Day 228
Car of the Day:
Character of the Day:
Gaston – The Numbers Guy
Gaston reversed the order of how I meet people at Starbucks. Instead of being a Character then friend, he was a friend then a Character. Shannon and I first met Gaston and his wife, Kelly, at an Open House tour that involved a Ragin’ Uptown bus. Today I learned a lot about Gaston over a cup of coffee. He is originally from West Virgina and grew up in the south; mostly in North Carolina. It became apparent while Gaston was discussing his high school experience that he peaked later in life and is still riding the wave. He was the geeky, heavy set kid that loved numbers, and avoided people. Now he is the successful CPA and consultant who lives in Ballantyne and is happily married to his beautiful wife. He was introduced to NC when he and his mother moved to Southport, a small town south of Wilmington, to be with his stepfather. He joined the Army after high school for the G.I. Bill which he would use for college. After finishing the Army he spent nine months selling vacuum cleaners door to door while he was waiting to start college. Sounds like he also wanted to go through the “boot camp” of sales, but convincing people 20 years ago to shell out $1,069 for a vacuum cleaner created some heavy conflict with who he was becoming . He attended UNC Wilmington where he received his degree in Accounting. What’s interesting is how he views numbers… he’s more interested in weaving a story out of each thread of data rather than just reporting numbers on a sheet. He enjoys discovering and communicating the proofs & conclusions that numbers provide, where as I, an Economics major, prefer ranges and trends. His first job out of college was a 5 year gig at Ernst & Young. After a couple of other jobs working for the “man”, he transitioned into full time consulting for 4 years until one of his clients hired him on full time last summer. After hearing his story it finally made sense why Gaston & Kelly are so genuine and down to earth; we always love hanging out with them. His favorite thing about Birkdale… “Its’ Infectious & Unavoidable Relaxation Factor”.
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