Entrepreneur • Real Estate Investor • 2X Bestselling Author • International Speaker & Trainer • Business & Leadership Coach • AI Solutions Builder
Hugh Zaretsky helps entrepreneurs, business owners, real estate professionals, and people ready for their next chapter turn ideas into action, build momentum, and create sustainable success.
His journey has taken him from corporate technology in New York City to real estate investing, entrepreneurship, coaching, professional speaking, bestselling books, and building AI-powered solutions for business.
EVERYONE HAS A LAUNCH BUTTON.
HUGH’S MISSION IS TO HELP PEOPLE FIND THEIRS.
Hugh Zaretsky shares the September 11, 2001, experience that changed the direction of his life.
After living through September 11, 2001, in New York City, Hugh’s perspective on life and work changed forever. At that time, he was one of the youngest directors of technology for Getty Images and was one of the first people to take pictures of the 9/11 scene that day. These were some of the first images that went out to every major newspaper.
The experience became a powerful reminder of how quickly life can change and how easily the things we plan to do “someday” can remain undone.
That realization ultimately changed the direction of Hugh’s life. He began investing in real estate, left corporate America in 2005, and built a career around entrepreneurship, coaching, training, writing bestselling books, speaking, and helping others turn ideas into action.
Hugh's work extends beyond the stage. Through training, coaching, facilitation, and education, he works with entrepreneurs, business professionals, real estate professionals, leaders, and organizations to turn ideas into action, create meaningful results, and drive economic impact.
Hugh’s vision is to help people turn ideas, goals, and opportunities into action so they can create greater freedom, success, and fulfillment in their lives.
Through entrepreneurship, real estate, leadership, communication, technology, and AI, he believes people can build better businesses, create new sources of income, strengthen relationships, reduce unnecessary stress, and pursue the life they truly want.
Hugh’s mission is to educate, inspire, and equip entrepreneurs, business owners, real estate professionals, and people ready for their next chapter with practical strategies, tools, technology, and confidence to move forward.
His goal is to help people find their Launch Button, take consistent daily action, build momentum, and create sustainable success while using that success to positively impact their families, communities, and the causes that matter to them.
Hugh’s own journey from corporate technology executive to entrepreneur inspired him to write The Launch Button, which became an Amazon bestseller in four categories.
He saw too many people staying in careers and situations that made them unhappy not because they lacked dreams or ideas, but because they struggled to take the first step toward something different.
The Launch Button grew from Hugh’s belief that taking action can change far more than a career. It can change the direction of a life, impact relationships and families, and create opportunities that might otherwise never exist.
That idea became the foundation of Hugh’s Launch Button philosophy: identify what you want to launch, take consistent daily action, build momentum, and keep moving forward.
Hugh’s second bestselling book, Beyond Launch, explores what happens after you take that first step. Through real-life lessons and practical insights, it focuses on building momentum, continuing to grow, and staying in orbit long after the initial excitement of launching has faded.
Hugh also created a productivity journal designed to help entrepreneurs and business owners take consistent daily action. He has contributed to collaborative books featuring recognized leaders in business, speaking, and real estate, including Les Brown, Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy, Bob Snyder, Woody Woodward, and others.
From entrepreneurship and real estate to international speaking, professional training, business coaching, and AI, Hugh has spent more than two decades turning experience into practical strategies that help others move forward.
Hugh began investing in real estate before leaving corporate America in 2005 to pursue entrepreneurship full time. His real estate investing business has acquired over 186 units in an 18-month period. Since then, he has built businesses, invested in real estate, and helped entrepreneurs, investors, and real estate professionals identify opportunities and turn them into action.
Hugh has trained more than 12,500 entrepreneurs, business owners, real estate professionals, and leaders through live events, workshops, bootcamps, webinars, coaching, and professional training, with participants from more than 30 countries.
Hugh has delivered thousands of presentations, with speaking experience that includes Fordham University, the University of California, the Humanity Summit in Portugal, Dan Fleyshman’s Elevator Night, Women of Power & Transformation, international leadership conferences, and Renatus National Conferences with audiences reaching approximately 2,000.
Hugh has developed courses and training programs that have received certification or approval in the United States and the United Kingdom, including programs recognized by ITOL, AAA, New York, California, Florida, and Texas real estate boards and more.
Hugh has been featured on podcasts and media platforms including Sharon Lechter’s Play Big Movement Podcast, Author Hour, The Art of Winning, and Money Boss, sharing insights on entrepreneurship, real estate, business growth, and turning ideas into action.
Today, Hugh speaks and trains on AI-powered business growth, growing and scaling in the age of AI, entrepreneurship and leadership, and real estate investing and deal finding. He also serves on the Access to Capital Committee within the Economic Impact Advisory Council at the University of California Office of the President.
Entrepreneurs, real estate investors, business owners, and professionals share how working with Hugh helped them gain clarity, take action, strengthen their businesses, improve communication, and create meaningful results.
