catch up with Tony Cho recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tony, 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?

The values of giving back, community service, and environmental activism are ingrained in my blood. I grew up in an intentional interfaith community that was started by my grandmother along the St. Sebastian River in Florida. As part of my upbringing, helping others and seeing how people could negatively impact nature is something that inspired how I live now.

For example, I worked a lot with people who had HIV/AIDS in the early days of the epidemic, many of which had no living family members. Going through this experience, and witnessing so much pain and suffering around me, sparked my real appreciation and zest for life and community. In addition, I also witnessed how changemakers can better the world we live in today.

Going through these experiences led me to put my passions into a career by making change through companies I have founded that includes Metro 1, Future of Cities, and ChoZen, which advocates mindful and eco-conscious living.

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 background and context?

On a professional and personal level, I have always focused on driving transformative change in the communities where I live and work. I wear many hats as I am the founder of one Miami’s most progressive and forward-thinking commercial real estate brokerages, Metro 1; one of the original founders of the Magic City Innovation District, a 17-acre project in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood built upon the pillars of technology, art, sustainability, and wellness; and most recently founded and currently serve as CEO of Future of Cities, a real estate investment platform, think tank, and technology ecosystem.

In addition, with my wife Ximena, we created ChoZen, an eco-retreat located in Sebastian, Florida, and the Cho Family Foundation, which is dedicated to environmental, wildlife, and indigenous culture awareness and preservation as well as mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. The Foundation has supported organizations such as the Chopra Foundation, Amazon Watch, and Path of the Panther.

How did you get into your industry/business/discipline/craft etc.?

I think my professional life came full circle to intersect with my upbringing. Growing up on an ashram and with a protected sanctuary as my backyard, I had an immediate appreciation for community and nature. This started with real estate, then evolved with the creation of ChoZen, and is now being further realized with Future of Cities.

What type of products/services/creative works do you provide?

I founded multiple companies that reflect my values. This started with my commercial brokerage Metro 1 – which focused on placemaking and the curation of local business that created a unique sense of community – and now Future of Cities – my new venture that aims to change the ways cities are designed, built and maintained in an effort to improve the quality of life for people.

I also live on my own eco-retreat ChoZen, at which I host private retreats and gatherings for thought leaders, changemakers, and community builders who seek reconnection to nature, the pursuit of mindfulness, and are committed to a better way of living. My goal in creating this space was to allow guests to discover connection and restoration through activities focused on wellness and nature immersion, through disconnecting from a world of distractions and feeding souls through wellness programming, nature immersions, culinary experiences and more.

What do you think sets you apart from others?

I am not afraid to take a risk, think beyond just financial return, and chart a different path. For example, given our current climate crisis, I wanted to raise awareness and drive meaningful change when it comes to not just how buildings are being built, but what role the indigenous and longstanding communities have in the preservation and reshaping of the environments in where they live.

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

I first began my journey as an entrepreneur in 2005 when I opened my first business, Metro 1, a real estate brokerage located in Wynwood, which has transitioned from an art district to one of Miami’s hottest neighborhoods and booming commercial real estate markets.

Like any business, when I opened a large office, I had significant overhead. Shortly after the opening, the market collapsed in the Great Recession of 2008.

Overnight the phones stopped ringing, the market lost 50 percent of its value, and I had multiple properties that I could not move. Business came to a halt and I was losing my home to foreclosure.

Many in my situation would have lost hope due to fear and discouragement. It was a very scary moment and at many times I thought about giving up and throwing in the towel – but I persevered and worked out each of my challenges one by one, day by day.

Through these challenges, it gave me an opportunity to see areas of improvement I could be making in my business model. Taking the time to evaluate and improve my business during a hard time was the perfect medicine to recover and attract the most qualified talent to become the most dominant company in ‘Magic City’ within a few years. I chose to invest in companies I believed in, where I saw success and that took me a long way in building my businesses and career.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In my late teens and early 20s I was working in hospitality and nightlife in South Beach. I was having the time of my life, meeting amazing people from all over the world, and living the life of a rock star.

At the time, I thought my life was a dream and there were no worries in the world.

However, I knew this lifestyle wouldn’t last forever and that I needed to grow and expand my professional career. That is when I decided to get my real estate license and started to focus on leveraging my existing clientbase – high-profile people and VIPs – to sell them luxury homes and condos.

Honestly, it was very difficult to transition from nightlife to real estate: the main struggle being that real estate is based solely on reputation and I worried that clients would not take me seriously and trust me with major investments.

Working out the kinks, I struggled to find my path. However, I soon discovered my passion for commercial real estate investment, making Miami a better place to work, live and play. Combining my focus on shaping and creating neighborhoods with my desire to advocate for eco-conscious living, this led me to Wynwood and Little Haiti where I founded the Magic City Innovation District.

And as they would say, the rest is history.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.focities.com and www.chozenretreat.com
• Instagram: @chotimelive
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FOCities/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chotimelive/
• Twitter: @tonychomrmagic

Image Credits
ChoZen