BY THE END OF SUMMER, Ivan landed his first event downtown. He found owners of a wine lounge on Sixth Avenue who were willing to allow him to bring his old school R&B music and a professional African-American crowd to their establishment on a Wednesday night. He even got in touch with Emilio Alvarez to invite him and a few of the Padres to stop through.

He called it “Old School Jam Part III—The Business Network Toast.” Instead of one featuring more dancing, Paul created a sophisticated flyer with a group of business folks drinking wine and mingling, with the skyline of San Diego above them. The cover charge was “$10 with Free Wine Tasting.” At the very bottom of the flyer was printed, “Meet Us in the Gaslamp.”

In his steady growth, Ivan picked up a few more young and eager teammates from San Diego State University to work with, and he jumped back on his promotional horse with class and poise.

Thomas was pleasantly impressed by it all.

“Looks like you got the stomach to ride the waves of business,” he mentioned to Ivan.

Ivan grinned and said, “I got plenty of time to learn it. I plan to suck it up like it’s college all over again.”

Among other lessons, he reminded himself to use his profession as an accountant to work more relationships in his favor. So he began to contact the professionals he met and casually offer them tax and accounting advice, while asking a few of them to consider the firm of Hutch & Mitchell for their accounting work.

He also offered his services to the Young Urban Professionals at the Urban League in a free lecture at one of their membership meetings. Thomas was surprised by that move as well. Ivan had gone from a man who barely spoke out in public to engaging a crowd regularly in a matter of months.

“The business made me do it,” he joked to all who noticed the change.

All the while, his website at IDPromotions.com continued to draw increasing traffic. So even though his first downtown promotion at the Wine Cavern would not earn him much of a profit, Ivan felt relaxed and progressive, while making his supporters feel welcomed and appreciated.

He stood before the crowd of nearly a hundred, with a glass of red wine in his right hand. He wore black on black, blending in perfectly with the elegance of the dark cherrywood background.

He said, “I wanna thank you all for coming out tonight and looking professional, grown, and sexy.”

He stopped there and allowed everyone a chance to laugh and gloat while feeling good about themselves before he continued.

He smiled and said, “I mean that,” to produce more laughter. He told them, “But I also wanna thank you all for supporting my goal to create a promotional vehicle that continues to bring like minds together for business here in the city of San Diego.”