Meet Vance Lile

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vance Lile. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vance below.

Vance, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I like to think of my work ethic as self made. My first taste of entrepreneurship was when I was only 7 years old. It was 1977. Growing up in a very poor family limited my resources. The only way that I was going to get or do anything that I wanted was to do it or earn it myself. This is why I decided to start my own aircraft brokerage. I sold paper air planes door to door for 5 cents each. This allowed me to spend the rest of my Saturdays at Crickets corner, a local ice cream parlor with a few video game machines. I was able to keep my brokerage above water for about two years before my cuteness wore off. My strategy quickly turned to contract work. I started delivering new papers door to door after school. This newfound Financial independence had me hooked. I was locked in. Fast forward to 1991, I became a single parent of a 1 & 2 year old at the age of 21. I decided to put myself through college later to graduate with my degree in Administration of Justice. As I started my new career in law enforcement, I found it difficult to park my entrepreneurship so I started a side business in the real estate services industry. I soon found that entrepreneurship and raising children were eerily similar. The only difference is that if you raise your business right it will take care of you in the end. It was 2014 and with the kids grown and gone, I was finally able to throw caution to the wind again and started my homer inspection business. 3 Rivers Home Inspections is still going strong.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Since 2014 I have been living my dream as a business owner doing what I love to do. Being a Home inspector is my dream job for many reasons.
My inspections and reports formally introduce families to their new home and the exciting adventures to follow.
One of my professional specialties and passions is inspecting historical homes.
My reports are the frontline factors on how a historical homes renovation will begin and end.
Imagine getting to be part of team that brings real American history back to life!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I grew up in a very poor family. At the time it was no fun at all however, I cannot tell you how happy I am for it now. That experience taught me to go get it, seize it, and own it. It taught me to be a self motivator, it taught me self discipline, self respect, but most importantly, it keeps me humble.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

Everyone is going to face obsticals in life weather your an entrepreneur or not. I learned a long time ago that the best way to overcome an obstacle is to become the obstacle. When I first became a home inspector, the industry was fairly new as to being a governed entity. There were many gray areas and questions that were unfamiliar to even the State. Lack of information posed an obstacle. How is one supposed to grow without all of the information? So, I became part of the State’s Home Inspector Standards of practice Task force which helped define a home inspectors job description.
Be the obstacle!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.InspectorVance.com
• Instagram: @inspectorvance

Image Credits

Image credits to 3 Rivers Home Inspections and Three Rivers Team LLC