Former Ohio State All-American scores in commercial real estate market

Just days after being cut from the Cincinnati Bengals and retiring from the NFL in 2009, former Ohio State University All-American Mike Doss was at a crossroads. At 28, Doss had no clear direction as to what life would look like outside the game of football.

While some remember him as a standout Buckeye defensive player and a key member of the 2002 National Championship team, Doss was burdened with the pressure many athletes face upon retirement: how to redefine their identity.

"I basically put my hands up and was like, 'Man, I'm burnt out,'" Doss said in a recent interview. "This thing is stressful, just not knowing your next paycheck or your next move and being able to provide for my family. The economy was down and everything was down.”

For nearly nine months, Doss tried to map out what the next phase of his life would look like. Instead of training throughout the summer to prepare for a grueling 16-game regular pro season, Doss sought out opportunities that aligned with his passions, finally settling on marketing and sales.

The Canton native returned to Columbus and took up jobs in medical sales, where he sold medical implants and assisted surgeons with operational equipment for Zimmer Biomet and worked for Johnson & Johnson as a product manager.

While he enjoyed working in sales, Doss said he always had an affinity for real estate. The 39-year-old had rented out subsidized and Section 8 housing, but was often restricted from bigger deals due to his scattered work schedule.

In the fall of 2019, Doss decided to make the transition to real estate full-time after meeting Bob Weiler and his son, Skip, who head the commercial real estate giant The Robert Weiler Company. 

"I was getting to a place where I wanted to make a larger investment, and then, once I crossed a certain threshold, it would become my lifestyle," he said. 

Set to graduate with a master's degree from OSU's Business of Operational Excellence program in December 2019, Doss shadowed Skip Weiler for months to gain more insight into the corporate real estate market.

Doss received his real estate license and began working for the Robert Weiler Company in March, where he's quickly become a bright spot in the office.

"The important things is he wants to learn and has experience selling," Bob Weiler said. "I said if you can sell to doctors, you can certainly sell to entrepreneurs."

Weiler said Doss has added a "calm and gentle approach" to the office and is already closing deals and generating high-profile leads.

"He's fit in beautifully with the rest of us," he said.

Following a quarterback's example

Former OSU and NFL quarterback Bob Hoying made a similar transition to commercial real estate. After six seasons in the league, he partnered with Brent Crawford to form Crawford Hoying in Dublin, where he guides the company's $750 million in new development business.

Like Doss, the former third-round pick was thinking about life after football following his final season in the NFL in 2000.

He began investing in properties during his playing days, setting the ground for a second career that's spanned 20-plus years. Still, Hoying said he was saddened by the thought of leaving the game he loved and having to start a new career. 

"Even though I had an avenue, there's a point where you realize your football career is over with," he said. "You go through mild depression and then it's all over; you're still trying to find what's next in life."

Having had the same experience, Hoying said he's proud of the strides Doss has made and is confident he will be successful in his new role. 

Family rules

Since working under the Weiler family, Doss says he's embraced the importance of growing in true business and expanding his brand to establish a legacy outside the game of football, one he can pass on to his wife, Jasmine, and three daughters Cadence, 3, Jordan, 6, and Mariah, 8 and younger brother, Anthony Kirk Jr., 18.

"It afforded me a good lifestyle, but I wanted more time with my family ... I decided to go all in, so that was it," Doss said.

Doss said he's looking forward to the challenges that come with commercial real estate, especially with him being one of the few minorities in the business. But knowing there's a family atmosphere at the Weiler Company, there hasn't been overwhelming pressure to learn on his own.

"Having that team around me has made a world of difference, versus being an individual agent trying to find my way," he said.

But Doss said the initial move to real estate wasn't without its struggles. He and others have faced the same challenges surrounding COVID-19, which has gravely affected the economy and prompted local businesses to shut down their offices and shift to virtual work spaces.

Still, Weiler said the three-time All-American has had early success due to his past experience in sales and connections as a local fixture among residents and die-hand Buckeye fans. 

Like former OSU football player and two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin, Weiler said Doss' name garners the same attention from prospective buyers.

"I hope and pray that added value is that I'm a local," Doss said. "One of my good friends calls me the small-town celebrity.'

Doss credits his wife for supporting him through the various obstacles and shifts he's made in his life and career.

"She held it down and gave me the support to search for something I liked," he said of Jasmine. "The opportunity to look hard and soul search and pray spiritually so God can point me in the right direction.

"She was the rock even when she didn't want to be." 

Jasmine, 39, who's known Doss since they were both 12, said she's remained by his side in the face of adversity. During times of uncertainty, she gives him positive reinforcement and challenges him to further pursue his passions. And while the real estate industry is a large undertaking, she's confident her husband will continue flourishing in the new role. 

"Where we come from, you're always behind the 8 ball," Jasmine Doss said. "The first expectation is that you're not going to make it, that you won't be successful and if you do anything other than that it's a surprise. I think that's always going to be a driving factor behind everything he does."

As he transitions to another phase in his personal life, Doss said he's focused on building a legacy so his daughters and brother won't have to struggle like he did. 

"I'm just going to continue climbing that ladder of hard work, education and perseverance to really build something for myself and my family, so hopefully my daughters won't have a need."

– The Columbus Dispatch

Changing of the Guard: Camelot Cellars undergoes a rebrand that mirrors the community it serves.

When Renard Green took over as owner of Camelot Cellars in early March, he knew a change was fitting for the 15-year-old wine bar. Nestled inside Olde Towne East, Camelot has now become a thriving urban château, a far cry from its previous look and feel.  

Before Green acquired the local spot, Camelot was known for its deep-rooted Italian influence, even winning 41 medals in national and international wine competitions. Through numerous ownership changes, Camelot largely took up the same décor and style, offering classic Italian dishes to pair with its stockpile of imported wines.  

But the new owner wanted to veer away from the stylings of conventional wineries. Instead, Green swapped out charcuterie boards and chandelier-filled ceilings for vibrant lights, a blaring hip-hop and R&B playlist and a menu filled with Southern comfort favorites such as collard greens, gumbo, po’boys and sweet potato cake. 

“People are looking for places that are culturally different and give them a chance to experience that culture,” Green says. “And I think that’s what we’ve tried to do with Camelot that’s very specific to us.”  

The drink menu also features a number of variations, favoring a list of fruit-forward and semi-sweet white wines and dry reds.  

The Exotic Fruit White Zinfandel is a blend of passion fruit and fresh ripe berries, making for a unique pairing with smoked chicken wings. The New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, filled with aromas of gooseberry, herbs, pink grapefruit, lime leaf and other tropical flavors, aims to satisfy your taste for ocean-deep seafood, while the Chocolate Raspberry Port serves as a bold dessert wine.

Wines continue to be made on premises, but Camelot now offers a make-your-own-wine program good for groups looking to mark down bottles under their own custom label. And with the insertion of a full-scale liquor bar with tropical cocktails and domestic and craft beer options, the winery has become a more well-rounded late night social space. Fan favorite, the Blacker the Berry, is made with fresh blackberry juice, rosemary simple syrup and a dash of blood orange bitters.

Patron Tyler Armstrong, who’s lived in the Olde Towne East area for seven years, says walking in the rebranded winery was a completely new experience. “It’s very innovative,” he says. “It’s a nice twist on a traditional winery, and it may be what more wineries look like in the future.” 

Green, who’s worked as a business consultant for 13 years, took up the ownership role from previous owner Janine Aquino, whom he helped advise while she ran the long-standing winery.  

He wanted to create an environment that reflected his interests and truly felt like a Black-owned business, prompting the official switch to Camelot Cellars Urban Winery.  

He also recognized the potential for additional revenue streams. Green stepped in with a new mission in mind: making it four businesses in one. Instead of solely relying on in-store sales, the new owner has focused on distribution, high quality service and making the venue a backdrop for events. The winery now hosts Wine Down Wednesdays, Fish Fridays and live musical performances throughout the week. “There’s a lot that can be maximized, and until I maximize all of it, then I’ll think we aren’t making any money. We got a bunch of different stuff we can do there,” Green says. 

But just weeks after he acquired the long-standing bar from Aquino, the business faced restrictions due to the COVID-19 outbreak, forcing Green to rely on carryout and wine sales for nearly five months. When they weren’t taking in orders from Postmates, Green and his girlfriend made deliveries with “two bottles of wine and some hope” to keep the business afloat. 

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, the winery resumed dine-in on Aug. 29. Green says the reopening speaks to his hustle, a mindset that’s desperately needed during these times. “In COVID, you have to have 35 hustles,” he says.  

Outside the effects of the coronavirus, Green says the biggest transition has been adjusting expectations. Camelot’s rebrand has been met with criticism from longtime patrons, many who still favor the more traditional set up. Coupled with state-mandated limitations in occupancy, access to funding and drops in revenue, the winery has yet to reach its true potential due to these unprecedented times, Green says. “We’re still in the middle of a pandemic, let's be clear. What you’re seeing from my business is only 40 percent of what we could do, so think about how that changes revenue.” 

While receiving pushback from former customers, Marlon Platt and other area business owners have embraced Camelot’s new direction. Platt, co-owner of Our Bar & Lounge, which sits across Oak Street from the urban winery, met with Green to help ease his transition into the historic neighborhood. After the two men connected, they held a collaborative brunch event as a part of their growing partnership. “I’m all about community support,” Platt  says. “The fact that their business is in the same neighborhood as mine, I kind of already know the stuff that he’s going through with trying to grow and develop the business as a Black business owner.”  

Platt says Camelot stands out because it mirrors the people that frequent the area’s latest developments. The winery joins Our Bar and Lifestyle Café as the three Black-owned businesses on the corner of Oak and South 18th streets. “It’s a natural synergy, so it’s truly like a Black-owned corner,” Platt says. 

To strengthen the support of Black-owned businesses in the area, Green joined the Olde Towne East Neighborhood Association to ensure he can oversee some of the potential changes being made, encouraging Platt and others to do the same. “I definitely want to have more of an intentional relationship, because we are a unique place,” Green says. “We need to strategize about how we can be more instrumental in some of the decisions that are happening.”  

– Columbus Monthly

'With or without you': Community leaders take on Columbus violence with engagement, mediation

In this world, Ephraim Laidley Jr. said, there are three kinds of community leaders: "nurses, doctors and brain surgeons." 

According to Laidley, "nurses and doctors" share a general ability to use the resources at their disposal to make an impact in the city's underserved areas. But to confront issues such as gang and gun violence in Columbus, "brain surgeons" are needed to directly engage with local influencers to salvage neighborhoods. 

"We've been paying and asking generalists to do a surgeon's job," Laidley, 35, said of Columbus city officials. "That's wrong, and it's costing us (Black residents) lives."

Laidley, who works as the vice president of operations technology at JPMorgan Chase at Easton by day, leads a number of community initiatives through his nonprofit group, Elements of Change. The organization aims to create safe spaces in inner-city neighborhoods through mediation, engagement and alternative pathways. 

By restoring vacant houses, funding a small boxing gym on the Near East Side and other programs, Laidley has been a change-maker in city neighborhoods hampered by poor conditions and funding disparities that have only worsened with the coronavirus pandemic. The Bexley resident said there are plenty of ways to fix these broken neighborhoods — starting with putting the right people in the right places.

Laidley said his business partner, Sean Stevenson, is a "brain surgeon." The 51-year-old Olde Towne East resident is connected with inner-city leaders and is dedicated to stopping gang and gun violence. 

Since meeting at a community event in 2016, the two men have collaborated on several intervention-centered programs, including Stevenson's own brainchild, End the Violence, or ETV, which focuses on de-escalation of crime in the city.

Both men recognized their shared passion for community service despite their different backgrounds and life experiences, with Stevenson becoming a de facto community intervention specialist after serving 20 years in federal prison. 

“We have the same goal and same spirit, and we’re two different sides of the same coin that normally don’t get together," Laidley said. 

Dedicated to helping others change lives

As a child, Stevenson shuffled through the foster care system. After suffering abuse from his foster family, he became homeless at age 13 and turned to the streets for solace. 

By 14, he entered the drug trade. Soon after, he captured the attention of authorities, who charged him with drug distribution. He was convicted and sentenced to 20 years.

After his release in 2009, Stevenson used the principles he learned in prison to connect with people of different backgrounds and quickly became a community leader, starting the ETV initiative and pledging to make real social change. 

In 2017, Stevenson hosted the city's first National Gang Summit, followed by a gun violence-free week during a record-setting year for homicides. He's also been a big proponent of helping people, like himself, who struggle with dyslexia.

Stevenson worked with educators and state legislators in 2011 to help push for passage of Ohio Dyslexia laws, which included placing the International Dyslexia Association's definition of dyslexia into the Ohio Revised Code and forming a program to support at-risk students. The legislation was signed into law by former Gov. John Kasich. 

Along with taking on intervention and service opportunities, Laidley and Stevenson have employed dozens of residents with criminal records or past alcohol or drug addictions to rehabilitate houses.

The program has garnered attention from Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, Columbus police Zone Section Chief Steve Dunbar and other city officials. For $10 an hour, workers are learning practical skills and, more than anything, helping to build up their community.

Two years ago, property developer Marcus "Cornbread" Allen made the commitment to change his life with the help of Laidley and Stevenson, who supported his transition to sobriety after a long battle with drug addiction. 

Allen formed a contracting company, Allen Wrench Contracting LLC, and is now leading Laidley's latest housing project on the corner of East Livingston Avenue and Berkley Road, a place Allen and others used as a drug hot spot years ago.

"This is God's work," Allen said. "When you get to build up what you tore down, it's a blessing."

Standing on their own

Despite their intervention and restoration programs, Laidley and Stevenson have gotten pushback from city officials and local organizations that Stevenson says don't always support residents in low-income areas.

"I ask them the questions they don't want to answer," Stevenson said of government officials. "In 2020, we're still fighting racism. How is that? We address every issue but racism. We change every law for every group except Black people." 

For years, Stevenson has asked city and county officials for a potential job as an intervention specialist and additional funding for programs. Instead, he's said he's been put off because of his criminal history and inability to read and write. 

Laidley said he's uncomfortable naming the detractors, but rather than stand by idly as conditions worsen, he and Stevenson decided to take matters into their own hands.

Over the past five years, Laidley said he's invested nearly $250,000 of his own money toward rebuilding the community — not only allocating money toward property renovation, but placing money in the hands of people he mentors to ensure they can support themselves and their families.

"We had to show (local officials) that it could be done in another manner," Stevenson said. "We're going to do it, with or without you."

Having witnessed Laidley and Stevenson's leadership, Columbus City Councilman Mitchell Brown said he's worked alongside the duo on several community-focused projects.

"Sean and Ephraim have acted as credible messengers in our community for some time," he said. "Sean works with young people to realize that violence is not the answer. He helps to lead them down a better path."

Finding a path forward

Laidley and Stevenson have joined together a handful of organization leaders and government officials to discuss the issues plaguing local neighborhoods. During these meetings, Laidley said he realizes how unaware many of them are about the obstacles minorities face.

“They don’t understand fundamentals; all the big stuff that leads to the circumstances people are in now," he said.

Columbus is on pace to set a new record for homicides in a single year year. In 2017, the city had 143 homicides and didn't reach 98 homicides until November. As of Wednesday, there were already 135 homicides in the city this year.

“We don't have to break another record this year,” Laidley said.

Under Elements of Change, Laidley and Stevenson look to continue using their influence and resources to end the violence across the city's landscape.

Resident Torie Stivison, who's worked to help rehab Laidley's newest housing unit, said their work has shed light on the true beauty of the city and has given residents an opportunity through property renovation to feed themselves and their families.

"It's absolutely wonderful because all these people need jobs," she said. "This is beautiful."

– The Columbus Dispatch