To start, here is a short bio that lead me to where I'm at and how I feel about it: I grew up in a very rural part of the United States, where both of my parents worked factory jobs for the bulk of my upbringing. My childhood was fine, and my parents provided exactly what I needed to survive and be happy, but we never had anything extravagant. I also grew up extremely introverted, with zero aspirations outside of playing video games for most of my childhood. Once I turned 18, I set out on my own and was thrust into survival mode with very little help from my own parents. I wanted more out of life, so with a lot of help from my friends and some of their family members to get me started, I put myself through college. At this point I started breaking out of my shell. Being largely on my own, meant I had to start taking charge of many aspects of my life. I started taking myself seriously. I read Dale Carnegie's book "How to Win Friends and Influence People," and took all the advise in that book very seriously. I got involved in multiple on-campus organizations including a fraternity and 3 different clubs. As you may know about personality traits, I was still introverted, but was essentially "faking it until I made it" so I could put myself out there. I came home emotionally drained most days and spent most weekends doing literally nothing just to recharge. Since I was putting myself out there so much, a lot of my friends and fellow students started looking up to me. I was elected president of 2 of those 4 organizations, and was elected chairperson in the other two. I finished college feeling both incredibly accomplished and incredibly burnt out. Worth mentioning here to is that my girlfriend and I produced a beautiful baby girl in my last two semesters in college. While certainly unexpected, she was a great blessing and I took lighter courses so that I could finish school and be a new father, and working part-time.

Shortly afterward graduating, I was approached by another one of my friends I made during college who landed a local job; one of the very few 'corporate' jobs in my area. I started as an advertising sales person in my company, meeting clients on a daily basis and helping them market in our community. Calling back to Dale Carnegie's book, I approached each sales opportunity as if I were trying to make a friend, instead of selling a product. "No one wants to feel like they are being sold to," is a key quote that sticks with me. I met goals just fine, made a lot of good impressions. Also within my first year at my company, I got married. Then I was asked by several clients to join community organizations. I chose to join The Lions International so that I could keep working and giving back to the community. Incredibly rewarding, but just more on my plate.

After my first year at my company, our manager was promoted to another office in our corporate chain, and I was the one chosen to take over my department. I did so gladly. That road was a bit bumpy, but after finding ways to improve some things, we started doing wonderfully. I helped create a working environment where everyone felt valued. I went in with the same ideas as before, "Happy workers produce happy work." I made great impressions with my higher-ups, since people started talking highly of me, and luckily for me I had the sales numbers to back up my value. After managing for about a year, an advertising manager ad a different office in a neighboring town announced that she would be stepping down. I was approached by my boss to fill the position. This new location was close by, but nearly three times the size in operation as my current location. We deliberated about it for a while, and my boss came to the conclusion that I was too valuable to lose at my current location, while needing me to spread more of that energy elsewhere. After a long process of hammering details, I was announced advertising manager of BOTH locations just this year.

That actually puts us to right now. I'm very proud of where I've come from, where I've been and how I managed it all. However, I am still in my late 20's, raising a family, involved communally, working in two locations, and all the while still my introverted self on the inside. I've now been with my company for only 3, starting as a sale representative in 2016. Earlier this year I was elected president of my chapter of The Lions Club.

Here's why I needed to get it off my chest. I'm incredibly happy and feel blessed. However, last night, I had one of the most out-of-body realizations. I went to a meeting after work last night, and as I walked in the room it randomly hit me like bricks. I looked around, and literally everyone else in the room was 50 years or older, and I had this super weird feeling. For the first time, I felt like maybe I advanced way too quickly. A lot of folks around me on a daily basis are nearly twice my age, and have grandchildren. The weight of where I've put myself in life fell inward on me, and I have been reflecting ever since. I love my work and everything I've done, but now almost feel scared. A very hard feeling to describe.

Anyway, thank you for reading my short biography. I wanted to really get that out there. I'd be happy to see if anyone has any insight or feelings about anything. Much appreciated.

TL;DR - I'm introverted. Decided I needed to put myself out there. Had a crushing realization out of nowhere and currently feel like I've been in a haze for 6 years just "faking it until I made it."