I’m from Honolulu HI, raised in small town called Waimanalo. It is located on the Windward (east) side of Oahu. I was 22yrs old and unemployed with 2 kids and a girlfriend. We lived in a one bedroom apt that was up kept by my girlfriend’s minimum wage job and state assistance. I had already worked multiple jobs but because of the lack of work all companies that I worked for either went out of business or downsized.
I began my generalist work as a means to make a little extra pocket money, but I quickly learned that one of the largest drawbacks was that everyone was looking for cheap labor. Customers would ask me to construct large rock walls and other house hold tasks, but they greatly underestimated the quality of work that I was offering . I use to call myself the "Home Doctor" because when there was an emergency that pertained to homes, I would do all I could to help and try to keep my prices low; Small pay was acceptable as a single person, but with a family to support, this was unacceptable.
I remember waking up and looking at my son and thinking "what am I doing." I told myself that it was time to make a move. I heard that there were plenty of jobs on the "main land." I begged my girlfriend to come with me, but she didn’t want to go...I guess she was scared because none of us had ever been off the island before. I forced myself to go because I knew if I stayed, nothing was going to happen for me. It was either go and make money for my kids or stay and be a bad fother and rolemodel for my 3yr old son. So I sold some of my things and left. With that money I bought 1 ticket to Seattle and promised that when I made enough money, I would send for my girlfriend and my kids; I left with $250 in my pocket. It is funny because I left Hawaii to move up here in the dead of winter, to make things worse, I didn’t have any warm clothes. After makeing a few new friends at the airport, I got a ride to Kent, where I spent the majority of my money on a motel and food from the dollar store. The next day, I caught the bus into Kent where I applied for work with a temp agency that I heard about. That night, I received a call for work. Three to four weeks later I got an apartment, a week after that I got hired full time. It wasnt long after that, when I made enough money to fly my family up to Washington.
I stayed gainfully employed for about 8yrs when I had an idea: take all that I have learned through the years and startup a "does it all” company...I have the discipline and the drive to do it. I was scared, just like I was when I got on that plane eaght years ago, but just like then...I took the chance...and you know what, I don’t regret it at all...I even came up with the perfect name "HOME M.D."