I was born in a small town in central Alberta. The youngest of six kids. There was eight of us living in a three room house. No power and the running water was us kids running out to hand pump outside and pumping a couple buckets of water each day and running them back into the house. No indoor plumbing either. The outhouse was pretty cold when it got to -30 degrees! We didn’t spend a lot of time there in the winter! I guess I grew up pretty poor as my dad got run over by a gravel truck while he was working. I was about 7 years sold. He wasn’t able to work after that accident, so mom had to go to work to support the family. It’s kinda funny as I never really considered us as poor. I looked at it as this is the way things are and I have to accept it. We always had food to eat, (mostly from hunting and fishing) and cloths to wear. I did grow up hunting and fishing and still enjoy doing both of these today. We had a big garden and we all had a hand in planting in the spring, and harvesting in the fall. My entertainment was mostly outside, as there was really nothing to do inside (no television). There was a pond down at my uncles place that we could sleigh ride down to and skate the day away. It didn’t matter if it was -30 or not, it didn’t bother us.

I graduated high School in 1982 and got a job right away on the pipeline. This was a good experience for me as we got to travel around Alberta to various towns and job sites. I worked there for 5 years when another opportunity presented itself. My stepfather had started working in a strand board plant in Drayton Valley and told me I should put in a resume. I did just that and was hired the next day! This was full time steady work and steady pay cheque. It also got me a millwright apprenticeship. I worked there for 17 years until my knees started to give out on me and I couldn’t really kneel on them anymore. So I had to change careers. I got into financial education and that was a good switch as it wasn’t physically demanding on my knees. I had a setback when my mom passed away and went into a small depression. I recovered from that because my wife and I started doing quite a bit of personal development. These courses taught me how to think differently, and prepared me for life’s lessons! In 2015 my brother started his own glass shop and said he needed a little financing and some help to run it. I said ok, I can help part time, but it wasn’t long before he was so busy he needed me full time. So 10 years later, 2025, I am still here, but only for another year, as I want my life now to focus on helping other people see that if they are in a rut they don’t have to stay there.