When Everything Falls Apart, Hold On, Even in the darkest moments, there’s always hope. When I was 50, life seemed perfect. I had sold my successful car washes, had a million dollars in my checking account, lived in a beautiful home, and my kids were in private school. Life was good, and I was focused on growing my car wash equipment business. But then the manufacturer I represented lost a key client, accounting for a third of my business. Hurricane Katrina struck, followed by more hurricanes and the Great Recession…… See more
When I was 50, life seemed perfect. I had sold my successful car washes, had a million dollars in my checking account, lived in a beautiful home, and my kids were in private school. Life was good, and I was focused on growing my car wash equipment business. But then the manufacturer I represented lost a key client, accounting for a third of my business. Hurricane Katrina struck, followed by more hurricanes and the Great Recession. I stopped taking a salary and loaned money to my company, pouring in everything, including my retirement savings, in a desperate attempt to turn things around. But in the end, it was all gone—my business, my money, and eventually, my home. After filing for bankruptcy, my 30-year marriage fell apart under the weight of it all, and I found myself contemplating suicide. The memory of my father’s suicide when I was 26, and the pain it caused, was the only thing that stopped me.
The hardest part wasn’t the financial loss—it was the depression and the loss of self-confidence. Friends who I thought were close vanished almost immediately, but a couple of true friends stuck by me. One friend regularly checked in and took me out on motorcycle rides, just to help me clear my head. I moved into a friend’s rental property and started looking for work. After years of running my own businesses, I found myself working for a construction company, repairing equipment, living alone, and collecting food stamps. It was humbling, to say the least, but it wasn’t the end.
Fast forward a few years, and things have gotten better. My wife and I reconciled, we moved to Texas, and I took a job in car wash construction. We rent a nice house, and I just bought a used car that I’m proud of. I’m happy at work, and my dream is to get back into car wash ownership with investors. Every day is better than the last, and I’ve learned some crucial lessons along the way: nothing, good or bad, lasts forever; true friends are rare; and you should never stop taking care of yourself, mentally and physically. Most importantly, never stop believing in yourself.
