Father a CPA...he seemed to like it and it provided well for our family. Go to UAB...get accounting degrees. Work for local CPA firm while at UAB, and after. Passed CPA exam...asked firm partner what incentives I received for passing CPA. He said I get to keep my job. So I kept my job. [Sidebar: I really did not need the MAcc. I already had my CPA license (pre-150 hr rule). I went back to get my MAcc solely because I knew future CPAs would have a graduate degree. I did not want to be the one without it.] Lesson: Never be outworked.

Left the firm after a few years to work for client in temporary services as the CFO of the small company. Hmm...if you are the accounting/finance department, does a title matter? It's not like I had controller reporting to me. Did not even have an assistant. Funny how perspectives change between 20-something and 50-something. I digress. Biggest lesson learned at that stop...public transportation defines the boundaries of where many hard-working individuals can work. Urban areas need to improve and expand the "work opportunity boundaries" for those dependent on its transportation services.

Next move was to manufacturing. First time in career I could wear jeans. No tie or jacket required. While the wardrobe fitted the environment, I learned a valuable lesson. People treat you different in jeans vs suit. I hope I do not. Oh yeah, I was the controller, not CFO, but with larger company. Lower-level title but felt like a promotion. Ok, second lesson learned...size matters.

The next stop allowed me to answer the call of one of the best at UAB, Ollie Powers. While at UAB he got me thinking about leaving the "real world" and going to academics. The desire was there, I just needed an off-ramp. Off-ramp presented itself, wife fully supported the move, so wife and DeWayne head to Tennessee to start my doctoral studies. Money goes to near zero but best four years our lives. Lesson confirmed (and still true today after 35+ years together), spousal support and encouragement are sufficient to take on all of life's challenges. Mine is a rock star.

PhD in hand (accounting and logistics), go to The U, girls born. Lesson learned: Diversity expands your horizon. And, afternoon naps required for South Beach. After a few years, leave for God's county…Auburn U. Now the unthinkable. After 13+ years in academia, I leave the greatest job on earth to go back to the “real world”. Not logical. What? Not enough space to tell you “The rest of the story”. One full-circle fact…I left to take my father’s position at the same company I reference above.