George Lake was instrumental in the development of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion and is a founding member of the John Cooper School.[/caption]When George Lake completed his education, he was ready to jump into his dream job in an economic hot spot and was not about to let anything get in his way, including a lack of transportation. So, he spent several months hitchhiking across the country, eventually landing penniless in Houston.
Lake moved to The Woodlands in 1978 after graduating with an MBA from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 1976.
His hitchhiking adventures took him from Florida to Phoenix to Los Angeles, and then The Bayou City, where Lake ran a construction company for 11 months. Through mutual connections through the Greek Orthodox Church he was attending, he was hired as a financial analyst for George Mitchell’s development corporation in March 1978.
Lake said he had difficulties in selling land in The Woodlands to businesses because of its distance from Houston.
“Those were the days when you could count how many stop signs were in The Woodlands,” he said. “People wouldn’t come up there if they could not live, work and play. They needed convenient access to great schools, great jobs, great amenities, etc.”
Lake said he feels most proud of his work in realizing the Cynthia Mitchell Woods Pavilion as well as working as a founding member of the John Cooper School. He was also privy to Mitchell’s group discussions when Mitchell began looking at selling The Woodlands.
In 1999 Lake formed his own real estate investment firm, which he still operates today under the name Lake Investment Group.
Lake said he knew at a young age he wanted to pursue a path in business, specifically through the lens of an entrepreneur. Before he hit middle school, Lake invented several money-making odd jobs.
“I always ran these little businesses as a kid,” he said. “I sold candy in the street when I was 8 years old. Everyone was too lazy to go to the drug store so I would ride to the store and back and sell the candy for twice the price and pocket the profits.”
Lake understands the value of a dollar, he said. It is why he takes time to educate high school students on the importance of living within one’s means without obsessing over pay.
“Be at peace with yourself because if you are at peace, you don’t need stuff and can just be happy with being around wonderful people and saving money and investing when you are young,” he said. “Be free and you won’t be under the thumb of some bank you owe money to.”
