Six years ago, at the age of 22, I was just another young man who didn't have a realistic CLUE of what I wanted to do with my life. I finished college on June 8, 2002 in Ohio and moved to Key West, FL on June 15, 2002. This was the boldest move I had made in my life. I packed a bag of clothes and my scuba diving gear and boarded a one way flight to meet my new 54 year old roommate named Bruce…
I thought being a scuba diving instructor was my ticket to a happy life. It only took me 2 weeks of excessive drinking and no diving to realize I was totally wrong.
At this point, I needed money, so what to do next but make another move! I dropped Key West like a bad habit and ended up in Corolla, NC. Most of you are probably wondering where the Heck is that…It is a 1/4 mile wide strip peninsula on the North East Coast of North Carolina. I moved in with a college buddy and began bartending at a pizza joint and selling surf clothes at the local surf shop.
The best part about it I lost my College 40…I didn’t do the Freshman 15…I gained nearly 40 lbs. Losing the weight was a pretty easy task when your working 18 hour days.
Finally, I realized real quick that I was cheating myself in such jobs that required so little of me. I was both afraid to take a risk, and afraid not to. I knew if I stayed, I would get stuck. So I quit. This is where the journey began for me. I ended up in Charlotte, North Carolina living with a friend from college. I moved in September 14th, 2002 and began job hunting on September 15th, 2002 by walking up and down Tryon Street , the main strip where all the action goes down, to find a job in a restaurant or bar to get some quick cash.
Talk about some frustrated parents…My parents were wondering what I was doing waiting tables when I had a Degree in Business Administration. Those who knew me figured this was just another of my passing phases.
Trying to save me from falling on my face my close friend, who I was living with put my resume in front of his Boss in an attempt to help me find a better way. After two months pass I finally get a call from the owner of the company for an interview with his company. I thought I nailed the interview, but my buddy said otherwise. To my surprise the owner did not want to hire a Beach Bum, who was laid back. The one thing I had going for me was that my buddy put his stamp of approval on me and the owner took a chance. That motivated me a bit. For the first time in my life, I took on a Real Job. So, how do you start and succeed here? - I wondered.
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