Jeff Cheney jokes that he does something crazy every time he and his wife have a baby.

When his first child was born, Cheney decided to quit his job and start his own business. When his second child was born, he decided to spend all of his savings to buy another business. When his third child was born, he decided to run for Frisco City Council.

“My wife will joke now that that’s why she decided to stop having kids because she didn’t know what crazy idea I was going to have next if we did have another,” Cheney said.

Cheney owns two businesses: The Cheney Group—a residential real estate firm—and frisco-online.com— a community forum and aggregate news Website.

He has also served on Frisco City Council since 2007. Because of term limits, this will be the last year Cheney will serve as the Place 2 council member, but he still plans to stay involved in the community.

“As soon as my time is up, I will definitely be looking for those next opportunities to serve this community, whether that’s through other elected positions or appointed positions or being more involved in the chamber and the business community,” he said.

Cheney was working as a certified public accountant when his wife was pregnant in the early 2000s. When his first son was born, Cheney said he realized that he didn’t want to work 70 hours a week anymore. He wanted to be self-employed so he could be around his family more often.

So the following Monday, Cheney turned in his resignation to start his own real estate firm.

“It seems kind of crazy looking back thinking I literally had a one-week-old son, giving away a well-paying, secure job to go start a business in the sea of unknowns,” he said.

Despite the uncertain start, The Cheney Group has continued to grow over the years, from one employee to 15 employees currently. It recently won the Frisco Chamber of Commerce’s 2015 Small Business of the Year award.

Several years after starting The Cheney Group, Cheney was elected to serve on the City Council. He said being a Realtor has helped him determine which proposed developments would match what Frisco residents want to see in the city.

“I love being defined by Frisco. It’s just kind of part of me. I love this community, and I will always be involved.”

—Jeff Cheney, Frisco City Council member and business owner

Cheney said some of the biggest decisions he and council were a part of include closing Exide Technologies, shaping the $5 Billion Mile and building partnerships with Frisco ISD.

Cheney said one of his favorite things to see happen while on Council was the opening of FieldhouseUSA.

“Believe it or not, that was a controversial project that not everyone supported, but I almost can’t imagine raising my kids in Frisco without the facility,” he said. “I feel like I spend half my life there.”

After this year’s May elections, Cheney’s time on the City Council will come to a close. He said he hopes to have a smooth transition with the new council members.

“To me, what it should look like is a nice relay race where you run together for 10 yards as you’re passing the baton, but once the next person has it you don’t run with it,” he said.

Cheney said he plans to stay active in Frisco.

“I love being defined by Frisco,” Cheney said. “It’s just kind of part of me. I love this community, and I will always be involved.”