Life @ Trillium

Continuing our quest to find out what makes our Trillium Resident Ambassadors click, I caught up with Lennox Punch, Jr.  Not only did he enter our Free Rent Contest, but he is genuinely one of the nicest people I have the pleasure of knowing.  Our Resident Ambassadors have to embody the culture that Trillium works so hard to promote.  Lennox was an easy choice for Trillium Deer Valley.

We posed the same 15 questions to Lennox and I must say, his answers were pretty darn good!  Keep reading to friend him on Facebook or follow Lennox on Twitter!

1. Tell me about yourself.
Well, I was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Lennox, Sr. and Gloria Punch on August 6th, 1982. So that makes me one of the few natives to the Valley of the Sun. I have two brothers, one older (Dwayne) and one younger (Gerad). I been married to Stefanie Punch since 8/31/08. We have no children.

2. How did you become involved with Trillium?
I got involved with Trillium at Deer Valley shortly after they opened their doors to their first residents. We (my wife and I) actually almost didn’t move into Trillium because the weekend we went apartment hunting was the week before they opened for tours. But before we settled on another complex just down the street my wife convinced me to take a look at Trillium. I told her that more than likely Trillium would be just like every other place we’ve seen so let’s not bother with going back there to check it out because I really liked the other place… boy was I wrong! We love Trillium and I’m glad my better half made me take a look.

3. What is important to you as a Trillium Resident and ambassador?
As a Trillium Resident it’s important for me to know who my neighbors are. At the last complex I lived in, they didn’t do anything to promote the concept of “community” like Trillium does, so I never really felt comfortable. At Trillium I feel comfortable everywhere I go, which gives me a little bit of peace of mind when I go to sleep at night. As the ambassador I want to be able to provide that same peace of mind to other residences, and let them know that in addition to all the fun times here at Trillium at Deer Valley, we’re all looking out for everyone’s best interest.

4. What motivates or inspires you, in general?
I’m motivated by helping others. I’m a big believer in giving back to the community around you, especially when that community has given sometime to you. I’m also highly motivated by competition, if some tells me I can’t, I will. If you can do it, I’ll work hard to do it better. But I’m friendly about it. In other words, I look at competition as a chance to better myself especially when it involves something that I’m not familiar with.

5. Describe a memory from your childhood home? What made it feel like home?
On Saturday morning, the entire family spent the day cleaning the home together all at the same time. It made it feel less like chores and more like a bonding time. But the best part about this memory is my father would play some upbeat jazz music. So now as an adult, I always associate jazz music with that bonding time that I spent with my family cleaning our home and how my parents made it enjoyable and a thing of pride.

6. When you have free time, what do you like to do? What makes you happy?
When I have free time I fill it with volunteer work. I’m an active board member with a non-profit organization here in Phoenix called the Arizona Hemophilia Association. Outside of work, a good portion of my time is consumed planning fund-raising events for the Association and helping to advocate our overall mission. I’m also active in my church, Christ Church of the Valley where I lead a weekly neighborhood group. So, when I’m free, I like to do work for free (weird… I know)! If I’m not volunteering, I’m either playing basketball or volleyball or hanging out with my wife and/or friends.

7. Are you on Facebook or Twitter? Yes, I am on both Facebook and Twitter. My account addresses are facebook.com/lennoxpunchjr and twitter.com/lennoxpunchjr

8. Do you have any pets?
Unfortunately, we have no pets. My wife and I both work 9-5 jobs and felt that we wouldn’t do a good job of raising a pet (a dog) if we had to leave it at home by himself/herself for 40 hours a week without a hard to run around in. We’ll reconsider that if and when we buy home with a yard.

9. What is your favorite color?
Great question. Some years it’s red and other years it’s blue. But according to my work shirts and ties, it’s blue

10. If I say “2010”, what do you think of?
I think, where are the flying cars? I also think back to 1999 when everyone freaked out about Y2K and I wonder if those same people still have canned food left over from 1999 in their pantries?

11. Where do you want to be in 5 years?
In 5 years I want to be in business for myself. I work in the financial services industry and I’ve done it all, from working at a large firm and being just one of 2,000 employees in a cube to having my own office working with a small business and having 7 other co-workers. There are ideas from both large and small companies that crossover but it’s finding that right balance to make work that I would like to explore. However, the type of business that I want to get into would be on the non-profit side helping the youth of Arizona in some way.

12. When is your birthday?
August 6th (same date the US bombed Hiroshima, Japan in 1945)

13. Who are important people in your life?
Jesus, Wife, Mother and Father and Brothers, then all of my friends.

14. What is unique about you?
I might be stretching for uniqueness here but I’ll tell it anyways. I was one of the few people to purchase season tickets to the inaugural Cardinals’ season at University of Phoenix Stadium. Because of that I was able to submit a picture to the Cardinals to be placed in a mural that was made up of other fan photos, and was designed into the shape of the Cardinals logo. The mural is on a wall spanning the width of the main entrance of the stadium. So in other words, I have my face on the walls of University of Phoenix Stadium for as long as the stadium stands, which is something that I’ll be able to show my kids and hopefully grand kids.

15. What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be an architect up until I failed geometry my sophomore year of high school. My mother always though I would make a good lawyer, because I loved to argue. I also had aspirations of being a pro basketball player but that dream too ended in high school when I road the pine my freshman year.