Jeff Wood still chuckles when he recounts his neighbors’ early impressions after he moved into his house on Prestonshire Lane.

“They thought I was the yard man,” he says. “We had not met the neighbors, and all people saw of me was me mowing the lawn and working in the yard.”

In fact, Wood isn’t the yardman, though he is deeply involved in the intricacies of certain plots of land. He’s vice president of emerging concepts at Brinker International, the company responsible for such popular chain restaurants as Chili’s, On the Border, Corner Bakery Café, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Maggiano’s and others.

Part of Wood’s job is to research cities and regions for future Brinker restaurants. His team identifies potentially successful restaurant locations, negotiates lease/purchase contracts, designs the buildings, constructs the facilities and delivers a “finished product” to the operation teams.

Wood came by his career by way of the SMU Cox School of Business, where he earned his MBA. He landed a gig straight out of school with Henry S. Miller’s development company. Three years later, he became regional director of real estate at Dallas-based TGI Friday’s, Inc. Four years later, he moved to Brinker.

When it came to buying a home in a choice neighborhood, Wood was nearly as thorough as he is in his professional life. They researched Preston Hollow for more than a year before settling in the area.

Since moving into their home in 1990, Wood and his wife Cathy have notices some changes in the neighborhood, he says, particularly in the form of McMansions and subsequently higher property taxes.

Despite the changes, and perhaps because he travels so much – “I have been everywhere at least once,” he says – he continues to be inspired by our neighborhood.

“I miss the pace of Preston Hollow when I travel,” he says.

“We love the trees, the size of the lots and the neighborhood feel,” says Wood, who has two children – 7-year-old son Brandt and 10-year-old daughter Katie.

“It’s a great place to raise a family.”