Built from the ground up.
I started paying my own way through a Computer Information Sciences degree in 1981. When the money ran out two years in, I made a decision that changed everything: I enlisted in the United States Navy. I was 19 years old, and I had absolutely no idea that decision would define the next four decades of my life.
Twenty Years of Service
My rating was Aviation Structural Mechanic — AM. Over twenty years, I moved through duty stations that each built a different dimension of who I am. NAS Lemoore, California — where I also built my first personal computer from parts sourced through CDW. Orlando — where I served four years as a Drill Instructor, leading companies of 80 recruits. Norfolk, Virginia — Flight Line Supervisor. Jacksonville, Florida — Maintenance Control Chief on the P-3 Orion, where I was responsible for signing off every aircraft as Safe for Flight.
That last role is the one that permanently rewired how I think about accountability and standards. When pilots and crews are trusting their lives to your judgment, there is no "close enough." The standard is absolute — or the aircraft doesn't fly. I carried that into every industry I've entered since.
The Tech I Built Before It Was Common
While stationed at NAS Lemoore, California, I built my own personal computer from parts I sourced through CDW. Mid-1980s. Most people didn't know you could do that. I just wanted to understand how it worked — so I figured it out myself. That instinct never went away.
The Business I Built — and Lost — and What It Cost Me
When I retired from the Navy in 2003, I didn't wait around. I immediately opened a computer sales and service store — selling custom-built machines and providing dial-up internet access at $20 a month. I partnered with AVC Technologies, an international hardware supplier, to source components for custom builds. It wasn't a side hustle. It was a real, vertically integrated technology business in a market that hadn't seen one like it.
My competition? Dell Computer — at the absolute height of their consumer dominance — and a couple of cocky local guys who thought they had the market locked up. I went toe to toe with all of them. The business was growing.
Then the call came. My mother was critically ill, four states away. I left everything — packed up my kids, left them with friends, and went to be with her for two months. The business couldn't survive my absence. I came home to bankruptcy. Lost the money I had invested, the momentum I had built, everything I had started over with after twenty years of service.
My mother survived. She lived another eighteen years after that phone call.
I would make the same choice again without hesitation. But I won't pretend it wasn't hard to rebuild from zero — again. What that season taught me is that recovery isn't optional if you're the kind of person who keeps going. So I kept going.
Into the Trades
I rebuilt by going back to basics — and in my case, basics meant construction. I wanted to learn the trades from the inside, and I did. I've framed walls, managed job sites, supervised subcontractors, and handled everything from permitting to punch lists. I've built properties from the ground up with my own hands.
Over fifteen years, I built a great network contractor relationships across Northeast Louisiana. I became the person contractors called when they needed someone who actually understood what was happening on a job site. I walk the site, talk with trades find out what needs to happen or what has happened. That reputation is the foundation of everything I do now.
Eventually that path led me to operations management at a major regional lumber supplier in West Monroe — running day-to-day operations with a team of 10, rebuilding the team from scratch, and driving 15% growth. Not from a desk. From the floor.
Building for the Next Generation
Real estate came naturally. When you know construction costs from the inside, you see opportunity where others see risk. I own five rental properties in the Monroe area — each one a deliberate step toward financial independence and generational wealth.
But wealth isn't just property. It's knowledge, relationships, and systems. That's why I launched Canyon Digital Assets as a family business with my daughters Harper and Morgan. I'm not just building a company — I'm building a blueprint they can run, scale, and own long after I step back.
Harper handles technical operations. Morgan drives sales and outreach. I set the strategy and keep the standards high. Forty-plus years after I built my first computer from parts in a Navy barracks room, I'm still building — just with different materials.
Why This Story Matters
I'm not sharing any of this to impress you. I'm sharing it because most overnight success stories are actually forty-year stories — and the parts that shaped you most are usually the ones that nearly broke you. The bankruptcy. The two months away. Starting over at 40 in a male-dominated industry with nothing but discipline and a contact list.
If you're a veteran trying to figure out what's next, a woman trying to break into the trades, or an entrepreneur who's had to rebuild — I've been there. I'm not offering theory. I'm offering proof that it's possible.
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