By J. H. Irwin
Author | Storyteller | Exploring the Human Experience Through Words
Let life guide you to where you need to be
I was born into a family of entrepreneurs. My parents ran a variety of businesses over the years, an appliance store, real estate ventures, and eventually a vending machine operation. That vending business, although I didn’t know it at the time, would end up shaping much of my life.
As a kid, we always had the latest technology, gadgets most people hadn’t even heard of yet. We were among the first with a remote-controlled TV, the first dishwasher, and even drove to Canada to buy one of the very first commercially available microwave ovens. We spent weeks zapping everything in sight, from apples to Hostess cupcakes. It’s clear now that these early experiences planted the seed for my lifelong love of technology, though that passion wouldn’t fully bloom until decades later.
Summers were far from ordinary. My family hit the road as semi-nomadic vendors on the Northeastern fair circuit. We placed vending machines in county and state fairs and watched the quarters pour in. It was lucrative and unlike anything most kids experience. If you ever dropped a coin into a novelty vending machine at a fair, chances are it was one of ours. Back then, it cost a quarter. Today? Five dollars and climbing.
Right out of high school, I was offered the chance to run my own division of the vending business in Florida. I jumped in with both feet, expanding across the Southeast and securing contracts with destinations like Dollywood and the Knoxville Zoo. I designed my own marketing, cold-called countless leads (and heard “no” far more than “yes”), and eventually built the company’s first website. That site even caught the attention of Fox Television, who purchased and featured one of our customized vending machines in the series Wonder Falls. My collaboration with Concord Confections, creators of Dubble Bubble led to custom-built machines for their convention booths, complete with a wax-lip molding machine, recreating Concord’s signature product, wax lips.
These machines, built in 1961, were marvels of their time, relying on hydraulics, rotating cams, and compressed air. But they were relics by modern standards. I modernized them with computer boards and pneumatic controls and rebranded the business as “Replication Devices,” with the tagline: “Making Memories Since 1961”. It was a tribute to both nostalgia and innovation. After 23 years of running the Florida operation, it was time for something new. I sold the company and faced an open road.
Don’t be afraid to re-invent yourself
For the first time, I found myself stepping outside of family and self-employment. Without a degree and little conventional work history, I landed in a John Hancock call center answering client mutual fund queries. It was steady work, but soul-crushing for someone wired to create and build. I quickly knew it wasn’t my path.
If at first you don’t succeed
The next role would be life-altering. The booming real estate market led me to Coldwell Banker, The Condo Store, where I was hired to work the front desk. One requirement? Proficiency in Excel. I had none. A friend gave me a crash course and I barely scraped by. But then something clicked. Excel wasn’t just a tool; it was a playground. Within weeks, I was building automated spreadsheets, integrating external data sources, and offering insights the company hadn’t seen before. I quickly earned a promotion to Closing Coordinator, and soon after, began mastering Microsoft Access, taking my technical creativity to another level...this is well before “The Cloud“ was around, it will have a great impact on me when it arrives years later.
I created a custom Access application called the Closing Management System, pulling real-time data from locations across the country. The tool tracked sales, contracts, closings, everything needed to keep pace with the condo boom. Leadership took notice, and I was promoted to National Closing Director, my second significant promotion in less than a year. I still remember the drive home after that promotion, It was one of the proudest moments of my life.
And the journey continues
When the real estate bubble burst in 2007/2008, The Condo Store’s once thriving market collapsed. But I didn’t. I pivoted. I found contract work and eventually built a thriving consulting practice, even as the economy spiraled into recession. My skills expanded to include SharePoint, Office 365, Power Platform, Azure...The Cloud had finally arrived.
Today, I work for a large national corporation. It’s a role that allows me to fuse creativity, strategy, and technology, building enterprise-level solutions, guiding innovation, and mentoring the next wave of IT professionals.
But there’s another chapter unfolding, one rooted in passion and personal expression. For over 30 years, I’ve been a writer and author, crafting fiction, nonfiction, travel narratives, and personal reflections. Storytelling has long been a quiet undercurrent in my life, and in the past two years, that current has surged again. Writing has re-emerged not only as a passion but as a purpose, an outlet for truth, imagination, and legacy. As I look toward retirement, I see writing taking center stage. What was once a side journey is becoming the next great adventure.
Always look forward
Reinvention isn’t just a one-time pivot, it’s a lifelong process. We don’t always land where we expect, but often, life has better plans than we could imagine. What feels like failure is often just the first draft of something extraordinary.
Jim, I have been your friend for over 25 years, and I didn't know much about our past career(s).
A very impressive one at that! Amazing!