My Decision to Relocate From NC to TN in 1990

From 1985 until 1989 (if I remember correctly and if I do not then I am not far off) I was working at a Community College in NC as Director of Focused Industrial Training and basically my job was to meet with the leaders and managers of various industries in our area and design training programs for them either bringing in an instructor or teaching it myself.  I provided training for the following areas:  Law Enforcement, Firemen, EMS, Nurses, CPA's, Teachers, Real Estate Agents, etc., or any professional group that was required to complete so many CEU's each year.

In 1986, we got a new President who brought with him a program in the area of Quality Management and I was tasked to learn about that program from the person who used to work for him in TN and set up something similar in NC.  After several weeks of training in TN at Tennessee Eastman Company and in Dayton, Ohio with the authors of The Transformation of American Industry, I was ready to roll it out in our service area, only to find out that I was about 2-3 years late.  However, I did manage to get one training program going that I was teaching.

During one of my training sessions I got a phone call in the classroom from the President of a Community College in TN about an hour south of the College our new President had been employed.  He basically was embarrassed that this other President had started the First Center for Quality and Productivity in TN and offered me a job to start the second Quality Center in TN.

I jumped at this opportunity.

Why?

Because my new skills in NC were a dime a dozen but in TN, I was unique, special, and it would be an ideal time to get a consulting business going which I negotiated into my hiring packaged along with being put on a tenured track as a College Professor.

So, in 1990, I hired a NC Lawyer and incorporated QUEST TRAINING, Inc. for $500 which at the time I thought was a lot of money.  I operated Quest Training until 2015 when it was dissolved and I was retiring.  My fee was $100/hour plus expenses for contracts that were a half days drive away from my location and $1,000/day plus expenses for contracts that were farther.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN...

All my personal finances and sources of income went through Quest Training and so my IRS taxes were always reduced because Quest Training, Inc. always seemed to experience a loss.  I also used being President of Quest Training, Inc. when I was unemployed so my resume would show no periods of not working.  Plus, I purchased 3 houses when unemployed by using the tax returns of Quest Training...  so, the company provided me with many opportunities.

SOMETIMES, you just have to leave town and relocate in order to find your destiny.