I grew up in a very small town among the corn and soybean fields of central Iowa. There may have been just shy of 300 residents at that time. The town had an agricultural cooperative, library, post office, auto repair shop, tavern, and a gas station/convenience store.
My high school was actually in another small town, only 2 miles away. It probably had 1,100 or so residents and my graduating class was less than 50 students. I participated in football, basketball, wrestling, track & field, and band.
Growing up in such a small environment, surrounded by farming, didn't give me much of an exposure to discover what the world had to offer. My parents were raised on Midwest farms and ranches but they weren't farmers or ranchers themselves and I had little knowledge of what I wanted to be when I grew up. When it came time to decide whether to go to college or not, I felt that not having a clear direction wouldn't help me focus in a college setting and there wasn't much for employment opportunities for a high school graduate outside small business and farming.
(1988-1998) Right after high school I enlisted in the United States Air Force where I was trained as an aircraft mechanic and served 10 honorable years both overseas and here in the United States.
Like I eluded to earlier, I chose to enlist because I just didn't know what I was interested in studying and felt the military would train me in something that I could build upon after leaving the service. Not only did joining the military teach me technical skills, it taught me leadership skills that I continue to develop and use to this day.
(1988-1996) I was responsible for the entire maintenance effort on specially modified C-130 Hercules aircraft like you see here. When I was stationed in England, the aircraft I worked had a special operations mission to refuel helicopters in flight. During this tour I deployed to several European countries including: Iceland, Scotland, Norway, Germany, Italy, Sicily, Crete, and Turkey. I also participated in Desert Shield and Desert Storm which has provided me with protected veteran status.
Here in the United States my aircraft was specially modified to jam enemy communications. It is difficult for the enemy to communicate when they loose all their electronic communications to "our interference."
(1996-1998) After 8 years on the flightline working aircraft I was chosen to manage the Operations Group's Quality Improvement office. During my last two year in the USAF, I learned many quality improvement techniques that help an organization become more efficient and reduce waste and rework. Concepts like strategic planning, continuous improvement, and team development were the foundations of my work.
Today, I'm a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) whose mission is to empower individuals and communities of the world to achieve excellence through quality. Ever since my exposure to the quality effort in the military I've tried to employ those concepts into all aspects of my work and life.
Backing up a little, in the early 1990s while serving in England, I came across a laptop that none of the other mechanics knew how to use. After my daily aircraft maintenance duties where complete I would spend another couple hours learning how this heavy, clunky laptop worked.
Later, in Arizona during my last assignment, my supervisor asked me to learn HTML (hyper-text markup language) so we could build an intranet website for the organization we worked for and share the quality improvement focus we were working on. After a few months of study and tinkering around, I was able to launch that first website in 1996.
(Since 1998) After 10 years of honorable service, circumstances led me to leave the military and pursue civilian work. My first stop was with a the local Ford dealership selling new cars and trucks. I loved getting to know that industry and the product lines; however, that kind of sales did not fit with my personality. My time with the dealership lasted only three months before I found a more suitable position.
A local software company had a position for someone to support the sales department. I was able to develop a tracking database using Microsoft Access that led to better communications with customers seeking to purchase the software. This position was only a support position and really didn't provide the kind of compensation I needed to support my family.
While visiting with a friend about my skills he offered me a position with his pension administration company. There I was able to dig into how to administer pension plans, like 401Ks, as well as spearheading their computer network support. I also create the company's first website. Unfortunately, my position was eliminated and I had to find new work.
I found a software support engineering position that had me work with inbound callers (customers) who had troubles with the four different types of credit card processing and reporting applications the company represented.
Eventually, I was able to get into the mortgage industry as a loan officer for about a few years before moving my way into more of an operations management position. In this position, I was responsible for preparing each bi-weekly payroll for up to 120 commissioned, salaried, and hourly employees as well as training new employees, computer and phone network support, state licensing, and a whole host of other duties the owner bestowed on me.
After seven years in the mortgage industry I pursued freelance digital marketing which I had been doing on the side for many years. In fact, I created several websites for loan officers in the company.
(1996-Present) In 2007, I started my own LLC and in 2009 I began working with WordPress and created a nice freelance business helping self-employed people, non-profits and micro/small businesses create beautiful and effective websites.
Over the years I've created dozens of websites, sent hundreds of emails, and designed countless other forms of digital marketing pieces.
(2015-2018) After working with dozens of small business owners I found myself able to coach them through many issues they were having and began offering coaching services. This was absolutely a joy. I was able to work with many small business owners in several different industries work out many different kinds of issues.
(2016-2018) One of my coaching clients was in a position where he wanted to build a real estate licensed team and wanted me to be part of it. In 2016, I attended the Hogan School of Real Estate and passed the Arizona Department of Real Estate exam on the first try. For almost two years my, then, coaching client and I teamed up to help Tucson-area homeowners and buyers buy and sell residential property.
I am more analytical and detailed oriented so doing the paperwork was my favorite part. So when we "dissolved" our relationship I wasn't as proficient in getting new real estate clients and chose to return to digital marketing where I was more effective.
(2021-Present) My solo freelance business hadn't funding my family's budget like I expected. So my wife and I decided that me getting a commercial driver's license and hitting the road was a good way to boost our finances.
In October 2021 I attended Commercial Driver's Licensing school in Tucson, AZ and received my Class A CDL. I currently drive most of the lower 48 states delivering freight for a national carrier.
With the boost in income from truck driving, I've been able to afford LASIK surgery on both eyes and my wife and I were able to afford a new home. Thanks to trucking!
I love driving the big rig across the country but it can be quite an isolating experience. Plus, I desire to get back to digital marketing. There is virtually no time on the road to expand my digital marketing consulting practice. I'm typically on the road for 3-4 weeks with 3-4 days at home.
I've decided that after a good time on the open road in trucking and a long time freelancing in digital marketing that I want to become an integral part of a local service business providing my digital marketing experience or other leadership/management skills to grow and improve their operations.