Jon Elliott, Creoteric Commercial Real Estate, Virginia Beach Fire Department – The Virginian-Pilot

Age: 39

Job title: President (for Creoteric) and Fire Captain (for VBFD)

At work: At Creoteric, I help business owners and investors find specific properties to lease or purchase and then assist with negotiations, contracts, processes and applicable connections. I also represent property owners who need to find tenants for their vacant space or sell their property. At the fire department, I am the captain at Company 17-C in Sandbridge, where my team is trained as firefighters, emergency medical technicians and fire rescue swimmers.

Home and family: I grew up in Chesapeake but have lived in Virginia Beach since 2003, so I claim Virginia Beach as my hometown at this point! I am blessed to not only have an amazing 16-year-old daughter, Brooke, who is currently studying in the Legal Studies Academy at First Colonial High School, but also two stepdaughters from previous relationships whom I love like my own: Sydney, 21, who is also a First Colonial alum, and Ava, 14, who is in the Business and Entrepreneurship Academy at Kempsville High School.

Volunteer activities: I currently serve on the St. Jude Walk/Run committee and the Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate holiday party planning committee. I also volunteer at the Central Virginia Burn Camp serving children with burn injuries and Roc Solid Foundation for pediatric cancer patients. I also organize a VBFD flag football team each year for the Battling Cancer Series Flag Football Tournament, which raises funds for a specific firefighter battling cancer at the time of the tournament. Previous volunteer activities include 10 years as a youth softball and basketball coach, VBFD peer mental health counselor and VBFD Members Action Committee member.

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Motivating factor: My reputation means everything to me so I am driven to be great at all that I do without ever compromising my moral and ethical standards. I want every client to be happy with the service that I provide, but most of all, I want my family and friends to be proud of who I am as a person.

Advice to young people: First, how you do anything is how you do everything. If you let yourself slack off in one area, that will creep into other areas without you even realizing it. Second, take care of people and always try to do the right thing, even if it’s more difficult or isn’t as profitable. The reward doesn’t always come quickly, but once people know that you are trustworthy and have others’ best interest at heart, you will find yourself surrounded by like-minded people and your life will be so much better for it! Lastly, don’t take life too seriously. You can be successful and have fun doing it too!

Professional goal in five years: I would love to build a thriving commercial brokerage team, add to my own commercial real estate ownership portfolio and help my daughters get started on their own professional journeys.

The one thing I’d change about Hampton Roads: “Regionalization” has been a buzz word in our area for quite a while now and with good reason. Whether it is relating to an arena, light rail, educational facilities, major events or attracting large companies, I would love to see more joint-effort projects between the local cities that ultimately will benefit everyone.

Region’s biggest asset: Diversity! I’m sure that being such a transient military town has a lot to do with it, but there are many different cultures and styles to learn and appreciate. It shows up in restaurants, festivals, concerts and other events throughout the area.

Downtime: Working out, running, playing pickup sports, watching University of Virginia sports, reading, listening to music, going to concerts and spending quality time with family and friends.

What really gets under my skin: People who are inconsiderate of others.