Dublin graduate Shawn Stone tried a few different jobs before finding his dream career in real estate — a field he had some family history in. “My grandmother was a realtor for a long time, and my grandfather built homes in Stephenville for many, many years,” he said. So I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just try that.’ And been doing it ever since.”
Stone graduated from Dublin High School in 2005 and went to Tarleton on and off for a few months. Soon he decided to leave school and started working full time. He found a job in the oil field, leasing washout trailers to different oil companies.
“They would wash out the vacuum trucks in the field after disposing of excess water, mud, and shale,” he said. “I leased those washout trailers to those companies everywhere from Cleburne to Huckabee, from Decatur to Granbury and everywhere in between.”
Stone enjoyed the work. “The money was good for a while and [I loved] the freedom of working and being out and about and not being tied down to an office or one location for very long,” he said.
But the good times didn’t last — in the early 2010s, the natural gas prices went down and there wasn’t as much oil to be had in the Barnett Shale. “There wasn’t as much work and it didn’t pay as well,” Stone said. “I was moving farther and farther north, and it just wasn’t making sense money-wise. So I decided to move on.”
Stone found a job at SchreiberfoodsinStephenville, and worked there as the sanitation coordinator for three years. He enjoyed the job, but he was stuck working nights. “I was working 7pm to 7am and it didn’t look like I was getting moved to days anytime soon,” he said. “So I moved on to FMC.”
Stone worked for FMC for a few months before the company conducted sweeping layoffs and he lost his job. He then went to Star Waste in Dublin, working with some friends of his from school.
While working there, he started studying to earn his real estate license. “Once I got licensed, it started off kind of quick,” he said. “It was kind of a roller coaster. And as I’ve stuck with it, I’ve built a name and gotten more into farm and ranch properties.”
Stone currently works for Clark Real Estate Group in Stephenville, and holds the ALC (Accredited Land Consultant) designation through the Realtor’s Land Institute.
In an average week, Stone balances office work with viewing and showing properties. His work takes him all over the surrounding counties, and he loves getting to see the variety of farm and ranch properties available in the area.
“I’ve seen some that are just breathtaking, and some that aren’t, but then someone gets in and they clean them up and fix them up — it’s incredible what people have been able to do to some of these places,” he said.
Stone enjoys the freedom and flexibility his job affords him. “I can work from home, I can work from the office, and I’m never looking at the same thing over and over,” he said.
Stone is happy to have found this career, and plans to stick with it. “I’m just going to keep on doing real estate,” he said. “Hopefully soon I’ll be investing in properties myself — long-term rentals, short-term rentals, hopefully larger tracts of land.”
When he’s not working, Stone enjoys collecting sports cards and spending time with his family. His children are all involved in sports, so he spends a lot of time taking them to practice and supporting them at games.
Stone lives in Stephenville with his wife Ashley, who is a teacher in Hico, and their four children, Jaxon 11, Pason, 7, Zoey, 5 and Tillson, 4. His parents, Darrell Stone and Lori Lesley, live in the Stephenville area as well.
Throughout his life, Stone’s greatest source of inspiration has been to build a good life for the people around him. “I think it’s just being hungry to provide security and comfort,” he said.
Stone’s advice to Dublin graduates is to carefully consider the career they pick and whether it will serve their long-term needs. “Look into job demand before picking a career, whether it’s from college, trade school, or going straight to work,” he said. “Job demand and security are two of the most important things.”
He also advises them to get a head start on investments that will help them in the future. “Invest in yourself early, whether it’s financial investments or real estate,” he said. “Educate yourself in real estate and learn how it can build your future with financial growth and tax benefits.”
Where are they now chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen. com.