As a student, from grade school through college, my grades just barely got me to the next level. I was not a good student. I had a terrible fear of being called on in class. My answers would usually be wrong and I felt totally embarassed in front of my fellow students.

   In my senior year of high school I began applying to colleges. I received rejection after rejection and started to accept the fact that I wasn't academically qualified to attend college. Finally, just prior to my high school graduation, I received an acceptance letter from Florida Southern College. I was thrilled beyond description. Soon, however, reality hit me. I would now have to pass college level courses. I entered a new level of fear.

   My freshman year in college began the way my whole academic life had been and I was placed on academic probation after my first semester. My college classroom fears of being called on in class were even greater than those i experienced in grade school through high school. I realized I was a poor student and had no idea what I could do to lower my anxiety.

   Somehow, I found a way to barely squeek by, and I continued to receive grades just high enough to move on to the next level. Almost miraculously, I graduated in 4 years with an overall grade point average of 2.0. Even though I was now a college graduate, I still retained my fear in public.

   After graduation, I served in the US Army for 2 years. When my 2 year obligation was fulfilled, it was now time to enter the work force. I interviewed poorly and was turned down for job after job. After multiple job applications, I landed a job as what was then called a stockbroker. I had no idea what a stockbroker was or what the job entailed. I was just happy to have a job. I quickly found out that the job was 100% sales and it required me to do everything that had caused fear in me my whole life,

  For the next 40 years I was one of the top producing, if not THE top producing, stockbroker for every company that employed me. I spend time now doing public speaking to young people that may share the same fears that I had. I walk through my career history and explain how I overcame my fear of the public and became a regular on radio and television.