He wrote his first poem at 10 and started his first business at 11. After a stint in Africa with the Peace Corps, Michael Masterson combined his love of writing with his love of business and launched into publishing. With his partners, Michael built Baltimore-based Agora into a $300+ million publisher of books and newsletters related to health, wealth and good living.
Michael also writes bestselling business books published by Wiley, including Automatic Wealth for Grads and Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business, with co-author Mary Ellen Tribby.
Yet the Michael Masterson I’ve come to know over the last decade is not merely a successful businessman. He’s a renaissance man who admires and pursues learning of all types—fine art and literature, good cigars and exotic travel, mastering the Sunday New York Times crossword.
All this is merely prelude to the story I want to share about Michael—the story of the community he’s building in Nicaragua, and the two historical figures who guided his thinking.
Weekends on horseback
My in-laws raised their eyebrows when we asked them to watch the house over a long weekend while Lori and I popped down to Nicaragua. I don’t blame them. Nicaragua is still not a normal destination for Americans, many of whom, like my in-laws, recall something about Sandinistas and Daniel Ortega (who was re-elected in 2006). Nevertheless, Michael and his wife, Kathy, had invited us and some mutual friends down to Rancho Santana. Knowing Michael as I do, I couldn’t refuse.
Michael became interested in Nicaragua from reading one of his own publications, International Living magazine.
International Living identified Nicaragua as a promising new destination well before other travel magazines did. It had much of the same benefits of its neighbor to the south, Costa Rica, while being less developed and less expensive. About 15 years ago, Mark followed his publication’s advice and went down to have a look.
It was raw country—even on the breathtakingly beautiful Pacific coastline. Michael had to go on horseback to survey the thousands of acres that were for sale. “It reminded me of what Florida must have looked like when Henry Flagler first saw it,” Michael told me.
A time for reflecting about reading and acting
We had a marvelous visit in Rancho Santana, which is a few hours by car southwest from the airport in Managua. Here are some photos of our trip.
Over the long weekend, I had a chance to tour the property with Michael by foot and on horseback, and to ask him about how he came to create Rancho Santana.
“It was amazing how completely undeveloped this was just 15 years ago. And in guiding me how to develop it, I do think of Henry Flagler,” he said. Then he told me why:
“What I love about Flagler is that after he made his millions in business with Rockefeller, he came to Florida and followed his dream. In Florida he spent his fortune and never made a nickel. He became a real estate developer, and few of them make money in the long run. But he was a truly great entrepreneur, a dreamer, and an idealist. He is a hero to me.
“Flagler had a vision for what Florida could become, and he went about creating that vision. He envisioned grand hotels connected by a railroad that would take people all the way down the state, including the engineering feat of the overseas railway to Key West. He created what we know and love about Saint Augustine, Palm Beach, Miami and Key West. If any one person can be said to have created Florida, it was Flagler.”
Michael read several books about Flagler, including Les Standiford’s captivating Last Train to Paradise. He was also influenced by Andrew Carnegie and the dangers of charity.
‘Less damage than good’
“Do less damage than good,” said Michael. “That’s my motto because charity is hard. Generally speaking, charity damages those who receive it. It feels good to those who give it, but Carnegie figured out that alms giving just didn’t work well. He did some pure giving, and he also believed in income tax, but only to the wealthy.”
Michael says he was influenced by Carnegie’s The Gospel of Wealth and his approach to giving that depends on local investment.
Together with his partners, Michael has converted 3,000 acres in Nicaragua to an amenity-filled resort. But he didn’t stop there.
“We’ve built a health clinic for the many Nicaraguans working here. Now, my wife and I are developing a community center that will include an English school, a technical school, a library and a sports complex,” Michael said. “I don’t think of it as charity, but instead as providing educational and job opportunities in an area of the country where there is real need.”
Western author Louis L’Amour once said, “Read, read, read. Do, do, do.” Michael Masterson is one of the best exemplars of this advice I know.
Do you know others leading well-read lives of reading and action? I’d love to hear about them. Just click on the Comments link below. (If you’re reading this as an email, click here and you'll connect to Comments.)
On reading and acting... I am also inspired to follow the same path through the Americas as my Great-Great-Grandfather after reading his original journals from the 1850s. To learn more please visit my blog:
http://vodhdb.blogspot.com/
Regards, Jean-François de Buren
Posted by: Jean-Francois de Buren | May 28, 2009 at 05:02 PM
This is an excellent posting.
Fabulous writing.
Posted by: Nick Matyas | January 13, 2010 at 03:13 PM