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 Gerald Hudgins has a gift for making success look easy. From the very beginning he saw life as one giant opportunity. And while he never let anything stand in his way, his easy going-demeanor and good ole Southern manners combined with his drive and determination set him on a course that has enabled him to achieve not only success in business but success in life as well.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Gerald’s family can be traced back to the Civil War. His great-great grandfather, a farmer, served as a veterinarian for the Confederate Army. His other ancestors including his great grandfather, his uncle, and his father, all worked as engineers for the Southern Railroad. According to Gerald, back then engineers were as revered as commercial airline pilots were when they first started. Despite his father’s love for the railroad, his roots in farming were too strong to ignore and when Gerald was 10-years old, his father bought a cow. “We lived in DeKalb County which at the time was pretty rural. We had a big backyard and I guess he figured he could save some money raising cows to feed his family,” said Gerald. Unfortunately, the family didn’t know much about raising cows and let “Babydoll” – that was the name his father named the cow -- “live off the land” which meant a lot of pine needles and whatever else was in the backyard. Gerald chuckles as he recalls what happened once Babydoll was sent out to the butcher. “We got that meat back and while it was cooking it smelled just awful. I remember trying to chew it – it was tough and tasted awful -- of course no one wanted to say anything for fear of insulting my father. Fortunately, my mother saved the day and said ‘well, obviously, the butcher switched the meat.’”
But far from dissuading Gerald, the event actually inspired him later in life.
THE EARLY YEARS
He began his college career at Young Harris College, a two-year liberal arts school in the Appalachian Mountains of Northern Georgia. Even though many of his peers were headed to the University of Georgia, Gerald transferred to Georgia State to major in Real Estate. “The college had a good reputation and the location opened up a lot of opportunities for me,” said Gerald. One of his most memorable professors and an early mentor was Carl Tschappat, head of the Real Estate Department. While Gerald attended Georgia State he reached out to the man who gave him his start Scott (no relation) Hudgens. Hudgens was a pioneer in the Atlanta real estate market, responsible for building the first covered mall in Georgia, then known as North DeKalb Mall. He also built two of his biggest malls in Gwinnett County--Gwinnett Place in 1984, and in 1998, the largest mall in the state, the Mall of Georgia. “I didn’t know Mr. Hudgens but I knew what he did,” said Gerald. “So I contacted him and told him I was a real estate major at Georgia State and that I wanted to work for him.” Hudgens told him that he didn’t have any openings. But Gerald persisted and said that he would work for free just to get the experience. Within no time Hudgens hired Gerald full-time.
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