I came from a working class family where my generation was the first to go to college.  I was a mediocre student in high school, more focused on sports and my social life.  I worked all through high school and college to be able to afford school after my father passed away before my junior year of high school.  I graduated from Northern Illinois University with a B.S. in Accountancy and snagged a great job as an auditor with Coopers and Lybrand in Chicago (now part of PWC).  I passed the C.P.A. examination shortly after graduation.

From Coopers, I moved on to Bekins and eventually ended up at the corporate office on the west coast. At about the time I moved, Bekins was acquired by a famous leveraged buy-out artist of the 1980’s.  I worked with the buy-out team until we nearly finished liquidating the company.  Fortunately, through a co-worker who mentored and took a liking to me, I ended up getting a job in the corporate office of Caesars World, the company that owned Caesars Palace at the time.  That started my 30-plus year working in some of the most famous hotel/casinos in the world.