Interview by Abernathy Cochran intern and Gainesville High School senior Donangelo Marshall
Meet Semuel Maysonet! Semuel is a mortgage lender, the father of two and married to Rosa.
“I have three babies, my wife, Rosa is my first baby. I have a 10-year old daughter, Sophia Elise and a 7-year old son, Adrian,” he said.
We want to thank Semuel for spending time with us and telling us about his life and love of Hall County.
Question: What inspired you to led you to your current career?
A: “I am a mortgage lender which falls to financing and banking. My first summer job ever was working in a library but then I got a job working in Kmart… then an opportunity came at a local bank when I was 17 years old to work at North Georgia Community Bank & Trust. I pretty much started from a teller and worked my way up and now I do mortgages. I decided to get into mortgagees because I found that there is a need and a passion inside of myself to help people find their way home and find a place where they can find their own.”
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
A: “My parents were born and raised in Puerto Rico and my father joined the military in the 70s. I was actually born in Germany. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of different people and ethnicity groups since we lived in many different places like Hawaii, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, so I definitely saw a good side of United States from across the Atlantic to Pacific and then came here to Georgia and it was really a great opportunity to get to know what North Georgia is about. I graduated from Habersham Central and then went on to North Georgia College State University and got my Bachelor’s Degree, did a couple years at Gainesville College (now known as University of North Georgia), after that I went to Shorter University and got my Master’s Degree (MBA). All of our families and relatives are still in Puerto Rico.”
Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County? What do you love there?
A: “I love the Atlanta Highway Seafood Market, I know the owner and I like local fresh food and the environment. I like to go to places where local people are there and I’ll talk to some friends and colleagues.”
Q: How long have you lived or worked in Hall County?
A: “I started my career here in 2000, so I’ve been here for 20 years. I bought my house with my wife and got married in 2006, we actually lived in Jackson County for about nine years but we’ve been in Hall County and living here since 2015.”
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in our community?
A: “I met a lot of interesting people but I think one of my closest friends that also a lot of people appreciate, would be Robert Dimo. He owns the Dimo Fine Jewelry. A lot of people know their family, his father has an interesting story of how he came to Hall County and how they started their jewelry business and what it is today. Honestly, their building looks like a Taj Mahal for me, it’s so beautiful.”
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? And why?
A: “Being part of the military I got to see a lot, I know it may sound cheesy but I’ve always wanted to travel back to the places that my parents used to live and go back to the churches that we participated in and serve the ministry. But, I’d really like to go to to places like Italy, and explore France and Japan.”
Q: What is your favorite movie? What is the first movie you remember seeing in a theater?
A: “I love action packed movies like ‘Jason Bourne.’ Deep down in my heart I am a car guy, I have a 1993 mustang that I am working on with my son right now so ‘Fast and Furious’ comes in the play there. With my wife I’m a little romantic comedy there, our first movie together in a theater was ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ so when that comes on, automatically we watch it which is kind of crazy.”
Q: What advice would you give to a crowd of people?
A: “I would say that no matter what your actions and decisions are you’re always on interview, it may not be an official interview or meeting or conference but people are paying attention. ”
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: “The craziest one is skydiving but one thing on my bucket list is to go to South America and on a mission trip. I want to be able to contribute and give to those that are in need…it doesn’t have to be a brand new Ferrari, maybe it could be as simple as running clean water or things that they need.”
Q: What is your favorite music or three bands that you would like to see (dead or alive)?
A: “Being raised in Puerto Rican home, I love Salsa. Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz, they’re like the Salsa kings and the best and part of that custom is my father. I respect the talent and genre of Salsa and Jazz and it’s really good to my mind and I love it. I also love Dave Matthews Band, I like his style, I enjoy his music and his composure. And the third one is Hillsong. Music is one of the greatest inventions in the world, it can take you back into memory and emotion; music can be so motivating and reassuring.”
Q: If you could choose anyone that is alive today and not a relative; with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would y’all meet for this lunch?
A: “My sentimental side says my grandmother, she passed away and I really didn’t spend much time with her because she’s was Puerto Rico. She was a single mom, raising my father and my uncle, she’s really a strong woman. There’s so many great people but I honestly would like to sit down with people with great movements like Martin Luther King, Jr. I would like to pick his brain and see how he would approach things now.”
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about Hall County?
A: “I love Hall County. I really felt like it has a great diversity of people.”
Q: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?
A: “Ten years from now my youngest would be almost 18 years old, I see myself still in Hall County. My wife and I planted roots in here, deep in our community. She works for local business here, Milton Martin Toyota and been there for 17-18 years. I see myself preparing my kids for college, still in mortgage business and helping people in the community.”
Q: What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
A: “Security, Love and Transparency.”
Q: If you were cast into a major motion picture and had your choice of anyone to be your co-star, who would you choose?
A: “My first reaction was Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, sadly enough I am not as healthy as he is but I’ll say we can do a rendition of a movie ‘Twins’ with Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I love the humor of Kevin Hart, I love how he put things out there. And since I watched Jason Bourne and I love ‘Ocean’s 11,’ Matt Damon, I definitely appreciated his acting skills.”
