Born in Syracuse, NY on the South Side of the city, I became subjected to bullying & name calling very early in childhood. We were that last wholesome family on the block that went to Pizza Hut every Friday Night as a family and our parents were still together. This was not common where I grew up so I grew up thinking nothing could touch us – The Brady Bunch Effect. We moved to the suburbs during my sophomore year of high school and then it happened, LIFE. College, Parents Split, Dad passed away, Came out as gay.

This list goes on but I somehow, within my group of acquaintances, was the “Goody 2 Shoe” who didn’t do anything even remotely risky to getting in trouble with the law. At the age of 27 I began to abuse drugs just to numb the sadness in my life. I spent over 25 years working in the hotel business and working with the public as I always had a passion for genuinely wanting people to be happy and enjoy themselves. Although at no point in life did, I ever get into legal issues or what have you I did stockpile other issues from Anxiety to Depression to a whole other list of physical medical conditions in which I still deal with even today. I always found myself a very positive person always trying to get people to smile or laugh however I will tell you that after living that life of an addict this became one of the challenging tasks I would ever face for the rest of my life, to remain a positive spirit. When Austin and I met as we became closer friends, I knew there was something about our friendship that was special I just knew it.

We both have this passion to let everyone out there know you are not alone, and you are human, and we see that. We were out of town visiting Austin’s family and as we were pulling over to help some people broke down is when it hit and we brainstormed our idea, an idea to be able to help anyone at all who asks, a mission to spread the word of a broken system and HOOTSOTRAA Consulting & Services was born. A message that there are still truly good people here in this cruel world, people that will do all that they can for you if they are able to, people to advocate for what is right and not what is written. Be sure to keep an eye on our journey and page as we build on it and spread our message. I will close by saying I have lost every sibling, my father, 2 brothers, all grandparents and if there is anything I know it is the feeling of being alone and feeling like you have no one. I still have days like that but now I know there are good people out there like us wanting to expose the bad and every single break in the system.