The Setback That Saved My Life
Drowning in debt. Sink or swim. I chose to surf. 🏄
It was 1999, and no, I wasn’t partying like Prince, that’s for sure.
I’d just been laid off. Again. No surprise there.
Layoffs are the dreaded but expected norm during the winter construction season in Michigan.
But even though layoffs were familiar, they were never easy. I had a full-time family, after all. Which meant I needed a full-time paycheck.
So I did what a lot of construction workers do.
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Hustle
I got a job loading pallets by day and plowing snow and spreading salt at night, and that was okay... for a while.
But I wanted a more reliable income for my family. Something I could build on. Something that wouldn’t disappear when the ground froze solid, or the snow melted, or the heavens opened up and flooded the jobsite.
So I started learning to build websites.
At first, just to understand how they worked. Then, how to make them work better. Then, how to write the copy that made those curious visitors convert into paying customers.
Not many construction companies had websites back then. So when the phones started ringing, I had to figure out how to service all those new potential clients.
Which led to the next set of problems…
Leads
Lots of them. Too many to handle.
So I figured out how to answer them all by building the systems to keep up.
Sales workflows.
Email templates.
Estimating templates.
Contracts, Change Orders, RFI templates.
Project management boards.
Closeout docs.
Maintenance request forms.
All of it from scratch.
Smooth operator
That’s how it started.
No roadmap. No blueprint.
Just cold mornings, code I didn’t understand yet, and the need to feed my family.
That was 25 years ago.
And I'm still here.
Still building.
Still learning.
Still making things better for the people who build better things.
My tools have changed over the years, but not my blueprint:
✔︎ Follow my curiosity
✔︎ Solve interesting problems
✔︎ Add value
✔︎ Keep going
Helpful Links:
Learn to code—free and fast
Intro to copywriting
The Tech Stack I Use to Run Construction Ops
Why SOPs Save the Day