I’m not Warren Buffet, Bill Gates or Elon Musk. I wasn’t accepted to Harvard, Stanford, or MIT, only to drop out and start a multi-billion-dollar company that transforms how we communicate or live. I’m not a doctor, lawyer, or any other type of professional that mothers encourage their daughters to marry. I’ve never been on the cover of a magazine, and you must look really hard just to find my name on the internet. If you want to be fascinated by the brilliance of an IT prodigy or a transformational leader, then The Entrepreneurial Times is not for you.

You see, I’m not an innovator, thought leader or pop icon. I’m not a great man. My family will more than vouch for that last statement, especially on trash days when I blindly walk past our overflowing trashcan. However, I do like to think of myself as “good enough.” The fact that I’m not great represents a compelling reason why you should continue reading. Here’s why. Despite what your mom tells you, you’re probably not great either. I hate to be the one who breaks that to you, but there it is.

Interwoven in the articles within The Entrepreneurial Times is a story about how a good person can achieve fantastic professional success and an 8-figure portfolio. Think of me as that not-so-good-looking guy who’s with the best-looking girl in the bar. I give other not-so-good-looking guys courage to approach that beautiful lady sitting all alone. That analogy is more accurate than you know, but that’s another story for another time.

Because I’m not great, there is a 99.999% chance that you’ve never heard of me. In fact, I achieved significant wealth right under the noses of my closest business colleagues, neighbors, and even extended family members without them realizing it. How could they? Quite literally, I’m like half of the people standing in line at any given Starbucks in Northern Virginia. I’m just a contractor.

I started a Federal Government contracting company and grew it to some level of moderate success. My company entered 2010 with zero revenue and no contracts. In 2016, I sold it for 8-figures. Prior to our acquisition, I had made millions of dollars per year in profit, while people assumed that I only earned a salary of $150K or less. In The Entrepreneurial Times, I will share with you my journey and all its challenges and triumphs. They will pale in magnitude when compared to the launch of Facebook or the genius and tragedy of Steve Jobs. However, my challenges are real and relevant to those of you who have a mortgage, a car payment, multiple kids, and a dog.

My challenges are directly relevant to “normal” people. They are not the challenges of a troubled, teenage genius who goes to an Ivy League school and starts an IT company from a Frat House. I don’t have stories about “cornering a market” or going global with a trail of multi-billion-dollar acquisitions. I don’t even know what a hostile boardroom takeover is!

Instead, my story is about a terrifying realization that I wasn’t on track to provide for my growing family in the way that I wanted and the journey to do something about it. It’s a story about wanting more from life. If this is your story, as well, then I invite you to grab a glass of wine or a cup of coffee and allow me to share some memories, as well as some hard-learned lessons, with you on The Entrepreneurial Times.