I came to Charleston in 1966 to attend Porter-Gaud High School. In 1969, I enrolled at the College of Charleston, intending to be a marine biology major. The military interrupted college, and I spent the next three years in the Navy, serving in Vietnam and Norfolk, VA. I re-enrolled at the College of Charleston, majored in biology (pre-med), and tried to get into Veterinary School. I was unsuccessful at that, so I entered graduate school at the Citadel, graduating in 1986 with a master’s in business administration.

I was employed by WCSC-TV from 1980 to 1988 in advertising sales. I started with no clients, and when I left, I was the highest billing local salesperson. After a short stint with an advertising agency from Dallas, I went to work with the Joe Griffith Real Estate Company. Three weeks later, Hurricane Hugo hit, and the next year was a struggle. In 1990, I made the jump to the insurance industry and had been there since, specializing in brokering group health benefits to all sizes of businesses.

I joined C. T. Lowndes & Company in September 2003 to help create a health and life insurance department, and have been happy with them since then.