Carl (Hobie) Whaley:  

lot sooner and without student loans......... sooooooo......... someday I'll finish. Workplace During HS I worked for a UM/MDCC biology professor and we did some environmental work. So, in college I contacted someone I we had done some business with and I got a job in an environmental analysis laboratory. Pretty dirty work. Met a guy there whose wife worked in a title insurance company and they had a job opening there, so I went an interviewed and got a pretty decent part time job while going to college. About 6 months into it I started seeing what kind of money people were making and I knew I could do what they did, so I applied for a job in Sarasota with one of our subsidiaries. I was hungry and motivated and I got the job. Within 6 weeks I had been promoted from an entry level position to a CSR position. 6 weeks later I took a skilled position at a competitor for double my salary. A year after that I left the company to start my own agency with our sales rep and a couple of closers. I did that for a year, then I sold my stake in the company and took some time off. I got my mortgage broker's license and moved to Orlando where I started a company and originated some loans. That was a pretty sweet job. Tons of cash, set your own hours. But, sales wasn't my thing. I hired a guy over there to do some cold-calling for me and he showed me some old record albums he'd made in the late 80's up in New York. When he learned that I had written lots of poetry in my life, he suggested that we should write a song together. I had no clue about music, but I went ahead and co-wrote a song with this guy. We recorded it in a studio on the E. Coast of Florida. The sound engineer, a well known underground breakbeat DJ, wanted to work on a remix of our JAZZ song and he worked it into a trance song. Apparently when he was working on it, a guy from Phat Cat records heard it and wanted to buy it. So, cinderella story, right? 6 months later the song hit the Florida airwaves and clubs and BLEW UP. We sold 1 million records in the US and 750k in Europe. The song was a huge hit and I lived "the life" for about 8 months, you know limos everywhere, got invited to the CityWalk opening in Orlando, brushed shoulders with Mariah, Bobby, Whitney, Britney (her original band, Innosense, rented the apartment next to mine). Was a blast for sure. The money dries up eventually tho and I had no inclination to do it all over again. Was fun while it lasted. I still have an unreleased 2nd single follow up sitting here pressed up in about 100 copies. Haven't done anything with it. The recording business is corrupt and I hate dealing with ClearChannel - so much for that! I did start my own small indie label and had a couple of local artists signed, but aside from losing a boatload of money on artist development, nothing really came of it. Anyway, after that I came back to Tampa to do real estate. Worked for a lawyer for a couple of years till I got RIF'd, moonlighted as a realtor and loan officer and then landed a job with a national title company as a supervisor. Did that for 2 years and moved to a competitor for a state level middle management position at double my salary. Got RIF'd there in 2/05 and went back to the previous company where I am on a state/regional management level as a project supervisor for a new division initiative. The money's good, I get to travel, I have a good future. I'd say I'm pretty far from owning the Ferrari and the house in Aspen, but I can get there someday. I'm happy doing my 40-60 hours a week and coming home to relax and enjoy my income. Military WOW.. I wish I could say something here. I was supposed to fly jets until my eyesight went to crap. Sometimes wish I would've enlisted, but pops would have freaked. Oh well, I've got tons of respect for my boys in the service. You guys are keeping it real and bringing it home. Love and prayers to you and your families. We all love yas and we all want yas home with us! Thanks for keeping the dream of American freedom alive in the world - it may not be perfect but it is the best the world has known.