Mitch Cantwell

You are originally from Albuquerque. What brought you to Texas initially?

I initially came to Texas for school. Out of high school, I walked on the football team at Abilene Christian University. I had always dreamed of playing D-I football, so I decided to chase that dream in Abilene. Although I rode the bench, it was one of the best decisions I ever made because it brought me to Texas.

You’ve been with Holt Lunsford Commercial since 2021. Tell us a little about your role and day-to-day responsibilities.

One of the things I love most about my job at HLC is that there is no true ‘day-to-day’ routine. A lot of days are relationship-based— breakfast or lunch meetings, client calls or meetings, and working on client presentations. Almost daily I have time with clients and other brokers to better learn and understand both ends of our business.  Holt Lunsford prides itself on being customer-focused and has helped me better understand how individual and customized each approach is in securing new clients and cultivating existing clients. Having started my professional career in the middle of Covid, I try not to take for granted the ability to conduct business and build relationships in person – both externally and internally. Getting to learn in person through osmosis and proximity is invaluable!

What are your long-term entrepreneurial aspirations and who in your life inspired you to pursue entrepreneurship?

I have a lot of long-term entrepreneurial aspirations. I genuinely love real estate and aspire to be involved with real estate in some shape or form forever. I also dream about starting an investment platform with my brother one day. There are also a few friends with whom I have always wanted to start ventures within several different industries. No matter what I do, I never want it to be just me. I am a firm believer in the ‘Want to go far? Go together’ quote.

Three main individuals in my life have inspired me to be a business leader:

1. My dad. He left the corporate world and started his own company. Seeing him have the courage to start his own business and then grit through the Great Financial Crisis to continue as a successful small business owner for almost two decades made a huge impression on me.
2. My brother. Without a doubt the hardest working and most talented individual I have ever seen. I sound biased, but anyone who knows him knows it’s true. What he has done in his life professionally and personally before the age of 30 is amazing.
3. A close family friend named Adrian Gonzalez. He instilled in me from a young age a concept of hard work that is to this day my life mantra. It has shaped how I approach everything in my professional & personal life.

How has receiving the Future Texas Business Legend Award and being part of the organization impacted your professional journey and leadership skills?

Receiving the TBHF Award changed my life. It has allowed me the opportunity to expand my network in ways I could’ve never imagined. As far as leadership goes, you don’t have to look very far to see exceptional leaders littered throughout the organization. Getting to meet and hear from true industry giants is the best leadership course available.

As President of the TBHF Alumni Association for 2024, can you share some of your goals for this year?

Our goal for the Alumni Network in 2024 is to continue to build off the momentum from the past few years. Alumni engagement has grown since I first won my award, so I am doing my best not to screw that up. We are planning some city-specific events in each city to help bring in active and inactive alumni with a more personal feel. Another goal we have is to implement a service component and give back to the community in some way. Finally, we are planning an Alumni Event the night before the Induction Dinner which should be awesome.