In the 2006 movie the Pursuit of Happyness, Will Smith played the part of Chris Gardner. Mr. Gardner was an ambitious young father who endured incredible hardships on the way to making himself a true success and a self-made multi-millionaire.

One day Gardner happened upon a young man driving a shiny red Ferrari who was looking for a parking space. Gardner offered the man his space but he had two life changing questions for the man in the sports car. He asked the man, “What do you do, and how do you do it?”

Gardner took the answer that he received, battled tremendous adversity, subsequently overcame homelessness and became an extremely successful and wealthy stock broker eventually owning his own firm. Today his net worth is estimated to be over $70 Million dollars.

What do you do, and how do you do it? Two simple questions and if asked of the right person, could make you very successful and can change your life.

Over the next couple of months we are going to feature interviews and blog postings featuring successful and inspirational entrepreneurs in the real estate industry and in business in general. This series will be called “What Do You Do, and How Do You Do It”.

A couple of days ago, I read a story about a young man who embodies the character of Gardner and whose work ethic, drive, is an inspiration to many. What he is doing is a testament to his faith and to the precept that you can do anything if you set your mind to it.

James Hatton Jr. is a twenty-five year old young man from Columbia, Tennessee. Hatton is an assistant manager at a local McDonald’s Restaurant and he also works at Backyard Burgers, another local fast food restaurant. Hatton has been a fast food worker since he began working in his teens.

Presently, Hatton works 2 full time shifts averaging over 80 hours per week flipping burgers. Somehow, someway, in his “spare time”, Hatton has become a very successful real estate investor.

One day he listened to a talk radio show hosted by financial self-help, Dave Ramsey and from that point on he hunger for knowledge could not be satisfied until he read all he could about the real estate business.

Over the last 7 years, while working in excess of 80 hours per week, Hatton has bought and re-sold over 16 houses. He bought his first house when he was just 18 years old for $18,000.00 in cash. Today, he has accumulated a net worth of nearly $750,000.00 and expects to be over $1Million in net worth by this time next year.

Hatton’s flower seems to be blooming rapidly. He now hosts a weekly talk radio show of his own, has recently released a DVD on how he flips his properties, and the humble fast food manager can now add author to his name as he releases his first book today, “Flippin’ Burgers to Flippin’ Millions”. (April 2, 2008)

Hatton buys homes in what most would consider “war-zones”. Some of the neighborhoods have been havens for drug and gang activity.

Rather than being deterred, Hatton forges on with a sense of making a profit AND changing the landscape of the community, one house at a time.

“I make a profit, and I uplift the community,” Hatton said.

While many real estate agents are leaving the business in droves thinking it to be a hard market, maybe they should be asking this young man..what do you do and how do you do it!

Hatton saves the money he receives from his fast food employment to invest in real estate. Despite his success, he’s not leaving the fast food industry anytime soon.

His dream is to own a McDonald’s franchise and to keep buying and selling homes. Hatton believes that doing so is a formula for success. “It’s always going to be burgers and homes.”