acte un
Once upon a time, let’s say 1985, back when kids still played outside,
A boy named Kelvin Jenkins could be seen ‘round town, out for a bike ride.
South Boundary was his preferred path; how he wished to someday live on that road.
So he vowed to own a house under those sleepy oak trees, someday, perhaps, when he was old.
Then he’d pedal on home, to his family and kin,
where he’d play with his neighbor and best buddy, Jimjim.
“My dad,” Kelvin tells me, “he almost went into the NBA. He was a basketball star; he’s even up on the wall at the Etherredge Center. And my mom, she was being eyed by a modeling agency. But my parents married young, they wanted a family. So they decided to deny the NBA and the modeling agency and have a family — they chose love over fame and fortune.”
acte deux
From Millbrook Elementary, Kennedy Middle, South Aiken, to Aiken Tech,
Kelvin knew he needed to pick a path, but realized he wasn’t ready for that just yet,
So he backed away from school one day to get a job, get to work, get some pay.
He had just started working at Ruby Tuesday’s, when suddenly 12 years somehow slipped away.
“All I got was older,” Kelvin says through a grin. “I needed more money; I needed insurance, so I went across the street to UPS.”
la partie sur l’amour
Fifteen years ago, give or take a few,
An attractive young woman, in from L.A. flew.
Her folks had just retired, moved down from Michigan for good.
It was on that very first trip that the lady understood.
She longed to move to Aiken, she felt that she should stay,
Aiken was a town she could love and she had grown to hate L.A.
Soon, she was involved, passionately — no, it’s not like that,
She leap’d into local theater and became a playhouse rat.
“I had just become involved with the community play house myself,” Kelvin recalls, “We met at the Aiken Theatre … we met on stage and now … we’re now 13 years strong, married for 11.”
***
“The play? It was Smokey Joe’s Café. I remember seeing her, I had no intention to date … but she had this … energy … spirit … we clicked. We became friends and then, just never separated after that. We knew it was meant to be. So, we met each other’s families … and …” Kelvin pauses.
‘…and the rest is history?’ I offer.
“… and I’ve been broke ever since.” He laughs.
premier interlude
I meet Kelvin Jenkins at the Bella Studio. We are scheduled to meet at 9:30.
(I arrive at 9:31, which is, for me, 9 minutes early.) Mr. Jenkins is already seated on the sofa. There is another man seated in the armchair; I don’t recognize him. I introduce myself and just start firing off questions. Mr. Jenkins’ demeanor is composed, friendly, thoughtful. He has a laid-back intensity. His colleague produces a camera and begins swooping around us as we converse. I don’t really know what is going on, but Mr. Jenkins seems totally at ease, so I just go with it.
acte trios
The years flew by, big surprise, and Kelvin began questioning his choice,
To work every day to make someone else rich, when he heard a familiar voice.
It seemed like fate, their paths should cross, as kids they could have never known.
“Jimjim?” he asked, but the stranger replied, “Actually, it’s Jimmy, now that I’m grown.”
Neighbors again, sharing a cubicle wall, working overtime, but with a buddy at least it was fun.
Until a 30 cent raise rubbed Kelvin the wrong way; he looked at Jimmy and said,
“Man, I’m done.”
“After 13 years at UPS, I had a family, more responsibilities, I had my daughter to think about,” Kelvin relays, “so I went to work for ADP in Augusta … but after a … life changing accident … I had to take over four months off from work. That gave me the time to really think about everything I was doing and I decided I was going to stop working every day to make someone else rich. My dad, he’s worked for SRS for 47-48 years now, but he has a tax business on the side. My mom is a seamstress. I have two brothers, and all of them, my whole family is full of entrepreneurs. I come from a family of hustle.”
acte quatre
Kelvin went rogue, out on his own, so of course, both of his cars up and died.
Then his A/C went out, in case there was doubt, that his path would not be a free ride.
His problems, he nixed it, ‘cause J. Butler fixed it, got both cars back on the road.
And his church family, for free, repaired his A/C, just to help him lighten the load.
Kelvin started with just two clients but in six months was up to twenty-one.
It was hard work, rules and regulations, and to Kelvin those things are fun.
Today he uses social media, it’s the future, he can see.
And to grow his business even more he enlisted Jimjim, I mean Jimmy.
“It’s about the infinite vs. the finite,” Kelvin explains. “ I look at the long term … I take pride in what I do, my business, my name. And I’ve really enjoyed expanding my business. I really liked the ‘compliance’ part of working with ADP. I always have been into rules and regulations. When I realized that so much of real estate is contracts … rules and regulations, it basically cemented my decision [to enter the field]. I started as part of a team, but realized we didn’t share the same vision, which is important to me, so I decided to go on my own … I represent Keller Williams, and I go live this year, I’ve begun the process of building my own team.”
deuxième interlude
Kelvin Jenkins has a secret. I casually ask about his taste in music, and for the first time, he doesn’t have a response ready to go. He keeps his answer to himself, so again I inquire. Finally he admits — he really loves Broadway musicals.
“Theater has been a major factor in my life. I’m a theater rat … we just started rehearsal for the Heart Show at the Etherredge Center. They’ve been doing that show for 41 years … all the proceeds go to the Heart Foundation; they’ve raised over $3 million so far, so I love being a part of that. It’s really cool.”
“When I first started singing, maybe 4 or 5 years ago, I started with the Heart Show. NBC reached out to me, somebody from there saw me sing, and they made me an offer to go out to LA and audition for The Voice and America’s Got Talent. I was like, wow, I didn’t think I was that good. I still don’t. But I started thinking … when I lose … because you have to quit your job to go out there, so … when I lose, what job am I coming back to? Again, I was thinking about the infinite vs. the finite. I have my wife and daughter to think about.”
So he turned down fame and fortune. For his family. Just like his old man.
And the man who’s been swooping around us this whole time, capturing every moment on his camera … Yep, you guessed it. That’s Jimmy.
l’histoire de Jimmy
Jimmy worked hard for UPS, clocked in 70 hours a week most of the time.
He was excited to get a raise, but puzzled why his rate went to $19.99.
He asked his supervisor, in the humblest of ways, “you couldn’t have made it twenty even?”
After 13 years, it felt like a dig, so he figured he’d better get leavin’.
“What are you waiting on man?” Kelvin asked him, “It’s time to leap with both feet,
you know this.”
So Jimmy followed his heart and he followed his dreams and he put in his two
weeks notice.
“On my last day at UPS,” Jimmy tells me, “I look up and there’s Kelvin. I was like, ‘are you serious, what are you doing here?’”
“I came to walk him out, I was really proud of him, for taking the leap,” Kelvin beams, “think about how many people never take that kind of risk.”
“After UPS,” Jimmy continues, “I just kind of jumped out there. Kelvin got me a lot of referrals. I was just freelancing, trying to make ends meet, going from job to job. Through that, I met so many people, people willing to help me out, they believed in me. My name started getting out there, the work kept coming in, and now … now it’s almost more work than I can handle. You just work and work and then eventually you look up and you’re like, man, I’ve come so far.”
“We both struggled getting started,” confesses Kelvin, “but we kept encouraging each other …”
“The right people … and hard work,” says Jimmy, “that’s why I’m at where
I am now.”
acte final
So take it from me, you’re now in the loop. Want to buy or sell a house? You need K.J. and South Bound Residential Group.
And should you be in the market for commercials, social media and/or video, Then you need Digital Revenue Marketing, ask for Jimmy, he’s in the know.
Together they helped each other, now they make videos for all to see, to show off the beauty of Aiken, kind of like a local HGTV.
“I’m an Aikenite. I tried to deny it for the longest time,” says Kelvin, “but I grew up here, I have friends I went to elementary school with here, I met my wife here … this is my life.”
And so, the Ballad of Kelvin Jenkins comes to an end, A tale about hard work and love, great family and best friends. Which I wrote in mis-metered verse, ‘cause I’ve never writ’ a hymn, But in hindsight, it should have been a show tune, for the tale of Kelvin and Jimjim.
(… sorry, it’s Jimmy now, I know I know, you told me, in fact, you insisted.) And Kelvin now has a new name ‘round town; They call him Mr. List It.
