ABOUT

Meet Marc Rousso

Marc Rousso is an entrepreneur, mentor, and speaker. With his partner Jay Mezistrano, he founded JayMarc Homes – a luxury home-building company in Seattle. His passions are mentoring, speaking, DJing and inspiring happiness around the world.

Over 50 mentors and coaches have guided and supported him in all areas of his life. By founding the Mentor Maketh Inspire Happiness program, Marc is honoring this wisdom and paying it forward.

Vision

Marc’s program and business are built on Robert Greenleaf’s philosophy of Servant Leadership, which focuses on transparency, authenticity, empowerment, and genuine care for others. After Marc lost it all during the Great Recession, these ideas gave him a new perspective on how to bounce back and lead an organization.

Another pillar of Marc’s philosophy is personal growth and development—an ideal of constant and never-ending improvement, both personally and professionally. This credo works only for those who want to create a vision for their future and work diligently to accomplish that goal.

Marc's Story

Marc was destined to be an entrepreneur. In 1915, Marc’s grandfather came through Ellis Island from Greece. Only 17 years of age and without a penny to his name, he did all he could do to earn money – shine shoes. He went on to open Corner Produce and had a thriving spot at Pike Place Market in Seattle for over 50 years. Marc’s dad opened a furniture store in the next street.

At the age of 20, Marc and his business partner Jay, used their bar mitzvah money and began their first business as DJs at the University of Washington in 1990. Having to rely on themselves for a paycheck gave them drive and resilience. Going door to door and staying up late putting flyers around campus, they found their niche and hammered it. Before long, they expanded three times over and cornered the Seattle college DJ market.

After a five-year run, Marc and Jay sold their DJ business for $15K and started to invest in real estate. They bought three properties which they fixed up, rented out and refinanced. Over the next five years, they would do the same and accumulate over 30 rentals throughout Seattle.

By 2000, they had pivoted from houses to land development, creating neighborhoods from raw land. They learned many valuable lessons from the Great Recession and losing it all. This ultimately led them to creating JayMarc Homes in 2010 – a luxury custom home-building company in Greater Seattle.

THE JAYMARC HOMES STORY

What would you do if you could?

Have you ever answered the icebreaker question, “What would you do if you could?” Marc’s answer was always the same: “be a professional DJ.” At a wedding in 2016, Marc had the chance to put his hands on some DJ gear again. This reignited his one-time passion, and he set about relearning his craft. At first, he DJed at local fundraisers and parties, then set the goal to play at the biggest clubs and festivals. Three years later, he opened for Claptone and the legendary Fat Boy Slim in Miami, then toured across the country. Dreams do come true if you put enough work into them.

Throughout his life, Marc has experienced some of the highest highs and the lowest lows. He has roller-coastered from building a thriving business, getting married, and starting a beautiful family, to living through an economic crash, losing a best friend, and undergoing two brain surgeries.

The saving grace through all of these ups and downs has come from focusing on what he wanted his future to look like. He has surrounded himself with mentors and coaches, and never stops learning and finding new pathways. And he never stops asking: if life were perfect, what would it look like? What is still on my bucket list? This philosophy has led to his professional success as well as great experiences in his personal life: a six month trip to Greece, Switzerland, and South Africa with his wife and children during the pandemic; the Half Ironman race he completed in 2017, after not having swum two laps in 35 years before his training; the annual trips to zoos, concerts, and sporting events around the country with his daughter and son; the team tennis championship he won in 2020; and much more.