I have been managing people and or things since I was.....sixteen?
Yeah, got a job at a fast food restaurant and by the second week I was the weekend manager. Since then I have managed, lets see....
A recreation department for about 10 different nationalities with a staff of 150, all of whom were not from the west. Then got promoted to assistant site administrator and eventually to site administrator, where I was responsible for everything that was not construction related at a massive construction project in Saudi Arabia. That pretty much gave me responsibility for the health, safety, security, and living accomodations for over 35,000 people in Saudi Arabia.
Not bad considering I was not even 30.
Then I decided to return to the states and get my PhD in Political Science and it didn't take me all that long to realize that I was no longer cut out for academics. Even though I had no financial reason to work I had to go out and get a job because I just couldn't focus without having something to do. So I end up working 3rd shift at a convenience store and after six months I was made a store manager. From there I cleaned up three other stores for them and got them profitable and selling more than they ever thought possible.
Then one day while doing some moonlighting on a consulting project I realized that I needed to move on because I just was not happy pursuing a PhD and I was wasting my time moonlighting and managing convenience stores.
So, wrote my thesis and moved on.
A friend calls out of the blue the day after my thesis was accepted and asked me to help him clean up a not for profit company in Milwaukee. So, after 5 years in Saudi Arabia and 2 years in Nashville, Tn, I head back home to Wisconsin.
I told my buddy I would give him a year....
He kind of lied about the 'clean up" thing....this ballet company was in debt to the tune of 22 million dollars, they owed everyone in Milwaukee, and normally their income was about 7 million a year.
The thing should have been put out of its misery.
So, he goes out, as executive director and raises a butt load of money and I do what I do best....
In a year we had all the old debt paid off and operations were under control....and I was damned if I was going to spend another winter in Wisconsin, so since I was a couple of months over extended on my promise of a year I decided to move on.
Sent out 14 resumes to companies in a place called Bowling Green, Kentucky and got one interview. Why Bowling Green? Well, its real simple, I had been through the place a couple of times while at Vanderbilt and I liked what I saw....
Ended up being interviewed by the owner of the company; for over 6 hours I was interviewed and finally he let me know that he wanted me but that I was too expensive. So, I made him a deal: He paid me half of what I was asking for for six months and after six months if he keeps me then I get a payraise to my requested amount and if he doesn't think I am worth it then he could let me know and we would shake hands and go our separate ways!
It was 1989 and I was asking for a salary of $30,000!
So, I found myself in Bowling Green, Kentucky working for a small apparel company.
