After graduating from high school in 2001, I attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS.

In 2005, I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree with a major in US History (post Civil War). As it turns out, history majors do a lot of writing and document preparation which are particularly relevant present day skills of mine.

I wasn’t exactly an honor student (2.78 GPA) and had no clue what I would do after graduating. However, I made lots of friends and enjoyed my time which included attending countless KU basketball, football, and baseball games.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

After finishing undergraduate studies, I moved home to Chicago to begin my professional career with CareerBuilder as a B2B Multimedia Account Representative. My first role there involved selling recruitment advertising on CareerBuilder.com and the classifieds section of the Kansas City Star (newspaper).

During my 6+ years at CareerBuilder, I held multiple job titles spanning sales, business development, and operations management. One of the highlights of my tenure was a four-month stint living and working abroad in the London, UK office for CareerBuilder.co.uk during Spring / Summer 2007.

From 2009 to 2011, I served as Operations Manager for ‘cbResume’, the company’s (now defunct) Resume Writing service. This was my initial foray into the world of career services and helping job seekers.

While working fulltime, I attended graduate school in pursuit of a Master’s degree. I started at Loyola University Chicago prior to transferring to Roosevelt University in Fall 2009.

During graduate studies, my commitment was put to the test while balancing a demanding schedule working fulltime and going to classes on nights and weekends.

In December 2010, I graduated with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Marketing (3.4 GPA).

• View My MBA Diploma (PDF)

After nearly seven years working in the corporate world and earning an MBA in Marketing, I chose to quit my comfortable job and venture into the unknown. All I knew is that I had an entrepreneurial itch to scratch.

It took blind courage to leave my job and I didn’t have a plan when I made the leap. So, I needed a way to make ends meet. That’s when I started working as a freelance Resume Writer.

Day after day (with rare exceptions), I worked on new Resume projects. In total, amassing countless hours as a Resume Writer shaping, mastering, and refining my skills.

Concurrently, I was building my business (JobStars USA). This involved developing an e-commerce website, establishing a comprehensive menu of career services, creating processes for serving multiple clients simultaneously, as well as managing all the other aspects of running a business.

Pictured above is a throwback to the earliest JobStars days circa 2011.

To supplement my income during the process of building my business, I drove for Uber in Chicago for almost three years.

Driving for Uber provided a financial lifeline that enabled me to continue building JobStars. Without doing Uber, I might’ve been forced to quit on my dreams and return to the corporate world.

During this time, I gave rides to countless interesting people and even a few local Chicago celebrities. In total, I completed 6,980 trips over 33 months while maintaining a 4.85 driver rating.

Although I was happy to quit Uber for greener pastures – I look back on this period fondly. I am proud of the work ethic, humility, and self-belief it took to persevere in my quest for achieving self employment.

After six years of building my website and refining my craft as a Resume Writer, I officially dropped my side hustles and transitioned into running JobStars on a fulltime basis.

Every day since 2017, I have been the Lead Resume Writer for JobStars USA. This involves serving entry through executive-level clients across a broad range of industries and occupations.

In addition to serving my clients as Lead Resume Writer, I am accountable for all other aspects of day-to-day operations for JobStars USA LLC.

Here in 2024, I am living my dream of being a self-made business owner. Thank you JobStars clients!