Affinity
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I started at 16 years old doing sandblasting/opaquing as a summer job at the lab my mom worked at. Stuck with it through high school part time. I was interning in the OR/ER, urologist in high school, and thought that I wanted to be a surgeon. After a semester at USF on a 75% ride, I decided that I was done with school and thought Id rather create with my hands and maybe eventually have my own lab, you know, make the big bucks, have total control... So I dropped out. I cant say it was the worst decision of my life, but hindsight is 20/20. I got my CDT in C&B in 02, and left FL to partner a lab. That lasted a couple years before I realized our agreement to own half the lab eventually was a lie. So, I purchased a full lab of equipment from a former employer who had passed away unexpectedly, moved back and met a denture lab owner willing to share space and accounts and basically started my own lab in 05. Within 6 months, I discovered he wasnt paying me the money he owed me, basically stealing from me and lying about it, and when he was confronted I was threatened with 'having my legs broken, and my brains blown out' .. seriously. So within a day or two, I was gone. Lost close to $8k there, then they filed bankruptcy. I ran my lab for several years after and eventually as life would have it ended up being in a position to take over a lab in Switzerland and even had a handshake agreement to do so within 6 months. By the time I was ready to move there, the deal had fallen through but the owner was lying to me, as I moved my whole family overseas. Within a few months the lab was sold to someone else, who was a newly hired employee and I was left renting a small workspace in the lab that was supposed to be mine.
Its been a rollercoaster ride, with another huge loss due to a Drs bankruptcy to follow a few years later. After 21 years, I like what I do but like zero said, its all about finding a way to manage the stress that comes, and Im not sure I will ever be able to do that without leaving the industry. I love the freedom of being the boss, but it has worn on me. The thing about making all the decisions is that many times they are the wrong ones, and you cant go back in time to change things. The things I regret are not spending more time and money on education because I spent many years just getting by yet working ALL the time, and being too humble in my approach to Drs and lab owner/partners that are anything but..
Its been a rollercoaster ride, with another huge loss due to a Drs bankruptcy to follow a few years later. After 21 years, I like what I do but like zero said, its all about finding a way to manage the stress that comes, and Im not sure I will ever be able to do that without leaving the industry. I love the freedom of being the boss, but it has worn on me. The thing about making all the decisions is that many times they are the wrong ones, and you cant go back in time to change things. The things I regret are not spending more time and money on education because I spent many years just getting by yet working ALL the time, and being too humble in my approach to Drs and lab owner/partners that are anything but..