I had built a prototype, tested it and knew my idea worked really well, now what? Not knowing what to do next was a problem, I didn't know where to start,  that’s when my boss tapped me on the shoulder and offered me a new job with him at the corporate headquarters in Massachusetts. Career opportunities like that didn't come along very often especially when you work retail management. Over the next few months my wife and I were consumed with managing the moving process and settling into our new life.

I loved this new job more than any other job I ever had, my boss was a great coach and for the first time in years I was making a real difference for the employees out in the field. The company was growing and thanks to the CEO, had a great culture. I worked with a world class  management team and learned an entirely new set of business skills. Centered around creating a "go to market strategy" and "communicating to a large group of people" it was my job to project manage all new retail initiatives for a company with annual sales of almost a billion dollars. The business skills I learned doing this job would later prove to be invaluable.

My invention was on the back burner, but still simmering in the recesses of my mind. The colder climate meant there was less time to grill outside and once again I found myself making my hotdogs inside on the stove top. Since we moved a lot of our stuff was still in boxes, including my prototype. I figured it was time to build another one so I did. This one worked just as well as the original, rekindling my vision that I really had something for the masses.

19 months later an opportunity presented itself to return to Atlanta, an opportunity that for many reasons I couldn't pass up, but this time the company was really struggling, the competition had gotten more intense and the financial pressures were putting the squeeze on the employees. I needed an exit strategy, I started thinking that my invention could be my way out, I just needed to find the time to work on it, which wasn't easy working 60 hours a week, but I was definitely motivated.

That’s when the rumors started to fly, stores were closing and layoffs were coming.