An Introduction

I spent a lot of time contemplating the idea of writing. The reason behind this is because I have never particularly enjoyed it (I think I might now?) or felt I had any kind of talent for it (and still don't). At the time of writing this I am a twenty-nine year old husband, father, firefighter, and largely uneducated beyond high school, at least in the traditional sense. Writing was something I loathed in school so I imagine that is where much of the hesitation in actually going along with this stems from. So what am I doing here?

I don't know that I have a complete answer for that yet. What I do know is I have a passion for investing, self-growth, and my family. I have an internal desire to help others navigating life and their journey to wealth find their way, but I have never felt incredibly confident that I have any leg to stand on with such topics. This is because I am that person as well. And each time I think I have something figured out the universe has such a curious way of letting me know that I am full of crap. So here I am.

I have not a clue in the world where these letters will go or who will see them. The idea, I think, is to share what I have experienced, learned, screwed up, etc. I have a few goals in mind. Create wealth for my family, be the best husband and father I can be, and master living in the moment while avoiding unnecessary stress and harnessing that stress of which is unavoidable. At the moment I envision that I will write a letter every few weeks or so documenting where I'm at on this journey. Much of the content of these letters will most likely be tied to investing, but what I have found up to this point is that the truly successful investors have figured out the important parts of life which allowed them to find success financially. There is some kind of correlation to a well-lived life and true wealth. I believe true wealth is not just financial, but spiritual and relational.

The more I study Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Naval Ravikant, Mohnish Pabrai, and many others, the more I realize investing is philosophically based. If you can break oneself down to the foundation and build upon strong morals, a sound mind, and a balanced life full of love and gratitude your chances of success drastically increase. It seems to be a common theme among all those I look up to. The idea seems simple and easy, but it turns out that it takes a whole lot of effort.

These letters will be written selfishly as I feel that documenting and recording my thoughts will in turn cement them into my own psyche. I certainly do hope that others can find some benefit in what I put to paper, but should no one ever see these I will still write on barring the absence of benefit to myself.

I will kick this off with an introductory story. My name is Austin. I was born and raised in Las Vegas. Yes, people live here. No, my mother wasn't a stripper and no, I didn't grow up in a casino. I had two incredible parents who were very involved and loving. In my adult age I look back and appreciate what they provided for me and my younger sister. I have never once compared them to any other parents and wished that I had it different. Although they have flaws just as anyone else does, I struggle to see them as they stand on a pedestal above all others. My dad has always been in the car business in some facet. He has a business mind and enjoys investing which I'm certain is the reason for my infatuation with it as well. My mom was initially a school teacher, but turned to marriage and family therapy when I was a child. Both are still in their respective careers.

I think those around me would have described me as a quiet and observant kid. I didn't have much to say outside of my family and close friends. Teachers rarely heard from me. I was not one to get in trouble and I very much preferred to stay under the radar. Childhood was filled with everything it should be. Sports, video games, long days outside with the other kids in the neighborhood, family trips to the beach. I couldn't have asked for it any other way.

My school record would show you that I was a very average student at slightly above average schools in the area. In middle and high school I attended what they call around here magnet schools and a career and technical academies. My mother was a big influence on pushing me into some of the best schools in the valley. I don't know that I necessarily blame myself as a kid for taking the education for granted, but I did. I was a space cadet. I struggled to find focus as many kids do and I gave my mother a fair share of chest pain over missing assignments, poor grades on tests, and plenty of "I turned in my homework, I swear." I never felt incapable of performing well, I just didn't care enough.

At driving age in high school I started playing hooky. My under the radar characteristics paired well with this game. Attracting attention to myself was at the bottom of my list which made it very easy to slip in and out of school throughout the day. Hungry? I'll just skip next period and grab a bite somewhere. Tired? Thats what the back of my ford expedition was for. The expedition also came in handy when I was feeling a little wild. Multiple tires, a broken air suspension, quarter panels (from hitting my friends vehicle in a parking lot playing chicken) and lots more eventually pushed my parents to the limit. Off to the auction my expedition went.

I was definitely an adrenaline seeker. Cliff jumping, crazy games of cops and robbers from the high school to a park a few miles away, driving at ridiculous speeds and plenty of off road adventures, but I never got mixed up with a bad crowd. I credit my parents and some good friends for that.

Then came time to go off to college. Because of the high school I went to, college was everything. It was part of your identity. Where you were going was a status symbol. Put it in your instagram bio so everyone knows. I thought I had to get out of Vegas and out of Nevada. I refused to go to the in state schools because it wasn't cool enough. My parents had a different opinion. My parents refused to let me take out loans especially since I had never shown any desire to perform in school. They were willing to fund my education, but not at out of state cost. I clearly recall feeling like it was so unfair that everyone else's parents were happy to send their kids to the school of their dreams. The drive to get out remained and I developed rebuttal that entailed moving to Washington State to attend community college for a year, gain residency, and then go to Washington State University on in-state tuition. They accepted. So off I went about two months after graduation.

The fact that my parents refused to let me take out school loans was one of the most important and pivotal moments of my life behind meeting my wife and having our daughter. As the years have gone on I realized that saved me years of work, years of paying back what I most definitely would have wasted.

On the drive up to Washington we stopped in Salt Lake City for my Uncle's wedding. His brother in law was a Captain for Henderson Fire Department. I was casually a part of a conversation between him and my dad where he talked about what he did. I didn't think much of it in the moment to be completely honest. I also wasn't a kid whoever paid attention to fire fighters or police officers. I don't ever recall hoping to be one when I grew up. The wedding wrapped up and that was that. Off to my new home.

I made it up to Pullman, Washington. Said goodbye to my family for the first time in my life and started learning how to live on my own. I enrolled at the community college and it took all of one week for me to get real with myself. I was going to be a doctor. Yeah, right. There was no way in hell I was making it through years of schooling and even if I did the chances of doing it with acceptable grades was a pipe dream. What in the world was I going to do then?

Suddenly the conversation at the wedding clicked. There was very little deliberation needed. It felt right. I was going to be a firefighter. Over the course of the following week I researched everything I could about becoming one. I found a local school just over the Washington-Idaho border that taught EMT classes. All I needed to do was call my parents and tell them I didn't want to go to college. Good lord, what were they going to think?

I made the terrifying phone call with notes in hand. I'm sure I was half hoping they wouldn't pick up, but of course they did. I braced for some form of disappointment, but much to my surprise they were calm and maybe even excited. For the first time I think they heard a certain level of direction in my voice, something different. They gave me their full support.

I spent my one year in Pullman working, learning how to drink the hard way, and going to EMT school. The class finished up and I returned to Vegas, got a job as an EMT at private ambulance company, and started the process of applying for fire departments. It took about three and a half years before I finally landed a conditional offer into the academy. It was a culture shock. It was a paramilitary structure. The recruit training officers used a combination of what I will call physical and psychological motivation. During those twenty or so weeks I learned that the mind and body can be pushed so much further than what I previously thought. At graduation I fought back tears because at that point in my life it was the accomplishment I was most proud of. Although I am thankful I don't ever have to do another academy I am just as thankful for what it taught me at such a young age.

Over the course of my twenties I have spent time dating, being single, dating more. Spent money, saved money, spent some more money. Making friends, growing apart from friends, coming back together again. Plenty of mistakes made, plenty of lessons learned. Much of my early twenties were a whirlwind. As I am reaching the end of such an influential decade in my life I look back and realize it was the calibration era. Every single experience led me to where I am. I learned what to do and what not to do. Who I want to be surrounded by and who I don't. Throughout all of it there was one thing I knew. I wanted to find a wife, start a family, and settle down for the rest of my life.

In September of 2022 the most important moment of my life occurred. I had grown so frustrated with the dating scene and I wanted the real thing. I was ready to hit the reset button because what I was doing obviously wasn't working. I had deactivated my social media. I had stopped checking dating apps every day. It was back to the drawing board.

Wait... let me check one more time. And there it was. A message maybe three days old.

It happened fast. Two weeks after going on our first date I knew I wasn't letting this girl go anywhere and thankfully the feeling was mutual. We made it official. I can't tell you the exact moment I knew I was going to marry her, but what I can tell you is it happened in those first few months. Half a year into our relationship I was sitting with my grandfather (who I am sure I will write about a different time) in his hospital room a couple of days before he passed. He knew his time was coming to a close. He asked me if she was the one. No hesitation. "Yes she's the one." I think of that moment as one of the boxes he needed to check off before he let go.

Before we knew it we were engaged and planning a wedding in no particular order. The day came quicker than I could even imagine. And even quicker came the pregnancy. About nine and a half months later that little girl showed up and changed our lives forever. I wouldn't trade the life we've built for anything in the entire world, but it hasn't come without its growing pains. Growing pains might be understating it.

This is how I know meeting my wife was the single most important day of my life. I met the person who would push me every day to become a better version of myself. Someone who would stick with me even when I wasn't returning what was being given to me. I can't say for sure how close I've been to pushing her away and I'm not sure that I really want to know. There will be another time to expand on learning how to be a husband and father, but just know this woman, she's given me everything I've ever wanted. It's a debt I'll never be able to repay, but you can be damn sure I will try.

One of my idols, Warren Buffett, says the most important decision one can ever make is who they marry. He couldn't be more right.

When I started writing this first letter I wasn't expecting for it to turn into a life story, but maybe that'll make the subsequent letters more relatable? I don't know.

Until the next one,

Austin