ABOUT ME AND THIS SITE
As much as I dreamt about it when I was a kid, Im not a retired Navy pilot. A little color blindness and a steel rod in my leg took care of that.
And I’m certainly no monk who's spent years in a monastery becoming wise and seemingly able to float above the mortal turmoil. I’m too sensitive and have too short a temper.. but I’m working on it.
And I’m not a real estate mogul or entrepreneur making millions of dollars a year and selling some sort of get-rich plan.
I’d like to think that I’m a regular guy who's gone through some irregular things and put in the hard work to get where I am. Hopefully some of my struggles are relateable.
“..I learned that we need to change the definition of what success is and the narrative of everything surrounding it.”
As a child I was bullied, beat up, and ridiculed, but through it I learned compassion.
I was a high school dropout that went on to graduate second highest in his class from college with perfect attendance, and learned that the past doesn’t mean a damn thing about the future. Good or bad.
A motorcycle accident where I was being prepped for amputation but then miraculously instead brought about 23 reconstructive surgeries and 3 months in traction, taught me resilience and the power of the mind and body through visualization. And to just take one. more. step.
But that didn’t stop me from training in martial arts as a young adult and now, pursuing my Black Belt in Krav Maga.
Years of drug abuse were stopped cold by caring about something larger than myself. The woman I affectionately call Trixie, and our son Bren.
And in 2009 while the world was reeling from the worst economic recession in recent history I started a business and learned about going all-in on yourself and listening to your gut and your wife's intuition.
And I learned that we need to change the definition of what success is and the conversations of everything surrounding it. Who we love, the time spent together, the places we’ve been, places we will go, our legacy and the stories we will tell, and the stories that will get told about us when we’re gone are worth more than anything else that you’ll leave behind in a storage unit somewhere.
Because on one fateful afternoon in 2019, I was thrust to the edge of an abyss that I was certain I’d decide to fall into, and I nearly lost everything that is truly important. A trauma that opened the floodgates revealing all the hidden scars of a troubled childhood, deep-set insecurity and so much more all came flooding to the surface. I was unrecognizable to myself. If it weren’t for my wife and son and some close friends I’m not sure where I would’ve ended up. I’ve had to crawl through hell to get back.. better than I was before.
Now, being an introverted-over-thinker means that it’s taken me about 5 years to get the courage to lay all this out there. To use this as a way work through my fears. To share my lessons and experiences.
Life isn’t about the shortcuts to success or the 10 steps to gaining a million followers or getting shredded in 90 days. It’s about the journey we take, the wrong turns we make, and the stories we share.
To quote Emerson:
“If you focus on the destination, you miss the journey.”
But really this is for you son.
I want to do everything I can to be around for as long as I can, in the best shape that I can to keep up with you and have epic adventures as a family.
You see my father died long before you were born - he was an older parent like me.
You met my mother, your grandmother, only once before she passed away too.
Now as a father I have so many questions that I would love to ask them as you grow up.
So maybe some day in the future you’ll read this and I can give some answers to questions you might have, hear part of my story and also meet some important people in our lives.
And maybe someday you might sit down with your own children and say:
“Look kids, this is your grandfather. He’s going to teach you some things life taught him.
And after let’s go for a ride in his Caddy.”
I hope I make you proud.
Now, let’s get started.