My name is Tom Sheppard (Thomas K Sheppard, Sr., if you prefer).

You are probably asking yourself, "What makes him think he can help me?" OR  "Why does he do this?

Here is it in a nutshell:  For more than 25 years I have not had a single day of unemployment.  During that time, I changed jobs at least 10 times and my pay has gone up from about $1,000 per month to $10,000 per month.  And in the two years before I started that run, I changed jobs four or five times, mostly from one low paying job to another until I finally learned the secrets and immediately doubled my pay and started a relentless upward movement of my career and my life.

If you want the details, here is the whole chronology, but you already have the high points.

Quality Shoe Repair, Helena Montana

At the age of 12 years, I started working for my Uncle Dan in his shoe repair store in Helena Montana.  I swept the floor, cleaned the leather dust off the equipment, shined shoes, and began to learn about shoe repair.

I noticed that Dan did an excellent job of putting finishing touches on shoes he repaired, often making them look nearly new.  It was noticed by his customers to. He began to take business away from my other uncle who also ran a shoe repair store in Helena.  He had to upgrade his practices to keep up with Dan.

Mann Theaters, Helena Montana

The summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school I was hired as a Lot Attendant at a drive in theater.  I provided security and cleanup services.

The next summer I took over the role of Cashier, handling gates sales for the theater.

The summer after that I was promoted to the role of Assistant Manager for the two drive in theaters in Helena.  I managed the cashiers, lot attendants, and concession stand staff.  I tallied the receipts and deposited the cash.

I was fired after the son of one of the owners took exception to how I spoke to one of the other employees.

Helena Sign and Display, Helena Montana

The summer before my first semester of college I worked for John Macbeth in his sign shop.  I physically reorganized his sign lot to let him get to what he needed.  I also learned a bit about silk screening and graphic design.

LDS Church, Ecuador South America

After one semester at college I volunteered to spend two years at my own expense as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).  I was sent to Ecuador, South America.  For the next two years I spent all my days presenting lessons in Spanish.  I learned to get myself up every morning and to keep at it no matter how many rejections I experienced.  For the last several months I led a team of four missionaries.

While in South America, I got to see real poverty.  I got to see a country under the rule of the military and then saw it shift peacefully to civilian rule.  I got to see many successful and happy people. I got to see successful unhappy people.  I got to see poor happy people and I got to see poor unhappy people - and every combination in between those poles. I learned a lot about what brings lasting happiness and about how precious are the freedoms we enjoy in the US.

Helena Montana

Before returning to college I needed money.  My parents house had a dirt basement.  I dug the basement floor down several inches so that they could pour a concrete floor.  In return, they paid for my next round of college.  Frankly, if my sister Christine hadn't pushed me and helped me, I don't know that I would have gotten the job done.

Ricks College, Rexburg Idaho

While at college I held down several different jobs at different times.  I worked for a restaurant near my apartment, closing up in the evenings for them.  I worked for the College as a tutor and helping to develop an English as a Second Language program.

KABE FM 107.5 Radio, Orem Utah

Hired as an Account Manager, it was my job to sell radio advertising to local businesses.

Promoted to "On Air Personality", I was what is known as a disc jockey.  Playing songs, doing the weather and other duties from about 11pm until 5am.

Promoted to News Director, it was my job to create and record news broadcasts.  I supplemented local news with stories I picked up from an all news station in LA that I could listen to as I drove to work at about 4 am each day.  Then I really spiced things up by creating a multi-part story about cyber-crime.

I was fired when I went on vacation and didn't return when the Program Manager thought I should be back.

Wrights Furniture Mill, Provo Utah

I sanded sideboards for waterbeds from 3pm to 11pm each day.  One day a coworker lost all four fingers off his right hand to a joiner table.  I realized then, I needed to get a different job.  I was earning minimum wage, about $500 per month.

ComputerLand, Orem Utah

I used the instruction I received from a church Employment Specialist to create a nice resume and then used it properly to find and get interviewed for an unadvertised job.  I was hired as an Account Executive at a salary of $1,000 per month. I was to learn to use and sell the Commodore 64 to new computer users.  In 3 months, I sold about $30,000 worth of computers, although my helpful sales manager attributed it to other folks so I didn't get the credit.

I was laid off when the Commodore 64 was released for sales at KMart.

Miss Utah Pageant, Orem Utah

I briefly tried to sell advertising space in the program for a beauty pageant.

Thanks to my work in ComputerLand, I decided that computers were the up and coming career wave.  I realized that for me to do well in that field I needed to know a lot more.  I needed to get educated.  I investigated several ways to get the training and education I felt I needed.  I finally settled on joining the United States Marine Corps.  They would train me and help pay for my education.

United States Marine Corps, Quantico Virginia

Initially I was trained to program mainframe computers using COBOL. 

Later I was moved to a unit that specialized in programming a mid-range system and what passed for a portable computer in the USMC (two Marines could carry it). At this point I was now an EDL programmer.

When they formed a team to evaluate PC hardware and software for Headquarters USMC, my experience at ComputerLand came into play.  I spent the last two years of my active service in this role as a MicroComputer Specialist

While in the Corps, I took advantage of their Tuition Assistance Program and completed my Bachelors Degree, earning a double major in Computer Sciences and Management Information Systems.

My pay in the Corps was about $18,000 per year.

Advanced Technology, Inc (ATI), Dumfries Virginia

I started working for ATI while on terminal leave from the Marine Corps so my days of unemployment are actually a negative number.  Thanks to my combination of education, training, and experience I was able to get a job earning about $5,000 per year more than others I knew who had either the degree or the experience, but not both.

Working for $30,000 per year as a Computer Scientist, it was my job to analyze computer programming specifications to ensure they were designed to meet the requirements of the Marine Corps.  I implemented a new approach which allowed my team to analyze a seven volume specification in just 30 days and produce more than 2,200 detailed comments, over 90% of which were accepted by the developer.

ATI lost its contract with the Corps and that job ended just six months after I started.

ORI, Inc., Fredericksburg Virginia

ORI was the parent company of the one that won the contract which ATI lost.  I started with ORI the day after the ATI office closed.  I was working on a different contract, for a different client.

I started out as a Software Analyst.  Later I was promoted to a Nuclear Safety Software Analyst and I took on the role of their ADP Manager.  As ADP Manager I oversaw the design and implementation of their automation platform, as they brought on a DEC mini-computer and tied it to their PC network and also brought on a satellite office as well as a new office in California.

I got a 3.5% pay raise from what I had been earning at ATI and instead of driving 20 or 30 minutes from my home to an office in Dumfries, I was now less than 5 minutes away from my new office.

I designed, developed and implemented some new tools and processes which, in conjunction with those developed by a coworker allowed the team to take 3 hours to perform analyses that previously would have taken 3 days.

I spent the next 3.5 years working for ORI as it underwent being bought several times.  When I left, it was called ARC Professional Services Group.  ORI was bought by Atlantic Research Corporation, which in turn was bought later by Sequa Corporation.  Sequa made its move when the stock market sagged on Black Friday.

When the Berlin Wall fell, President Bush declared a peace dividend.  As a result, although ARC had just won a five-year follow-on contract (I had worked a lot on the proposal), we were ordered to reduce our billing by 20%.  Given that we only had 7% overhead, that meant that line people had to go.

While at ORI/ARC I used the company benefits to pay for a Masters Degree in Management.  I completed the degree in April.  It was awarded in July.

One Wednesday in May I was told that I had three weeks to find myself a new job.

Applied Concepts Engineering, Fredericksburg Virginia

Actually, it turned out that Bill was a con man. 

When I found out Bill's true colors, I immediately took a job with Dominion Bank.

Dominion Bank, Roanoke Virginia

As the Development Center Manager I was hired earning about $7k per year more than I had been earning at ARC.  I oversaw all their PC acquisitions, development of productivity aids for programmers, and all computer-related training for the company.

The fact that I managed to save the company more than $1mm per year with my acquisition strategies made no difference when the bank was bought by First Union.

In December, just before Christmas, First Union sent out three different form letters to different groups of Dominion employees.  The first type of letter said, in effect, "we love you.  Please stay on with us."  The second type of letter said, "We love you at least until this date.  We will pay you to stay on with us until then."  The third type of letter said, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out.  When the merger is consumated you are fired."  Since merger consumation was scheduled for April 1 of the coming year, those of us who got the third letter referred to ourselves as "April Fools."

Having been through a few mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and layoffs by this time, when the local news media stopped me for a comment as I was driving into work that day, my response was, "It isn't over until the fat lady sings.  Many who got offers will move on, and that will create openings for those who did not initially get an offer."

Two weeks later I got a phone call from someone at First Union, they wanted me to join a project team and they needed me there two weeks ago.

First Union Systems Development Division, Charlotte North Carolina

For the next two and a half years I helped create and implement the first platform automation lending system for the home equity division of First Union.

In this role I noticed that many times when the systems people would deliver programs to the business people, the business people would say, "that's great, but it doesn't do what I need."  The systems people would respond, "but it is what you asked for."

I recognized that this gap between business and technical people was a huge loss of productivity and money and represented an opportunity for me.  I began to move myself to take advantage of that opportunity.

First Union Home Equity Bank, Charlotte North Carolina

As the first step in my move to take advantage of this gap between technical and business worlds, I moved from the technical side to the business side.  I became an Assistant Manager of Total Quality Management.  Now, I was working directly for what had been my clients for the preceding two years.  I used the next two years to learn a new set of tools and approaches so that I could implement my next strategy.

I made this as a lateral move for the same pay I had been earning in systems.

First Union Insurance Group, Charlotte North Carolina

As the Manager of the Performance Management Group, I provided project management services to the entire division.  Project management provided me the opportunity to bridge the gap between the technical and business worlds and ensure that my employer would get the most bang for their buck out of their IT efforts.  I was quickly recognized for my work and elevated to report directly to the Division President.

When a new team was formed in the division to provide management consulting and both program and project management services, I was brought in to head the program and project management portion.  Later I jointly led the entire team with the lead management consultant.

By this time, my compensation was in excess of $100,000 per year.

Oh, and First Union had undergone a merger of equals with Wachovia, so now I was working for Wachovia Insurance.  Along the way I had helped raise my visibility in the company by my participation in several different merger activities.

Wachovia Corporate Operational Risk Management, Charlotte North Carolina

As a program manager in Operational Risk, I directly managed the implementation of their operational risk program.  This role brought me in contact with leaders in divisions throughout the entire bank.

As I built and then operated the operational risk management program, my role transformed from program management into operations management.  Although I performed the role well, it was not one I enjoyed.  One day, I told my boss, Richard, that he needed to hire a dedicated operations manager and let me move on to program and project management.

Wachovia Enterprise Risk Management, Charlotte North Carolina

As an Sr. Enterprise Project Manager and Program Manager, I managed the implementation of regulatory compliance programs in several areas of the bank. I and my team did very good work.  Regardless of our excellence, when the bank was bought by Wells Fargo I knew that many jobs would go away.

At this time I was earning about $120,000 per year.  While at First Union, I completed a Masters Degree in Project Management and while at Wachovia I had earned and kept in force my Project Management Professional certification.

I was poised to move to the Wells Fargo or to go to another company earning as much or more than I was earning with Wachovia.

Instead, I went another direction completely, one I had been planning and preparing to follow for at least seven years.

Many years before this point I had come to the realization that I could not rely on my employer or the government to take care of my financial needs now or when I retire.  Knowing that, I looked around to see what I could start doing on the side to bring in extra money and get my money working for me to fund the life I wanted.

I did a lot of teaching for colleges for several years, but that was trading time for money and although I loved teaching, it was beginning to wear me out in combination with the demands of my growing family. I ran my own business preparing resumes and helping people learn how to find and get the job they wanted.  But that too was trading time for money and was wearing me out.

Finally, I found real estate investing.  I could get into it for very little money and could create income streams that would pay me even when I was doing something else.

So, when the time came to leave Wachovia, I didn't wait for the door to be opened for me, I made the move I had been planning for several years.  I retired from the bank and went to work for myself.

Now, I spend my work time doing two things:

1) managing my real estate investments

2) Helping people learn what they need to get and keep the job they want so that they can get and keep the life they want

I have been there and done that.  I have been a bad employee and an excellent employee.  I have worked for others and for myself.  I have learned from my experience and that of others.  I know what it takes to get where you want to be.

That is what qualifies me to help you.

Why do I do this?

Many people live lives of quiet desperation. Are you one of them?

More than 80% of people surveyed hate their jobs. Are you one of them?

Job related stress is responsible for the majority of illnesses people suffer. Do you suffer for illness and maladies from time to time which seem to have no specific cause and no good cure except rest and some medicine?

So what about the 20% who aren’t living in misery and desperation? What is their secret?

For the past few years I have had the extraordinary opportunity of meeting and associating with a number of people who are very happy with their lives. They are living the life they want. I am one of those people and have been for many years.

Along the way, I realized that one of the things that gives me the greatest satisfaction in life is to help other people succeed. But, what is success? Although it varies from person to person, most people can agree that success is being able to do what you want when you want.

But what about those who seem to have it all and yet live unhappy lives? They can do what they want, when they want, yet still they live in misery, often very public misery since the wealth that often accompanies success also brings lots of attention.

My own experience has been validated in my conversations with other people who are living the life they want. There are very real laws of happiness which if you follow them you will succeed at being happy and if you violate them, you will continue to live in misery of one degree or another until you correct the violation. Surprisingly, be able to do whatever you want whenever you want, is not the primary key to living the life you want and being happy.

I have taken the lessons I have learned along my journey toward getting and keeping the life I want and the lessons I have learned from others and brought them together into a collection of materials that will significantly shorten your journey to get and keep the life you want.

What evidence do you have that I know what I am talking about? Almost none. Mostly you just have my word for it. I am living the life I want. I have financial independence so my family and I aren’t worried about our physical needs. Every day I work at things that excite me and I enjoy doing. I have a wonderful home life with a 30 year marriage, 5 children, 2 grandchildren and more to come. I am actively engaged in a cause that is much bigger than I am and which will continue to help others long after I have passed from this world. I am generally free from diseases and illness and am only rarely ill.

You are probably thinking right now that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth and had everything I ever wanted or needed handed to me on a silver platter. You be the judge.

I was raised in Montana. My father worked most of my life as a long-haul truck driver. This meant he would leave for work in the early morning hours on Sunday, long before I was up. He would drive to Seattle, Washington, down to Portland, Oregon, East to Boise, Idaho, South to Salt Lake City Utah. From Salt Lake City, he would go North toward Montana, making deliveries along the way until he got back home again sometime Wednesday. Thursday he would leave to go get a load of wheat from Northern Montana and he would return on Friday. He would often get Saturday off and then Sunday morning he would start it all over again.

My mother worked as a purchasing agent for the US Forest Service. Most of the time this meant she worked 8 to 5, 5 days a week. But when fire season started, she might have to go out to a fire site and work from there putting in very long days for as long as the fire was out of control.

My parents worked hard and earned a reasonably good living. They provided the necessities of life for myself and my two siblings as well as making time for modest vacations most years. We didn’t have extravagant Christmas gifts and in spite of living in snow country we never could afford big toys like snow mobiles and such. When we went hunting or fishing, it was to put meat in the freezer, not to put a trophy on the wall.

After I graduated from High School, I spent two years in South America as a volunteer, a missionary. Then I re-enrolled in college and earned an Associates Degree from a small junior college in Idaho. After that, I got married and enrolled full time in the school of hard knocks for several years.

Six years after getting married and ten years after graduating from High School I earned a Bachelors Degree while serving full-time as a US Marine.

After the Marine Corps, I went into defense contracting for four tumultuous years where I was laid off, merged, divested, acquired and again laid off. From there I went into the more stable world of banking – where I was promptly acquired and then laid off, rehired and then subjected to mergers and acquisitions for several years until I finally retired at the age of 50 to run my own company. Along the way I earned two Masters Degrees while working full-time, teaching part-time, and being a full-time husband and father.

Does that sound like a life of luxury and privilege to you? I know for some it might.

In my time in South America I have seen those who are truly bereft of the comforts of this world. Compared to many of them, I have lived a life of unmitigated comfort, ease and privilege. But for people born and raised here in the United States of America, my background is clearly one of the blue-collar working class.

So, how does an ordinary guy from a working-class background get and keep the life he wants? That is what I am happy to teach you. If an ordinary person like me can do it, anyone can. But, if you don’t know how, you will spend a lot of years, years you can never get back, doing things that will never bring you happiness and never help you to get and keep the life you want.

You may be thinking, what a selfish #%! this guy is. He has figured it out and he tells us he enjoys helping others to succeed, but he wants me to pay him to teach me the secrets of getting and keeping the life I want. Want kind of dirtbag does that? He should give it to me free! I would be happy to give you all the secrets to happiness that I have learned completely free. However there are two things holding me back.

1) The materials cost money to produce. Courses, books, recordings, etc. all take money to create and to distribute. I said I am financially independent, I didn’t say I could afford to impoverish myself and my family to help you learn what I have learned over the course of many years and experiences.

2) If I gave it away for free you wouldn’t value it. Oh sure, there are a few people who recognize value even if they don’t have to pay money for it. However, for most of us the old axiom is true, “That which we attain too easily we esteem too lightly.” Paying for this makes it more valuable to you. Ask yourself this – If I pay $1 for item A and $100,000 for item B, which am I going to cherish and guard more carefully? Which am I going to make sure it is used properly and applied appropriately? If you are like most of us, you will always take better care and pay more attention to the item you bought for $100,000. It is that simple. Because I want you to pay attention and apply what I teach you, you cannot afford to have me give it to you for free.

There is a third reason too. And it is this:

3) My time and energy is valuable. The time I spend with you or the time I spend working on things with you, is time when I am not with my family, helping others, or doing other things that I want to do. If I don’t put a value on my time and energy, no one else will.

I am so confident that you will find what I have for you so helpful that I am willing to offer a money-back guarantee. If you aren’t satisfied that you are making reasonable progress toward being able to get and keep the life you want, I will refund your money in full, no questions.