After 40 years in the corporate communication and events industry, it is time to retire and enjoy family, friends and continued travels!
I started my working career on the tobacco farm, got paid in Pepsi Colas, Nabs and Moonpies. I moved on from there to cutting grass - can you believe we would get $.25 cents to cut someone’s grass? - I thought I was on my way. Then, when I was 14, I got a summer job washing dishes and mopping floors for a man who had three restaurants in town. I did a lot of bicycle riding that summer. By the way, I was still cutting grass. Next, it was onto Strickland Motor Company, which really started out because I could cut the grass on the used car lot; I also cut Mr. Strickland’s yard and his mother’s yard. I made $.80 cents an hour. Then off to college, where I studied Art, never considered how I would make a living… I was a full-time student, had a work-study, played Varsity Tennis, was involved in the Music Dept., worked at a men’s clothing store, lifeguarded at the country club in the summer, and was in a fraternity. Never an empty moment.
After college, I married the Love of my Life, Lynn. She has blessed me beyond words and I look forward to spending even more time together. After college, work started out in the clothing business in Pembroke, then a store in Dillon, SC. Next, we took a wonderful adventure overseas to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which changed our lives forever. The 5 years spent in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia were exciting, challenging, and a real learning time in my life. I can never thank Ray Branch and his wife Norma enough for believing in me and giving us this opportunity of a lifetime. Returning to the USA in 1986 we landed back in North Carolina, but after a big snowstorm and the lure to produce more live events we moved to Orlando, and this once again, changed our lives forever. I never thought I would move from company to company the way it has worked out. Corporate Media Productions, Allen Associates, Blumberg Communications, AVI- CS2, Configurations, and last but certainly not least, AV Matters!
What a blessing AV Matters, Mike, and Donna Evans have been. They allowed me to participate, communicate and grow in the business, providing all the tools and teamwork one could need. I will be forever grateful to them for the last 11 years!!
So, over the last 40 plus years, I have had the pleasure of working with some great people and have had some incredible mentors. I am so grateful to those people knowing they have helped me tremendously along the way.
To those I worked with, I hope I was a good teammate.
To those I worked for, I hope my contributions are looked upon favorably.
To those who worked alongside me, I hope I was a good co-worker & leader. I want you to know I tried my best to do the right things.
To those with whom I developed long-lasting friendships, thank you. Great friends are hard to find.
To those who did not buy from me, shame on you… lol.
The next chapter for me will be the owner of “Bo Bo’s” Playground and Daycare and Captain of the Happy Wanderer RV. I hope to spend more time with family, travel with Lynn to some faraway places, and hopefully remain engaged with those in the industry that will listen to my stories!!
With that, I leave you with a thought that I wrote when I was a Freshman in college searching for what I thought was the real meaning of life.
“When all the world’s adrift in green, and dreams sift through this world unseen, I’m moved by some obscure design and reach out, surely one is mine!”
I have reached for many dreams, but surely my wife, my family and my friends are mine!!
Proverbs 27:17 says “Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.” Thank you everyone, I couldn’t have gotten to retirement, without you all!!