By my best recollection, it was December of 2008, so a pretty long time ago. It was before you had the cool plug-ins like WordPress and the cool bonuses like the Learning Bonus and the Team Bonus.

What made you join GDI?

A big part of my story is that I lost a job I loved in March of 2007.

My workplace was sold to a new ownership, and I wasn’t moving over to work with the new owners. On my second-to-last day, a corporate employee came into my office (as I was packing it up) sort of brandishing a screwdriver. He apologized, but said that he had to remove the hard drive from the computer I had used for years. He removed the hard drive, boxed it up and shipped it away.

At that point I thought “Never again. I am never going to just hand over my thoughts, work, and content to a company, just so they can keep it (or throw it away) as THEIR intellectual property. I am going to value what I do, and be more protective of it.”

So in comes the appeal of the internet and especially beginner-friendly GDI. After all, now I can create, use, and leverage content in any number of ways and I enjoy a much greater level of security and control. If I do things right I can even monetize it.

What is your relationship like with your sponsor?

My sponsor is a great friend and mentor who really, really helped me get started as soon as I started my free trial. He was patient with me when I knew nothing, pointed me in the right direction when I needed real education and insight, and he celebrated every little milestone with me.

I still remember the cold winter day that he called me to welcome me to the team and we have had a relationship ever since. I live in Pennsylvania and he lives in Colorado, but we actually got to meet in person in April of 2013. It was a great time. Thanks to Google hangouts we even stay in touch through the internet!

Now that I think about it. He actually isn’t my direct sponsor, but he IS in my upline. Let that show the value of reaching out to your ENTIRE upline and ENTIRE downline. You never know what powerful relationships are waiting to happen!

What was your friends’ and family’s reaction when you told them you were joining GDI?

I mostly use the internet to grow my business so I don’t really know. It’s not like I approach friends and family all that much. Maybe I should! After all, sometimes I’ll share a success or a project I’m excited about  and they give me this strange look like they have no idea what I’m talking about. All they know is that I do stuff on the internet and I absolutely love doing it. Beyond that, I don’t think they know much.

What is/was your profession?

I am actually a PGA Professional “by trade” and have worked in various aspects of the golf industry.  I have worked at private country clubs, upscale daily fee facilities and golf retail environments.  I currently coach a high school golf team here in Pennsylvania, and teach golf privately as well.  I don’t consider myself a “playing” professional by any means, but I do enjoy passing on my knowledge and investing it in other people with a passion for the game. Actually, I think my background in teaching and coaching has helped me to grow as a sponsor as well.