My dad came from coal dust and anxiety.
My dad was born in a poor mining town in northeastern Pennsylvania.
No water heater. Bathtub in the kitchen.
Seven kids bathing before school while my grandmother heated water on the stove. That was normal. That was life.
Go back far enough in my family tree, and it’s day laborers, feudal farmers — people tied to the land with nothing to spare.
My grandfather mined coal. My father ran a crane. No wealth. Just work.
And when the work slowed down, the stress filled the house.
So you learn early how fragile things are. Expenses versus revenues. Overtime means relief. A recession means fear.
At 11 or 12, I got a paper route. By ’76, I was making fifty-five bucks a week.
I gave most of it to my mom. Kept a little for myself. That’s where the edge comes from.
When you grow up like that, you don’t romanticize struggle — you plan your escape.
You get educated. You aim for a white-collar job. You decide the story doesn’t end where it started.
That hustle isn’t optional.
It’s inherited.
Loved this conversation with @KevinWSHPod
Check out my latest article: The Martech Mess Is Real — And So Is the Fix
Why CMOs Can’t Afford to Miss Entirely Summit 2025 linkedin.com/pulse/martech-… via @LinkedIn
@Helpline_IceAir My small travel pro def fits on this plane and I have a very tight connection to Munich. Bag has to make it. Why was it not allowed? I have flown many 737’s carrying on this bag no problem. Hey and let’s print 200 boarding passes vs accepting everyones digital boarding pass 👎
Flying to @reykjavik on @Icelandair forcing many of us to check our small carryons even with tight connections and queue up to receive a printed boarding pass-only way to get on the plane. Digital boarding passes not welcome here. 😂 👎
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