U.S. Army veteran, founder, and real estate broker. I've been building homes, businesses, and a life in Rocky Point, Mexico since 2011.
Chapter 1
Where I Came From
Forest Park, Ill. —I was born in Chicago and grew up in Forest Park, Illinois. In 1994 I enlisted in the Army Reserve to pay for college and trained that summer at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, as a field artillery cannon crewmember. When my Reserve unit was disbanded, I moved to the Army National Guard.
Carbondale, Ill. —In 2000 I graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a degree in liberal arts, specializing in public relations, with a minor in political science.
Romeoville, Ill. —That same year I joined Metropolitan Industries, a 100-employee company. Over the next decade I built its PR division from the ground up, published dozens of articles in print, and ran its media and marketing campaigns.
Chapter 2
Service
Twice, I volunteered. After 9/11, I deployed to Hohenfels, Germany, for force protection in Europe. Then in 2005, my civilian PR work and my degree qualified me for a transfer to the 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, and I deployed to Mosul, Iraq, as a Media Relations Specialist.
1994Enlists, U.S. Army Reserve. Basic and 13B cannon crewmember training, Fort Sill, Okla.
~1996Army National Guard. Transfers after his Reserve unit is disbanded.
2001Volunteers after 9/11. About eight months of force protection in Hohenfels, Germany, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
2005Volunteers for Iraq. Joins the 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment; deploys to Mosul in February for about 15 months.
600+ news releases in a year. Seven translators. One war.
Mosul, Iraq —In Mosul I worked with our public affairs officer to find and train emerging Iraqi journalists in sourcing, production, and reporting facts instead of rumors, and secured State Department funding for their equipment. I supported outreach for Iraq's 2005 elections and handled crisis communications during combat operations in Mosul, Tal Afar, and across northern Iraq, through wire services and major networks.
Mosul, 2005Reviewing a local journalist's latest publication. "There was no freedom of press before we got there, so this is all new to them."Mosul, 2005Working a press conference with Samir and local Iraqi journalists.
I also ran public awareness campaigns: a billboard, bumper-sticker, and T-shirt campaign around Iraq's participation in the 2004 Olympics, and "Enough is Enough," an anti-terrorism campaign across radio, TV, newspapers, and billboards.
City government meeting, Mosul"These were my favorite events, because the Iraqis never had a democracy before, and to watch them debate was priceless."
FromLTC Paul C. Hastings, CommanderUnit139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Multi-National Brigade NorthDate27 June 2005, Mosul, IraqReSGT Joseph Sanchez, Media Relations Specialist
Trained Iraqi media and planned local media events
Supported high-level press conferences with the Iraqi government and senior U.S. officials
Wrote 600+ daily news releases in about 12 months
Managed a team of seven Iraqi translators
Built bridges between Iraqis and Americans, and among the U.S. political and military organizations in northern Iraq
"Go to soldier"
"I would fight to serve with him again."
Summary of the commander's memorandum. The full memorandum is shown alongside.
Memorandum for recordThe full commander's recommendation from LTC Paul C. Hastings, 27 June 2005.
Iraq, 2005One of Saddam's palaces. "A small one, actually."Welcome homeWith my commander, LTC Hastings, at our welcome-home ceremony. "I look very tired. We all were."
Chapter 3
Rocky Point
Puerto Peñasco, Son. —In 2001, on a trip with my mother and stepfather just before my first deployment, I met Myrna in Puerto Peñasco. We married on the Malecón, lived in Chicago, and in 2011 moved back to her hometown.
Our wedding dayMyrna and me, with me in Army dress blues.
That same year I started Rocky Point Home Builders. I had no customers and no homes built yet. I had a sign on the side of my truck and the belief that I could earn the first job.
My first client was a fellow Chicagoan making the move to Rocky Point for good. We built him a great home, and one job became the next. Fifteen years later, Rocky Point Home Builders is still building.
Since arriving in 2011, I've written for the Rocky Point Times, helping people understand how to buy and build in Mexico. In 2020 I got my real estate license so I could help clients buy and sell, not just build. Today I'm a broker with RE/MAX Legacy, leading Team Sanchez.
In 2023 we began Viviente at Sandy Beach, a gated oceanside community, and broke ground on October 26 of that year. It brought everything together: the builder, the broker, and now the developer.
Puerto PeñascoThe Rocky Point Home Builders truck, flying the Mexican flag.Viviente at Sandy BeachThe front gate. Ground broke October 26, 2023.
Chapter 4
What I've Built
In 2009 I founded Virtual Marketing Consultants as the parent company for everything I build. Its first business, VoiceLeads, generated consumer leads for the life insurance industry. When new regulations dried up that market, we pivoted to recruiting life insurance agents. Today VoiceLeads runs a bilingual call center, staffed by agents across Mexico, producing agent recruiting leads for a major A-rated insurance carrier.
2009 · Parent company
Virtual Marketing Consultants
Founded in Illinois in 2009, based in Goodyear, Arizona. Bilingual call center and marketing services. U.S. Army veteran-owned.
Two books on Amazon: Dad, Tell Me Your Military Story, a guided keepsake journal for veteran fathers, and Gratitude for Abundance, a 90-day gratitude journal. Two apps approved by Apple, DreamScope AI and Appeal, plus the Rocky Point Border Wait tool.
Chapter 5
What I Believe
See it first
If you can visualize something clearly and experience it in your mind, it will play out in your reality. Act as if you've already achieved it, and success follows. In 2011 I put a Rocky Point Home Builders sign on my truck before I had a single customer. Fifteen years later, it's still building.
Outwork the doubt
The hardest fight I've had isn't in a deployment or a deal. It's the voice in my head that says times are bad and things won't work out.
I heard it loudest when new regulations dried up VoiceLeads' main source of business. The easy move was to close the doors. Instead we kept showing up, found where our skills still mattered, and pivoted to recruiting life insurance agents. VoiceLeads is still running today.
What I've learned is that if you put in the time and effort every single day, things work out in your favor. Every time.
Mexico runs on its own clock
Most Americans arrive expecting things to work as fast and efficiently as they do in the U.S., and they learn quickly that it doesn't. Permits, paperwork, closings, and construction all move at their own pace. That isn't a flaw; it's how things work here. The people who do well in Rocky Point are the ones who adjust to that pace instead of fighting it, and who have someone on their side who's already learned it the hard way.
Wake up inspired
What I'm proudest of isn't a building or a deal. It's that I've always been able to stay optimistic and see the brighter side, even when the people around me see only doom and gloom. I wake up with inspiration in my heart every day. It's a gift, and it fuels my work and my imagination.
