Tom Kibler:
CLASS OF 1975
Spring Lake Park High SchoolClass of 1975
Spring lake park, MN
University of Minnesota - Carlson School of BusinessClass of 1993
Minneapolis, MN
St. Cloud State UniversityClass of 1980
St. cloud, MN
Tom's Story
In HS drivers ed- "Whoa Jose" Joel Jacobs told me I "wouldn't live to be 18" due to my inattention regarding stop signs-so at least I've proven that chubby little guy wrong. ADD can be overcome!
Jim Morrison advised everyone that "your life should be interesting enough to make a movie about" and then he died way too soon-but I think what he meant is that an unpredictable life is far more interesting than a blandly consistent predictable life-just as Emerson said.
I've definitely zigged and zagged. Some might say that it's been alot of treading water or moving in circles, but I think each decade that you live-you are actually a different person so it's made sense for me at least in retrospect (not to say that it didn't frustrate my (ex) wife at least a little bit!)
After HS I worked full time and attended school full time (A.R.) for a year and a half-then transferred to SCSU and had a blast for 3 years, (living in Shoemaker hall and "the Green house", and being the campus rep. for Miller Brewing).
After graduating-I almost got married, but didn't, extricating myself rather late in the game (it was not a good situation-she was sweet and beautiful, but we were just too young and too different, it would not have worked for long).
I lived in Owatonna (Federated Insurance) MN for a very weird year and a half-then moved to Nashville TN for 5 years, picture a young yankee boy selling commercial Property & Casualty and Group Health insurance to good ol' boys and redneck business owners. That's where I learned to address groups as "Y'all" with just a pinch between my cheek and gum. Then I got married (to the right girl at the time) and within 3 years had a son. When our babysitter (a senior in high school) asked me "what a senator was" I decided my kids would NOT go to school down there and we moved back to MN that summer, and had a daughter soon after.
I became a stockbroker w/Drexel Burnham-getting licensed the week of the crash in '87. My mentor was a demented russian who 4 years later disappeared, ...Expand for more
and was found days later, murdered and dis-membered. They wrote a book about it-the Pru-Bache Murder. I left the business shortly thereafter-far less enamored of money and wealth than I had been.
I went back to the "U" and got my MBA-as the only student concurrently enrolled full time in both the day and night programs and working full time simultaneously. After a year of absolutely no personal life I graduated-and bounced back to commercial insurance, then segued into the mortage industry.
I had some early success at GMAC-RFC in the late 90's, then took some time to be a day trader-after which I went back in and rode the mortgage wave too long (Conseco, WMC/Novastar, Wells Fargo, a little local broker, and a small commercial shop of my own, through 2007)-and was a consultant-in transition until 2014-when I circled back to being a commercial (business) insurance broker.
Since I spent 3+ years mortgage wholesaling- I know or know of almost all the local folks that made headlines for fraud, went to jail and/or broke. Sad.
My kids are now young adults-I divorced my wife, and I now have a wonderful grand-daughter, courtesy of my daughter. Many of my friends and neighbors are now true seniors (retired) and yet I am still for all practical purposes the same young (at heart anyway) knucklehead I was 40 years ago (my grandmother-at age 95-told me that I would never fully grow up-and that she meant it as a compliment) but, frustratingly, some magical vandals have made it so that all of my mirrors reflect my dad's image, rather than mine-a cruel trick. Oh-and they also somehow messed with gravity around my scale in such a way that it greatly exaggerates my weight...ah, well....Damn near died in 3/17, was fortunate to survive an aortic dissection against big odds, and more fortunate to survive subsequent emergency open heart surgery against bigger odds. Now early retired with a nice zipper scar and a new stent and pig valve to complement my titanium and chromium hips....Hey you kids! Get off my lawn!
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