“I fell in love with Costa Mesa the minute I was here. To be honest, Huntington Beach was a little too flat for me. Up here we got those ocean breezes so you don’t even need air-conditioning.
“I loved the diversity of Costa Mesa. I really liked the eclectic vibe. When I first got here, I started driving around the area and ‘Wow!’ South Coast Plaza was so different from the Eastside which was so different from the Westside and all that. So I knew this was where I wanted to set up shop.
“From day one, I bootstrapped it. I only took 9 days off the first year, and a total of 14 days off the second. I worked every, single day – 80-hour weeks – and now it’s become so much a part of my life, it doesn’t feel like work anymore. I planted those seeds and it’s grown into a strong foundation, and now it feels like I’ll never work again a day in my life.
“I made connections, so that even when I was getting doors slammed in my face every day, I still knew this is where I was meant to be. I just kept building the connections, following the data, following my heart. No one else told me I could do it; I told me.”
– Valerie Torelli, Torelli Realty, Costa Mesa
