I WAS BORN ON THE OIL-FIELDS OF WYOMING ON MEMORIAL DAY 1980. MY DAD, BEING THE SON OF LAND OWNERS, KNEW THE ADVANTAGES OF WORKING LAND, TILLING THE SOIL, OR "BEHAVING AS CUSTODIANS OF THE LAND" WE WOULD SAY.

 

I WATCHED MY GRAND-DAD SET TYPE AND ROLL HIS OWN PRINT. IN VARIOUS DYES. MY POPS DID THE DRAWING, AT A YOUNG AGE.

 

THE ART IN THEIR INTENT WAS OVERFLOWING. BY MY EARLY ADOLESCENCE, I WAS GIFTED A WAY TO EXPRESS MY ARTISTIC SIDE AS WELL, WHICH WAS ALL PART OF THE SILVER LINING. A LAWN MOWER.

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FAST FORWARD TO THE 90'S WHERE OUR KNIGHT'S LANDING, CALIFORNIA FARM WAS AT IT'S PRIME. WE GREW RICE. AND A LOT OF IT. TOOK NEARLY A MONTH RUNNING FOUR COMBINES CONCURRENTLY TO HARVEST THE CROP.

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IN THOSE RICE FIELDS, WHEN FORMED, ASX KNOWN AS "RICE CHECKS", AND, ARE IN AND OF THEMSELVES, A WORK OF ART THAT FOLLOW THE LINES GRAVITY AND NATURAL WATER FLOW, NEVER TO WASTE A SINGLE DROP.

 

RUNNING A JOHN DERRE 9600 WAS MY KIND OF A FUN. I FELT LIKE THE MAN IN ME HAD ARRIVED. THIS WAS THE SAME SUMMER I STARTED TO SHAVE MY WHISKERS.

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BUT THIS BIRDY ON MY SHOULDER TOLD ME THAT CORPORATE AMERICA WOULD YIELD A HIGHER QUALITY OF LIFE, AND "MORE PEOPLE LIKE YOU," SO THAT WAS THE ROUTE I TOOK.

 

AND I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN A NORMAL GUY WHO DID NORMAL THINGS, BUUUUUUUUT I TOOK THAT AND WENT ANOTHER DIRECTION.

 

MET SOME CHARACTERS ALONG THE WAY. WORKED DIRECTLY FOR JEFFREY KATZENBERG'S OFFICE IN GLENDALE AT DREAMWORKS ANIMATION WHEN THE PRINCE OF EGYPT WAS RELEASED. THEN ANTS. I WORKED ON SPIRIT, STALLION OF THE CIMMARRON. THEN I MADE MY WAY OVER TO THE LARGEST COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, ROBERT F. MAGUIRE III. HE  BUILT THE LARGEST BUILDING IN AMERICA WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI AT THE TIME. AND THEN SEVERAL MORE AFTER THAT. THEN, I MET UP WITH DAVID COULTER, ONCE OF BANK OF AMERICA, WHO THEN LEFT BofA AND HAD ME ASSISTING HIS MANAGING DIRECTOR R.A. MCDONOUGH IV, AT THE BEACON GROUP, A BOUTIQUE INVESTMENT BANKING FIRM THAT SPECIALIZED IN MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS, STARTED BY GEOFF BOISI, ONCE OF GOLDMAN SACHS, BOUGHT BY CHASE MANHATTAN, WE THEN BOUGHT JPMorgan, KNOW KNOWN AS JPMorgan CHASE. AND THOSE ARE JUST THE HEADLINES. WOULDN'T YOU KNOW, BUT ROB WAS TRYING TO BUILD, AT THE TIME A REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT OF WORK-LIVE COMBINATION DEVELOPMENTS. IT WAS KNOWN AS THE PLAYA VISTA PROJECT, WHERE JEFFREY PLANNED TO BUILD ANOTHER STUDIO. PERSONALLY, I BELIEVE JEFFREY WAS MAD ROB STOLE ME SO HE PULLED OUT. TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY, DAVID HIRED ME AFTER THEM, KNOWING ROB & JEFFREY HATED HIM!!! SO EVENTUALLY THE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT WAS STOPPED BY EQUITY PARTNERS & INVESTORS WHO WERE TIRED OF FIGHTING OPPONENTS AND CITY OFFICIALS, AFTER STARTING WITH $26M ON THE LAND ALREADY.

 

BUT BEFORE ALL THAT NONSENSE STARTED, REALLY, TO GET TO KNOW ME, I COULD NEVER SIT STILL FOR LONG. I WAS CURIOUS, RAMBUNCTIOUS, ALWAYS ON THE GO. SO NATURALLY, DAD HAD ME THROWING NEWSPAPERS FOR WOODLAND'S DAILY DEMOCRAT NEWSPAPER, PUBLISHED BY MY FRIENDS THE MCNAUGHTONS, OF EL MACERO.WHEN I WAS NINE. WASHED DISHES AND CUT THE GRASS WHEN I WAS 10, AND WAS ON A FAMILY RAN RESTAURANT REGISTER BY THE TIME I WAS ELEVEN. I WAS TAUGHT HOW TO CALCULATE FRANCHISE TAX BY THE TIME I WAS TWELVE. WHEN I FOURTEEN MY DAD HAD ME CLEANING MEAT LOCKERS AMD STOCKING SHELVES AT THE LOCAL GROCER.

 

BY THE TIME I WAS SIXTEEN, IT WAS NOT A CHOICE, IT WAS THE FARM OR NO DRIVER LICENSE. SO, YOU KNOW WHAT ANY KID IN THE 90'S WOULD DO IN THAT SITUATION... I GOT ON THE FARM, STARTED HAULING PARTS ON A FLATBED TO AND FROM SACRAMENTO IN JUNE AND JULY. AUGUST WAS HARVEST. PHEASANT SEASON IN SEPTEMBER. AND WHEN WINTER CAME, I WAS BACK AT THE GROCER DOING SEASONAL WORK. I COULD OFTEN BE FOUND IN THE MALLS IN THE SPRING, WORKING VARIOUS RETAIL SITUATIONS UNTIL THE NEXT SEASON.

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AND I HAVEN'T EVEN TOLD YOU ABOUT THE TEN YEARS LIVING IN TEXAS, YET!

OR WHY I LEFT MY SEEMINGLY CUSH JOB FOR MANUAL LABOR, YET!

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CUT TO NOW, BY FAST FORWARDING ›› A FEW SEVERAL YEARS AND TONS OF LESSONS LEARNED, I AM ALL IN AND EXCITED AS ANY NEW BUSINESS OWNER SHOULD BE. LOVING EVERY FRUITFUL MOMENT, LOOKING FOR EACH NEXT.

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IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT. FOR THE GOOD OF ALL.

WITH GOOD LOOKING YARDS TO SHOW FOR IT!!!

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AS MY DAD WOULD SAY, YA GOTTA LOVE HIM, HE WOULD SAY, "IT LOOKS GOOD FROM MY HOUSE!"