Like most adolescents, I had no idea what I wanted to do when I “grew up!”  I did know however, that I did not want a job that involved “manual labor!  I figured this out while visiting my mother one hot summer in Seymour, Indiana.  My mom and step-father lived on a few acres, which was surrounded with a wooden horse fence.  My step-father reasoned that if he forced me to paint this horse fence with a little paintbrush and some tar, I would so detest manual labor that I would grow up to be a doctor or lawyer or such!  Well, his plan worked (sort of – more on this in a later post).  As they wished, I graduated from high school and entered college where I proceeded to major in criminal justice.

I quickly realized that if I wanted to make any money at all, I had to go to law school (prison guards and police officers don’t make very much).  And so, that’s exactly what I did.  For me, law school was a turning point in my life.  I always figured I was fairly smart, but I never really applied myself.  Well, in law school, you have no choice but apply yourself.  For the first time in my life I was really tested.  The workload was enormous…the amount of reading, copious.  By the time I was done, I felt like a different person.  Think of it like boot camp for your mind.  I began thinking on a whole other level.  I was more analytical, and to my surprise creative!

After law school, I did what most law school graduates do, I took the bar exam and got a job practicing law in a private practice.  You would think that I would be happy right?  I had achieved everything that I had set out to do.  I persevered through seven years of school (all while being married I might add), and attained a coveted place among the four pillar professions.  But something wasn’t right…I wasn’t happy.  Soon after my employment as an associate attorney I began reading biographies of leading entrepreneurs.  One of the earliest of which was Sharing the Wealth: My Story, by Alex Spanos.  After reading this book, something happened inside of me.  It was like a lightbulb went off or something.  I became fascinated with this idea that you could take a risk, dare to dream, and build something of lasting importance.  And you could do all of this while having fun!  I had always been somewhat introspective, but after law school and after I began reading stories of successful entrepreneurs I began wondering what my place was in this world.  I began asking myself what the limits of my human potential were?

And so, with the switch now “ON,” I set out determined to find my calling…my business.  I began keeping a journal of business ideas (someday, after I’ve made it, I’ll share some of them with you…pretty funny stuff).  Some were good, some were not; but all were creative.  This was when I really began to realize that I was a creative person.  For the first time in my life I thought of myself as creative – and I thrived on it!  And then, it happened…my “aha moment!”  I have already written on this a bit in the past, so I’ll leave it for a later post.  Until then, keep…

Swimming against the tide,
Capt. Tommy