21 Dec The Hermann London Story….a Mother’s Perspective

From the time he was a young boy growing up in Southern California, Adam Kruse was on the move. Always active, and easily could move from one project to another. I, his mother, on the other hand, liked to finish one activity or project and sit back and enjoy it and think about it, admire it, critique it.   Maybe take a nap. With two very active young boys, the nap was mostly just a dream. Weather was ideal all year long, and we were always doing something fun. Adam liked to do it all, all day long. This pattern of intense activity and energy continued with him as we moved to St Louis, and he became a teenager, at DeSmet High school. I wondered what kind of future he would have.  His interests were so varied. Friends he made were from all over the St. Louis area, and he delighted in driving all around to see them.   He was fearless and liked a challenge.

Adam was active in many activities over the years: Odyssey of the Mind, Basketball, Swimming Team and Boy Scouts, to name a few, and kept his grades up while doing these activities. As his mother, I was concerned he was doing too much, but wanted to instill a good work ethic, so encouraged him to get a job to earn his spending money. I knew from my experiences that in all the jobs we have and all the classes we take, we learn information that we can use in our adult life.  I wanted Adam to experience and learn all he could.  How would he put all these things together to create a career for himself? Time will tell.

Through his college years at Missouri University, he remained active and social and took a variety of classes to see what major he might want to declare. This changed with his experiences, but he ended up with a Masters in Accountancy.  Oh my gosh! I was proud, but I thought of an Accountant’s job to be not something Adam would like.  I kept it to myself, but thought, he is not going to like this.  Too confining to be in a room in an office all day.

Turns out I was right! At his accounting firm, he stayed long enough to save up enough money to buy his first house, and enough to live on for a year. Oh my gosh (again)!  He then quit his great well paying job to pursue a new career … selling houses.  I had confidence in his ability, but worried, is this a good idea?

Turns out Real Estate was the perfect career for Adam! He loved selling houses, buying houses, learning all aspects of real estate while working for a couple of different agencies.  Soon he was ready to begin his own company. Like I said,  he is always ready for a challenge and fearless! He talked with his dad about ideas, rented office space, and added his Brokers license. He was ready to go, but needed a name.  He asked my opinion, finally, and I came up with some dandies!  Bridgewater (after my grandmother), St Louis Homes (too obvious), Kruse Company (bleep).  He gave our family the challenge to come up with unique name, all of which were rejected for some reason.

Days and weeks went by, with no name decided. Finally, his time was up, had to submit the form that day.  On his way to register the name of the company and still no name, he called his father, Larry. Larry was in the ophthalmologists’ office with his eyes dilated, waiting his turn to see the doctor but was able to answer his phone when Adam called him pleading for his help . “Well son, the name should be something that shows your strong work ethic, gentlemanliness, love of family and friends….something like Hermann Homes, to reflect where I am from, or New London Realty where your mom’s family are from…or maybe a combination of your families’ home towns something like … Hermann London”!

“THAT’S IT DAD !!!!! THANKS!!!!” Click, he hung up.  Hermann London Group was launched!

Shirley Kruse