Personal Growth – Sharing My Story

I grew up in an affluent area in Long Island, NY. Although my parents were very rich with love, they struggled financially. At a very young age, I attached my self-worth to my family’s net worth.

While growing up, I stuffed my face with food to hide from the feeling of worthiness. I was a rebel without a clue... Acting out in school and hanging around the wrong crowd looking for approval. That was a crash course heading in the wrong direction FAST.

During my teens I was arrested for fighting, for selling drugs and twice for driving while intoxicated. My parents and teachers didn’t know what to do. Constantly dragging me to various psychologists and psychiatrists so they could "figure me out.” All they did was make matters worse by prescribing antidepressants to numb the pain.

As High School came to an end, there was tremendous pressure to go to college. I had a dream to be an entrepreneur and had no clue what to do next. I spent 13 years in school and felt unequipped for the real world.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse…IT DID!
Every Saturday since I was a kid, I worked with my father at his auto repair shop and used car lot. I had done this for years, learning and earning under the guidance of my dad.

Then it happened: it appeared to be an ordinary day… until all of a sudden, I watched my father fall down hard on the ground - and heard a big “SNAP”.

I ran to see if he was ok. When I approached him, he was screaming in pain. His ankle was the size of a grapefruit. I had never seen my father in pain before, and I felt totally helpless.

He was rushed to the hospital. There were so many thoughts rambling through my head. At the time, my mother wasn’t working and my brother was only 15 years old.

How was my family going to survive?
Without the “breadwinner” of the family able to work, what were we going to do?
Seconds felt like minutes… minutes felt like hours… hours felt like days. After several hours of waiting… the doctors told us that he would be bedridden for at least 12 months.

We couldn’t afford him missing work for 12 hours let alone 12 months. We eventually had a family talk and agreed that I would take over the businesses until my father was able to get back on his feet.

Consider this: up until that point, my life was a wreck. Now, all of a sudden, I was in charge of running two businesses and 9 employees - most of whom were more than twice my age.

Monday morning came fast and I arrived at work as the "boss". I wish I could say I was welcomed with open arms. Actually, the employees were less than thrilled with the idea that the boss's "brat son” was going to run the show.

After several months of stumbling and figuring things out… Everything was going pretty smooth. I was getting into the groove and I was doing a heck of a job, if I do say so myself.

Life has ups and downs. What we all have to do is focus on getting to the ups and push through the downs.