Blaise Regan AYP Member Spotlight - Sept.
Name: Blaise Regan
Where do you work? I’m an attorney at my firm, the Regan Law Firm, PLLC where I focus on business law and estate law; and I’m one of the owners, along with my brothers, of the Six Brothers Brewery, LLC; we also have Six Sisters Winery in the works down the road.
What’s your job title/what do you do? Attorney; Owner
Where are you from? I was born in Houston, but went to school at Wylie High School.
If you’re not from Abilene, how long have you lived in the area and what brought you here? My family moved here in 2001 when my dad became the doctor/medical director for one of the prisons north of Abilene. I graduated from Wylie, went to Tech for undergrad, spent a year in South Korea, traveled extensively, went to St. Mary’s Law School, and then moved back to Abilene in 2011 to open my own firm here.
What is your favorite thing about living in the Big Country? I love how quickly and easily a newcomer can become active in the community and in the Abilene groups. It doesn’t matter what their occupation is or how long they’ve been in Abilene, if they want to be involved with an organization or charity here, or just to have a voice at the city council meetings or with the Mayor, all they have to do is pick up the phone or send out an email and they’ll be welcomed in. It really is up to you how involved you are here in Abilene, and that’s not the case in all cities.
What do you do in your free time? If I’m not working on Brainstorm or the brewery or winery or looking for my future wife on a dating app, I’ll either be at Cypress Street downtown or Fuzzy’s, or taking one shot at the Ugly Lime, or I’m flying somewhere for a three day weekend (the advantages of owning your own firm), or working on improving some part of my land north of town. What does being an Abilene Young Professional mean to you? AYP is a great organization for Abilene because it helps give new professionals here a sense of community and a support network. It’s a great organization for new graduates and new professionals to our town because it’s very laid back and low pressure, and is a great way to mingle professionally but also personally with your neighbors and soon to be friends. AYP is consistently throwing events and they’re never the same, they keep it varied and host them at different locations and with different activities so you never get bored and they appeal to all different types of people.
Do you serve on any boards in the community or participate in any other groups? If so, what do you enjoy about your participation? I serve on the board for Work Again West Texas, it’s a charity we formed this year in response to the homeless here in Abilene and trying to help them find a permanent job and housing solution for them. The charity picks up the homeless citizens at designated sites, takes them to parts of Abilene that need the streets or parks cleaned, and pays them to work for 2-4 hours (pays them at the end of the day) and then partners with Goodwill West Texas and Hope Haven and other charities to find them permanent jobs and housing. We’ve already reached our initial funding goals and we start in September. The outpouring of support both with time and financially has been overwhelming here in Abilene.
What’s your favorite restaurant in Abilene? I don’t think I have just one favorite restaurant, but I probably have a top five: Jay’s BBQ has mind blowing food; Haley Jo on the Go has some delicious specials and they change day to day so it’s always new and fresh; Krua Thai is delicious, go check it out, and get a one, maybe a two on the spice level but don’t go any higher unless you’re a crazy person; Spicy India downtown is great, the wait can be a little long but it’s worth it, have patience and you won’t be sad; and finally Vagabonds Pizza… their Lucia pizza is the best pizza in the state.
What’s the last book you read or what’s your favorite book? One of my favorite books is actually a trilogy called The Last Lion, it’s about Winston Churchill’s life. It’s very well written and incredibly insightful and inspiring. I’ll read any biography on Churchill, Napoleon, or Alexander the Great. I’m also a big fan of the Wheel of Time series, I read it growing up and I recommend it to everyone, especially aspiring writers because the prose in that series is great.
What’s your favorite place to travel to and why? I love Rome (I tell people I don’t get homesick, I get Romesick)…it’s a trashy city but I love the architecture, the history, the people, the vitality of everyone there. Edinburgh and New Zealand are also two places that live up to the hype and more, I encourage everyone to visit those if you can. Their natural beauty leaves you feeling small and awestruck. I had to pull the car over every ten miles when driving in New Zealand just to get out and take in the view, it was so unbelievable. It’s a 19 hour flight there, but absolutely worth it.
What’s something you’re passionate about and why? I’m passionate about Brainstorm, it’s a group I started that brings local small business owners together to act as a sounding board for each other. The focus is on the nitty gritty practical questions and issues a business owner deals with in running their business. I wanted to get past the generic online answers about business questions (“Just be persistent.” Just believe in yourself and do it”) and get into the practical questions and answers on how business owners train their staff, how the market, how they identify their customer demographics, how they set up their business so they can step back, etc. We have typically three panel members who are business owners and have a roundtable discussion and field the questions.
I’m also passionate about traveling (I’m a sucker for last minute flights), kayaking, brewery and winery tours, and avoiding people with colds.
Share a fun fact about yourself other AYP Members might not know! I’m one of twelve children, so I have six sisters, and five brothers. And yes, we’re all full natural siblings. Growing up it was social suicide to admit that, but now I love it and wouldn’t trade it for anything. We’re very close and everyone is very sarcastic and intelligence, I’m on the bottom end of the totem pole when it comes to intelligence in the family. We have six lawyers in the family, three doctors, teachers, small business owners, software coders, pretty much everything.
