Education takes on many forms whether it’s college, an apprenticeship, or even knowledge just for the sake of knowledge.  For me, it was the military.  While many high school graduates we’re going off to experience the best years of their lives at a university, I was being completely broken down and rebuilt by a drill sergeant.  I too got to experience the best years of my life, just in a different way.  I got to take college courses through the Marines at Texas A&M, but what’s more is I also walked away with a brotherhood and the camaraderie that came with it.  They will not only always be Marines, but they will also always be my Family.

Character Building Warehouse

United Sates Marine Corp
Served: 1997 – 2000

Whoop!!

Texas A&M
Marketing – Business – Psychology

Deep In The Heart of The Trenches

Meadors Nursery: March 08 to June 08

Johnson Equipment: Aug 07 to March 08

Position: Garage Door Installer
As a garage door installer I often interacted with clients and property management teams.  The nugget of a lesson that came with this job experience was making the best of what I had at the time.  I knew that I didn’t want to be installing garage doors for the rest of my life, but during the time that I did I wanted to improve the profits for not only myself but also for the company.  Through time management and observing the steps of production, I provided a process that took us from hanging 5 garage doors per week to 15 per week per person.  The key to any production is to work smarter, not harder.

Copasetic Ballyhoo July 06 to Aug 07

Position: PR and Band Management Guy
Ballyhoo! That’s a funny word.  At Copasetic Ballyhoo, I worked as a PR and band management guy promoting music events, and festivals.  In 2007 I booked all the bands for the Deep Ellum Arts Festival.  The experiences of PR and band management gave me the opportunity to really polish my organizational skills.  The big lesson of course that came along was patience.  Patience became my savior.  When a hundred bands all thought they were the best, and wanted the best stage and the best time at the festival patience and diplomacy became my best friends.  It isn’t easy to get that many people on the same page, especially when they’re all reading different books.

Southwind Inc: Aug 2001 to June 06

Position: Chief Landscape Technician
As a Chief Landscape Technician… OK, some titles are just too fancy.  As a landscaper with Southwind Inc I became a company asset by cutting the time it took to perform the various landscaping duties while increasing the profits of the company.  There were many lessons that came with this experience.  Number one, hydration, number two, time is money, and number three, by cutting time and cost while increasing profits we instituted a 4 day work week.  I don’t know about you, but a four day work week versus a five day work week… I’ll take the four day work week.

Counter Culture: July 2000 to July 2001

Position: Manager Retail
Working in retail management for a vintage clothing store was almost too much fun to consider it work.  Organizing the shop, shopping wholesalers, and dealing with consumers in a high energy environment was an absolute blast.  Did I mention the discounts on some really cool gear?  The biggest lesson that I took from this experience was the importance of research.  You can lead horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.  However, if you put salt in the oats the horse will drink.  By self-driven researching I found strategies (salt) that created a thirst within the consumer.  A specific example: we often had sales, but they were usually on display at the back of the shop, and one day I noticed that most people who entered would only walk about half way back, and then leave.  Easy solution: I brought in a huge fish tank and put it on display at the back of the shop.  Almost everyone who entered would venture back to take a look, and on their way back up they would browse the “discount” rack.  It was through research that I learned how to navigate the shopper through a retail environment.

Foot Soldier For A Higher Purpose

Blood-n-Fire Ministries is a Christian ministry that focuses on the homeless, poor, troubled youth, elderly, and broken hearted.  I have been fortunate to work with Blood-N-Fire Ministries as a mentor to troubled teens as well as the manager of their fundraising landscaping company.  I have led many of the homeless shelter events and homeless BBQ events.  One of my favorite opportunities was being the sound engineer for praise and worship and any events where music was being used.  All of my experience with Blood-N-Fire taught me that if qualifications were mandatory there would be very few ministries.  How qualified does one really have to be to say, “Let my people go.”  A willing heart is all we need.  Experience and qualification will follow.