LOU- Please continue with your story.
Sorry to hear about what you went through, but your story just might help show others how you can rise up in life!
Have not found riches but im happy with who i am !
John W Eppehimer Drug addict at a very young age and dropped out of school at 16. Did a stint in rehab and got worse when I got out. Did a lot of bad things that I was not proud of but I always had a good heart and hated the fact that I was hurting my family. Woke up one day and looked in the mirror and truly said that’s it im done. Called my dad and asked him to sign me into the military. Went into boot camp July 26TH of 1989 the best day of my life and still the day I became sober. Served in the Navy for about 2 years. When I got out of the military I sorta wondered around but realized I wanted to work hard and make money. Spent a lot time at the shore working in Somers point on the gas docks and water front restaurant while living on my dads Egg Harbor. I actually meet my wife back then but did not ever realize she would be my wife someday. Actually met a girl at the water front and moved to philly. I started working in bars down on South Street. Ended up running a country western bar in cherry hill NJ for awhile and then moved to Tampa Florida to open another bar. Got very tired of the bar seen pretty quickly and moved on. Started cutting grass in cherry hill until some guy told me I could take down a tree clean it up for 1800 on average a day. Bought spikes and a chipper went to work. Built a nice business and had a climber fall out of a tree and almost died. I had a workers comp issue and almost went to jail. Fought in new jersey courts for almost 3 years. Settled the case and thanks to mom and dad for saving me from a set of bars. Sold my company a little later to a huge company in new jersey called Lipinski. Lasted about 6 months there and was let go. Started another tree service in PA chadds ford where I grew up and built the business nicely. After 2 year non compete was up I started working in new jersey again. Was doing very well running a lot of clearing jobs around the state. Even maintained right aways for PA pipe line. In summer of 2001 we had almost 300 grand uncollected on the street. Learned that I was a good worker but sucked at collecting money. I lost everything that summer the big B L Speaking with my father and very few friends I decided to go full force at the internet. How was I gonna do this ? Bought a comp on my wifes cc and started typing and learning . Spent 18 months in my house and only left about 5 times to gotto conventions to learn about the net. Ended up building a few very successful sites and did ok for myself. In may of 2004 I spoke to my brother in law and he was telling me about this fishing site that he did not like. Said he would post and it would turn into a pisssing match or just nobody would help him. So I said to my wife I want to try and do something I love for a change. Told her it would take a ton of time and money. She told me to go for it and she believes in me. So I started SportFishermen.com . I have sold all my other online companies and went full steam with this project. Mission is to bring the best free online fishing site to the world. Goal does not matter how long it takes to do this just accomplish it. We are now almost 2 years old and have only been posting for about 14 months of the 2 years. I feel the site is going in a incredible direction. It’s a self founded project , and that’s the reason I am always working . running machines , land clearing , working in New Orleans and what ever will continue to feed my family and pay the bills on the project and allow me to keep growing it.
That’s the short of it and im sure I have left out a ton. But all you need to know about me is I am a man on a mission that will not stop till im in a box. I have a loving wife and kids and mom and dad. Hard worker that makes mistakes but has a level head.
Thanks for reading Capt John Eppehimer
PS. Everything that has happined in my life has made me who i am and some will look down on me for my past , but to me im proud of who i have become.
Great post Marty.. even greater stories guys...Here is my story..
I started in the offshore fishing scene when I was 18, I worked in it for about 2 years and my parents started hounding me to do something with my life.. so I did.. I became a chef.. I decided I did not want to be stuck in a restaurant so I called up some friends and got myself into the loop with the large vessels you know the fu-fu kind... and went to cooking.. that had worked out for me pretty well.. it kept me fed and busy... then I met my husband and got married, had 2 boys (they make me richer than any amount of money in the world could ever!) ... the marriage is slipping.. so I have decided to make my pie business the business to make me and my boys rich.. in the mean time I guess I will have to go back to work to support us.. but one day, I will also be rich with money and my son's love.
My story pales in comparison to the previous stories...real rag to riches stories there guys and Surfergirl
I am fortunate to have parents that loved me and have supported me as best they could. With a brother and a sister on a limited income, we had more than most but far less than many. My saltwater experience as a kid consisted of fishing for flounder in Chincoteague, Va on a johnboat with a 7.5HP motor once a year on our yearly camping vacation.
Left the house at 17 cause I knew everything and never looked back. I paid my way through college but went with no other purpose but to play football. Left college without a degree to get a "real" job in real estate. Office closed up shop but fortunately I was dating my wife at the time and her father owned a business. He had an opening and I started working for him. I wasn't sure how it was going to be working for my future father-in-law but it turned out to be the best decision of my life and I thank the good Lord above for the opportunity that I had. Started out sweeping floors and shipping boxes out for $7.50 an hour. No special treatment here. I think Tom wanted to show me how he started out. We sold hydraulic and pneumatic parts and when one of our experienced guys was talking - I was listening. I didn't mind getting my hands dirty and I figured the way to learn was to listen when someone smarter was talking.
Tom loved fishing and taught me to love it as well. He got sick and after a lung transplant died at 58. Never sick a day in his life and never smoked a cigarette. He loved me as a son and I loved him as a father and it still hurts like hell not having him around. A day after his funeral, I bought my boat. I wanted my son to grow up with a boat and I wanted to catch the fish that me and Tom talked about catching when he got out of the hospital.
I am now 35 years old and about to open up a branch for a Fortune 500 company and run it as Operations Manager. Am I blessed...your damn right I am. I do pretty well financially, I have a wife who loves me and a son growing up faster than you can believe. I get the satisfaction of catching fish on my own boat and when I meet someone from Sportfishermen.com, I meet a new friend. I've been very blessed so I'm not so sure about the Rags but I'm reminded of the Riches everyday!
Will
Last edited by RUGGERDUDE; 05-09-2006 at 01:46 AM.
Some awesome stories here and kudos to all those that decide to share a little about their true selves here. Well…here’s my tale......
Grew up dirt poor in a small redneck NC town. My biological father was a drunk that beat my mom and brothers. Never knew him…..he left my mom and 3 brothers when I was 2 months old. May he NOT rest in peace. My mom worked in a cotton mill until she was in her late 30’s and then another mill until her early 60’s. My HERO! Taught me more about life and the things that really matter than a 1000 college professors.
Remember being made fun of in school because of my clothes and shoes. Along came my REAL father…..just for the sake of defining him to you guys…my stepfather….but he’s my REAL father. Basically saved our family….took him 20 years…..but he did it! God Bless him!
Grew up a confused kid with a chip on my shoulder. Was your basic redneck. Fought every week if not everyday…..lost more than I won, but managed to learn to take a pretty good punch…..Somehow managed to make straight A’s in school…even throughout high school….member of Beta Club, National Honor Society, French Club….got mixed up with the wrong crowd for a while in high school….that’s about all I can say about that. All my friends went off to Duke, Chapel Hill, NC State to college to become doctors, lawyers and engineers…. College??.....couldn’t afford college… So I worked as a bouncer at the tender age of 17. Fought some more….won more than I lost….got mixed up with a worse crowd. Came within ¼ inch of dying one night as the fight of all fights broke out at the bar…a dozen or so ambulances….. about 100 seriously injured.……including yours truly… a cut jugular vein bleeds a lot. Decided it was time for a career change…mom got me a job in the mill where she worked. “H-m-m-m”…I thought at the age of 18….”so this is what you have to look forward to for the next 50 years”……”I DON”T THINK SO!”…started working 3rd shift and went to college full time….kind of funny…..the college years weren’t so fulfilling socially for me…… simply a means to an end..
Got my first real job with the local power company…NUCLEAR…hell George Bush can’t even pronounce “Nuk-LER”……thought I was set for life……well JD got married then decided he didn’t like the politics where he worked so he quit…..moved to NY and became a Consultant…..Consultant???......hell I didn’t even know what it meant…..worked several jobs across the country but somehow was not satisfied working for people that were spineless figure heads….managers….ass kissers….
Started my first company with 4 other guys at 29…..worked 120 hours a week for 3 years…..got paid less than I had ever worked for….growing the business….working hard…BIG BREAK…….BIG CONTRACT with a pseudo government nuk-ler company….president of our little consulting company was an Arab…..government contract administrator was Jewish…… can you say WW III and the holy war wrapped all into one?....long story short…..some accusations were made (All unfounded)….we sued…went to southeast district Federal Supreme Court….spent every penny we had on lawyers…..judge refused to hear case…..he had to go play golf with the gov’t defense lawyers that afternoon……now age 31…divorced….have $1000 to my name…no job…..and a really shitty attitude toward the legal system……
Spent next few years working for other people until I couldn’t stand it any longer. Started 2nd company….this time didn’t want any partners. Got married AGAIN!........guess I didn’t learn the 1st time. Again worked 120 hours a week for little money….3-4 years…things look good…..hired the former president of 1st company….which BTW was my mentor, my brother, my best friend, the best man in my 2nd wedding. Four years…five years go by…JD’s little company now 23 strong……finally starting to look good…..can even afford to save a little money……circa 1995…JD 37 years old…well my mentor, my brother , my best friend decides he wants to try and take away JD’s little company…… long story short…. Two years of hell and I sent him packing…all in one piece…but it was more of an emotional loss than a monetary loss…..This is the beginning of five years of hell……find out 2nd wife is sleeping with the doctor she works for…..after I put her through 5 years of nursing school!.....my mother…my HERO…is dying….my REAL father…my savior was just diagnosed with terminal cancer and my 3 brothers and 2 sisters are arguing…in turmoil over my parents……then some REALLY shitty things happen that would take far too long…let’s just say that I’ve been to the brink of hell and it’s not pretty…..
Fast forward to 2002, divorced, not quite homeless, both parents have now passed, sibling family in disarray…… starting over for the 3rd time with a new outlook on life.
Fast forward 2006…I’m the happiest, luckiest and definitely not the monetarily richest SOB I know….I like who I have become ……life is grand!
Lessons learned…..
(1) Money is NOT THAT important…..
(2) Live each day to it’s fullest…tomorrow may never get here…
(3) Cherish your parents, your brothers & sisters, your close friends while you can….they will not always be there
(4) Be a Happy person…no matter what happened yesterday…wake up with a smile on your face today….give today a chance…you may be surprised.
(5) Be kind to people…especially old people and kids….. it enriches your own life
(6) Don’t be TOO trusting……as Reagan said…”…trust.., but verify”
(7) Do what makes you happy, don’t work at a job that you hate…..it’ll make you a miserable SOB…See #1 and #4 above
(8) Travel……it gives you a better perspective on life…..
(9) Anything important worth doing...is worth doing 120%....
(10) Life is not always fair....deal with it!
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We sold hydraulic and pneumatic parts and when one of our experienced guys was talking - I was listening. I didn't mind getting my hands dirty and I figured the way to learn was to listen when someone smarter was talking. 