I haven't blogged in almost a month - no excuses.
But I wanted to give a special blog shout out to my step-dad
Steve.
Steve has raised me since I was almost 9.
This lucky man had the privilege of stepping into my sassy, attitude-filled, 9 year old world
and did so with grace.
My first words to him when he came to our door?
"You're late."
Steve was and has never been late since :)
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| {Hawaii} |
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| //Paris for his MBA project// |
Steve was working at Novell when he joined our family and soon after, accepted a job offer at Oracle.
He was named Top Account Executive and was so wildly successful.
He then decided to buy a tiny little company named
The company had maybe 20 employees at the time and I was lucky enough to be one of them
during two summers in high school as receptionist/office manager.
Boy was it tough working for family.
Steve is not the easiest boss to have but looking back and knowing what I do now
about the business world, Steve makes you a better employee whether you believe it or not.
He's tough and gives you (almost) impossible challenges;
but he never gives you a task or expects something he doesn't know you can overcome.
Fast forward about 7 years ....
Steve is now a pretty big deal in the "Geek" world.
These are just a few of the articles that have come out in the last month:
He just sold his company and I couldn't be more proud of him!
Something that really adds to the pride, is that there were bigger offers on the table,
but those companies didn't want the employees, they just wanted the technology.
Steve wanted people to keep their jobs and stay where they are;
Now, the payout may have been less than other offers,
but the deal still broke records in the business world.
For it's size and profits, it sold for more than is typically projected.
Steve waited for the right time and right company to come along and sweep them up.
That was his goal all along: Buy a company, make it huge, sell it.
He did just that.
//Not to mention he got his MBA from Columbia and Berkley while running this company!//
He'll be staying with the company for a few more years while things are in transition.
But after that....
who knows what he'll accomplish next.
All I know is that he has turned something so small into something international.
He has turned regular sales and business men & women
into successful, wealthy, better people inside & out ...
well, we hope.....
sometimes money can be an ugly thing and it can turn people into greedy beings.
But, Steve did what was best for everyone, worked his butt off 24/7 (literally),
traveled 3 weeks a month most times, and accomplished what most people only dream of.
It's the entrepreneurial American dream to be your best, do what you love,
and make a name for yourself.
He even had the opportunity to have dinner with Colin Powell!
Yup, big deal in the Security Tech world. :)
The payout is so much more than most expected
(no thanks to Obama's 50% tax rate...yup... 50%)
But above the money, Steve deserves this so much.
Not to mention the woman behind the man; Mama Barb deserves so much credit too.
She's been there day in and day out through the ups and downs of the company and has been
Steve's cheerleader every step of the way.
Congratulations Steve (& mom)... you did it :)
