I was born September 19th 1953 in a small town out side of Greeley Colorado. My Father worked on a farm as a farmhand and my Mother helped with small chores but mostly cared for myself and older brother.
They had very little money but Mom helped keep food on the table by gathering wild asparagus that grow along the ditch banks and other wild veggies like water cress. She learned to cook using ingredients on hand. As the story goes she could prepare Tators (“Potatoes”) 100 different ways and sometimes her gravy was thicker than the mashed Tators.
In 1958 they moved into town (Greeley) Mom worked at the hospital as a Nurses Aid, Mom seen that many people would be dismissed from the hospital to go into a Nursing Home perhaps to live out their last days. She realized that many of them may not need to actually go to the Nursing Home, but just need a little care before going back home alone. So she started the first Board and Care home in Weld County. Basically I grow up with many grannies and granddads and learned to love and care for people from an early age.
Dad purchased a truck and traveled to the southern states. Buying Fruit and Vegetables and selling them, to small grocery stores and right off the back end to the public. In the fall and spring he hired out as a Farm Hand to farmers that just needed a temporary hand. In the Summer He did custom hay stacking. Stacking hay became a family tradition and carried on until 1974.
I learned from an early age that you had to work for anything you really wanted. I got my first job at the age of 6 and I guess you could say created my first business… I went around the neighborhood with my wagon collecting pop bottles from folks that did not want to take the time to return them to get their $0.02 deposit back. I earned myself about $1.00 per week; I was making Big money for 6 year old. I spent that money wisely on candy and other treats, toys and caps for my cap gun.
I am on the bottom left in the photo below.
At age 9, my father decided I was old enough to start working in the hay fields driving the truck while he walked beside it throwing the bails up to my older brother and hired hand, Dad paid me $1.00 per day and I was getting very rich. I worked in the hay fields every summer putting 14-16 hour days until I was 14. Due to an accident that dad was in that caused him to no longer stack hay.
I continued doing odd jobs from time to time from age 14 until age 16 when I landed my first real job. I worked the night shift for a large dairy food processing company “Medalgold Dairy” and went to school during the day. It put a real strain on my school attendance and I soon dropped out of High School at the request of the Principle.
This did not set well with my Mother and Father and created much tension between me and my parents. So, at age 17 I left home and decided to move to Oklahoma and live with my Grandmother (which was full blood Wyandotte Indian) and welcomed me in with open arms. It did not bother her that I did not want to return to school as it gave her the opportunity to move back to the country. She loved to garden and raise chickens. I also needed money so started raising Rabbits.
I had other kinfolk in Oklahoma uncles, and cousins that kept encouraging me to return to High School and get my Diploma. After much thought I decided to enroll myself at “Jay High School” which turned out to be a turning point in my life. I must say for the better.
Growing up we had much Love at home and taught well by both Mom and Dad.
1. I had a very acute speech impediment and refused to talk much because I stuttered.
2. I had warts that covered both of my hands which cause me to keep them hidden from people.
I am not sure exactly what changed but after moving to Oklahoma the warts started to disappear leaving only one on my pointing finger of my left hand.
After enrolling back in school once the board of education for that district received my records from Colorado I was asked to meet with them. During this meeting, being informed that I would not, be allowed to attend their school due to the lack of credits for graduation needed for the State of Oklahoma.
It was in the middle of my junior year. The only way to bring my credit up would be to pass all my classes with a B+ average and there was no room for any Non-Credited classes. They made it very clear that I could not miss any days for any reason and would also have to take a couple classes that were required by the State, given to the freshmen class. Fortunately for me the High school and Junior High was in the same building. I had to agree to their terms which I did reluctantly. And as I stated above was the best thing that ever happened to me.
Granny and I lived in the country 20 miles from town but only 1 mile from one of the teachers that took me under his wing and helped me over come my speech issue. He also worked with me with my studies and was a great influence on my life. I started gaining friends and popularity very quickly and earned a scholarship to collage for my achievements. I did not take advantage of the scholarship as I felt I had attended enough school and wanted to go back home to Colorado which I did.
After Graduation in 1972 I returned home to Colorado to start my new life. Having a love for trucks I decided to buy my own (1957 Mack) and haul grain from the Elevators in small towns to Processing Plants in Denver. I lived in that truck for a week at a time just so I could get 2 loads a day in, I was paid by the load. I continued pushing myself and that ole’ truck until I met my wife Cinda (nana) in early 1973.
I met Cinda in March of 1973 when she and her sister ran out of gas and I stopped to help them. I knew instantly that Cinda would be my wife and life long friend…do not ask me how I knew I just knew.
On the day we met, I did not know her name, where she lived. But as fate would have it we managed to meet again on the 4th of July. Still not knowing her name, where she lived fate had to step in again.
My best friend called me one day asking if I could take him to his girlfriend’s house. I picked him up and started driving to where I thought he wanted to go.
He said where you going? I am not dating Amanda; I have a new girlfriend “Lois”. So to Lois’s house we went… when we arrived Lois met us at the door and after a bit invited us in... Much to my surprise there, she was the Love of My Life, Cinda. Sitting on the floor covered with scraps of cloth for making a quilt.
Cinda and I got married December 8th 1973 she was 16 at the time and her mother had to give consent… Boy was I lucky (Blessed). Three years later our daughter Kriscinda (Sissy) was born then in 1978 came Jason (Buddy).
Our family was complete and I started working harder to support them. Driving trucks over the road kept me away from the ones I loved most, much of the time. I loved driving but it took its toll on all of us. So I would quit and take on a local job for awhile then when I got restless would take a driving job. This trend continued off and on for the next 20 years.
During the early 1980’s I stopped driving trucks, Cinda and I started our own board and care home for the elderly. That was one of our greatest successes and became the largest care home in Weld County. After six years running that business due to the change in the laws of Colorado we choose to sell out.
Yep, you guessed it I started driving trucks again and did so, until 1994 when I was in an accident that forced me to retire and find another way to earn a living.
Cinda had the wisdom to buy me a new computer (Puter as I call it) and allowed me to spend countless hours “messing around” as she called it. I think she wanted to keep me out of her hair as her and the kids where not use to me being home all the time. This led to the Internet to generate a full time income.
Although I had used the internet in the past as a hobby to earn a few dollars here and there I never thought I would ever start and run a business online. I did a little research and decided to become a reseller for a web host provider and did very well. It did not take me long to figure out that being a Reseller only put Money in the Company pocket and not that much in mine. I took it upon myself to learn how to run the Server’s (Machines) required in becoming my own Web Host Provider. By mid 1996, I was in Business with CS Virtual Host http://www.csvhost.com which I still run fulltime.
In 1998 I started helping people that wanted to start an online Business and also wanted to become their own Web Host Provider get started.
By 2000, I had acquired several Web Host Providers and totally stopped advertising my own Hosting Service and concentrated on assisting those I helped get started in the Business. Still to this day I do not promote my own hosting service and allow it to run on autopilot. I have moved my Hosting Provider Business to http://www.tcs7.com and still help people that wish to get into the Hosting Business.
In early 2000 I also had a dream to help others that wanted or needed to earn an income from the internet. I started a website named TcsNet where people could come and get information for free. That led to what now has become the greatest and most Unique Social Network and a Pioneer to offering all the tools and guidance one needs to be successful on the internet.
Community Marketing University created in November 2006, and has become the only Social Network of it kind on th internet.
Always to your Success,
Beef
CEO CMU7 SF Team
Community Marketing University
Time to congratulate Beef on his POTW win. Please invite Beef to join your list of friends if he isn't already on it.
Beef, Pauline and I are glad to be honoring you in this week's POTW forum, you've come a long way in the recent months and have become a welcome addition to our wonderful community. Enjoy your week as our POTW and King of AdlandPro! ;-)
Love and blessings to all of you from,
John Sanchez and Pauline Raina