I’m seven years old and my food comes from a dumpster.
It’s 1983, my mom has an eighth grade education, and my dad passed away two years prior, he was 27. Dad was the breadwinner. As the oldest of three, I climb into the dumpsters. The smell hits me first. Then I start opening bags searching for food to take home.
Bread, pasta, juice; anything expired, dented, or damaged is what I look for, and when I find them, I hand them to my younger brother and sister, Becky and Randy. From dumpster runs, to the local food bank, and support from our church, this is how I survive.
My mom marries three more times before I turn 14. Her last marriage, to JC, she moves in with him. JC says, “my kids are grown, I’m not raising anyone else's kids.” Becky, Randy, and I live alone in a green and white single wide trailer, next to the train tracks.
Throughout high school, I’m the adult in the house, and I make sure Becky and Randy attend school, provide for them, and after school I work odd jobs to pay for food, clothes, and school supplies. I remember sitting at our kitchen table with Becky and Randy, and telling them when I’m older we will not live like this.
At twenty, I joined the Marines. A defining moment for me.
I’m 20 years old when Becky and Randy graduate high school, and I am working the graveyard shift at Winn-Dixie stocking shelves and breaking down cardboard, and I remember what I promised myself…I’m not living like this.
My shift ends and I drive to the armed forces service center, and meet with the Air Force recruiter. And he tells me how great life is going to be.
I'm going to live in an apartment style building, four to a room, personal lockers, pool tables, TV room, sand volleyball courts, and a chow hall. Life is going to be great! Yeah, this is what I want. I take my ASVAB test and we meet to review my results and my bootcamp ship date.
Eight Months!! I’m shipping out in eight months!
I’m not waiting eight months to leave.
I hop in my car and head for the Marine Corps recruiter’s office. As soon as I walk in, I ask him, how soon can I go to boot camp if I join the Marines? Without pause, he says, tomorrow if you want to. March 24, 1997 I stepped on the yellow footprints at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, ready to change my life.
Thirteen weeks later, I graduate Marine Corps bootcamp, with a meritorious promotion to Private First Class. I served eight years on active duty, five years deployed. Then 20 more years leading global operations for industry titans like Maxwell Technologies, Honeywell Aerospace and TE Connectivity.
And at 46, I walked away from corporate America financially independent.
I kept the promise I made at the kitchen table.
Today, I live in Tucson, Arizona with my wife of 22 years. We have three daughters and three grandchildren.
I run a fully independent agency — which means I work for you, not a carrier. No quotas. No bias. Just honest guidance from someone who’s lived the other side of this.
If you're ready to talk, I'm ready to listen.