Russ opens his own business

For those who don't know, my husband was laid off from his job of 23 years in December 2008. 3 weeks before Christmas to be exact. A "Happy holidays! Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out!" kind of moment. It was a horrible time for Russ. It took some time, but it eventually seemed to be a blessing in disguise. While Russ was working, we never saw him during the week because he worked 14-16 hour days. On the weekends we barely spent time with him because he did all the work he never had time for around the house. He lived here, but we rarely saw him. Then he suddenly didn't have the job that took him away from us. The boys got to see him every day. Russ got to see his boys grow and change day after day. It was wonderful. He was bonding with them, and they were completely enveloped in Dad's love and attention.

In the time between then and now, Russ finally accepted the fact that there were no garage door companies or fireplace companies that were looking to hire a salesman. Why would they when no one was building new homes? That's when he decided that he was going to go forward with opening his own company. It's been slow and difficult, but he's finally done it. The jobs have been slow in coming, but what work he's been able to drum up has been good. He's building his reputation slowly through these clients. The folks he's worked with just love him for his honesty, knowledge and work ethic. He's probably one of the few businessmen that is interested in getting to know his customers. He walks away with people telling him time and again, that they will pass his name on to their friends. I'm proud of him, and I'm doing my best to help him succeed.