George’s Journey
-
After Graduation
No Plan, No Safety Net
Graduated with no job. Drifted for two years — part-time work, no health insurance, almost homeless. Not a gap year finding himself. A gap year trying not to fall through the floor.
“That’s not a talking point. That’s what happened.”
-
Air Force
Meteorologist
The military gave him structure. Twenty-four-hour shift work at weather stations, learning to read data and make decisions under pressure. He also worked for an agency with cutting-edge technology that operated more like a think tank than a government office.
That experience taught him something most people don’t believe: a large bureaucratic organization can be nimble — if you know who to contact and how to solve problems creatively without breaking the rules. Started investing in real estate toward the end of his service.
-
The Lost Decade
Promising Starts, Dead Ends
Left the service with real estate investments threatening to drown him. What followed was a decade of reinvention: GI Bill, one year teaching 7th-grade science in Tampa (swore he’d never teach again), sales, office manager, delivery service, early World Wide Web work, curriculum designer.
“Every one was a promising start that turned into a dead end.”
-
2000
Caregiver
His father passed away. George became his mother’s primary caretaker and moved to Northern Virginia.
-
Teaching
11 Years of High School Math
The person who swore he’d never teach again taught for eleven years. Eighty-hour weeks. Not drilling formulas — giving kids a framework for thinking.
“Empowering kids to use their critical thinking skills.”
-
Full-Time Caregiver
Mom
Her health declined. She needed 24-hour care. George quit teaching.
“Caregivers dealing with dementia have it harder than most people will ever understand.”
-
After Mom
Picking Myself Up
His own health had declined alongside hers. Years of round-the-clock caregiving had taken everything.
“That’s what happens with long-term caregiving — you pour everything into someone else and there’s nothing left.”
-
Small Business
Cricket Wireless Stores
Opened stores in Florida — rural locations and Gainesville. Years of saving gave him a backstop, and that backstop made the leap possible. Everything came together: military problem-solving, a teacher’s instinct to empower people, and an understanding of every segment of the district.
Then COVID hit. Then the 2023 economy slowed. He had to exit.
“Drawing dead at the river. You fold — not because you want to, but because you have to protect what’s left.”
Where the Ideas Come From
The resume reads: veteran, teacher, entrepreneur. Sounds like a plan. It wasn’t. It was a series of reinventions — because the path kept disappearing.
Every recession meant starting over. Not just a setback — a reset.
2008: George was teaching. He felt blessed to have work. But pay was frozen from then until the day he left. Retirement permanently lowered.
“Every month is a reminder.”
The concepts behind this campaign didn’t come from a policy book. They came from the times I was picking myself up off the floor.
Talk to anyone over 40 in FL-3 — same story. Talk to anyone under 30 — future tense of the same fear.
Why Congress
George isn’t running because he has all the answers. He’s running because FL-3 already has everything it needs to build new ones.
The Assets Are Already Here
- A top-7 public university with world-class research
- World-class healthcare — UF Health Shands, Malcom Randall VA
- A $4.3 billion equine industry
- 1.4 million acres of working farmland
- A biotech incubator ready to grow
The assets are here. The connections aren’t. That’s what an activist congressman does — bridges the gaps, connects the resources, picks up the stragglers.
A shepherd, not a showman.
“You already paid it forward. I’ll make sure it comes back.”