Hardy Jackson:
CLASS OF 1968
Madrid/Torrejon High SchoolClass of 1968
Torrejon,
Hardy's Story
I currently live in the Phoenix area. Have been here since 2002. After graduation I moved to Munich for 2 years working for AAFES at their HQ. In 1971 I returned to Madrid and started my career in the international removals business with Interdean SA. Married my first wife in 1972 and my son was born in 1973.
In 1979 I was offered a position with Mayflower International in Indianapolis, IN. That was a mistake. That same year I married wife number 2. Anyway I had a year contract which I honored and in 1980 I moved to Boston, MA and started a subsidiary for a moving company there. I completed my contract in 1982. Bekins Van Lines offered me a position to start up a freight forwarding company in Chicago, so off I went to the windy city. 1985 after completing my contract with Bekins, I decided to go on my own and started my first company.
From 1985 to 1990 I traveled all over the world managing international tradeshows and international conventions. At first it was fun being in new and different locations each month. But as the years wore on it became more and more difficult to get on planes, live in hotels and never really knowing where you are. By 1990 I was completely burned out and turned over the company to my management team in Chicago and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The winters in Chicago were brutal and I had to get out of that climate. What a wonderful town!! There I met my current (final) wife. I spent 3 years commuting between Albuquerque and Chicago every week. Finally in 1993 I gave up what was left of my company in Chicago and started another moving company in Albuquerque with two other partners. From 1993 to 1998 we grew the company to a point where I thought that I could retire at 50. Surprise! When you think that all is well, beware. In October of 1998 I was on v...Expand for more
acation for 2 weeks. When I returned, the company had been disbanded and all of the assets transferred to a new company that my 2 partners opened in my absence. Long story short, my fault for being so trusting and not keeping my eye on the business as I should have. However, out of every bad situation there is always a positive outcome.
In February 1999 I was offered a position with Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services in their regional service center in Atlanta, GA. So we moved to Atlanta in March 1999. April 1999 it was announced that the 4 regional offices would be closed in 2000 and all operations would be moved to Scottsdale, AZ. My position became field based since my suppliers were all over the US and I did not need to be in the office. We remained in Atlanta until May 2001 and then moved to Phoenix. Upon arriving in Phoenix, there was a reorginization of the company, I was offered a new position to manage the global supply chain. We had never had a global supply chain management team, so it was a great opportunity. We are still here in Phoenix. My son is in Santiago, Chile and my stepsons are in San Francisco and Albuquerque.
Update (04-02-2013) Well another few years have passed and again I am with a new challenge. Last year 2012 my company was aquired by a large Canadian company and thought that my days in this business was coming to an end. (Was it time to retire? :>) - NOT! I now have global responsibilities for both legacy companies, twice the work and half the time. I wonder sometime how my wife puts up with me. But the good news is that I am STILL having fun at what I do and hopr to continue for a while to come.
Torrejon seems like such a long time ago (I guess it is), but what great times we had. I am blessed and contine on my journey to whereever it leads me.
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