Not many people can say that they were born and raised in Lakeland. I am proud to say that I am and that my family has been in Lakeland for seven generations! In tenth grade, it became apparent to me that I just wasn’t all that interested in attending college after high school. I knew I still needed to do something with my life though. After I graduated, I decided to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.
The Marine Corps was an extremely impactful part of my life. Boot camp was thirteen weeks in Parris Island, SC. From there I went to Infantry Training School for eight weeks. Unlike most of the Marines I started with who all got to stay on the east coast, I was one of a few others who were stationed on the west coast. I found myself reporting to 1st Battalion 7th Marines (1/7) in Twentynine Palms, California. Once I got to 1/7 the real adventure began. From there I did desert training in the Mojave Desert. Mountain and snow training was in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Jungle warfare training was in Okinawa, Japan, and Thailand. Mountain warfare training was at Mt. Fuji, Japan.
Finally, I ended up in Kuwait and was a part of the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003. While in Iraq, my unit did eight months and three days of combat. We participated in the most combat operations than any other unit since Vietnam. Due to our actions we were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.
After my four year enlistment, I decided to get out and received an Honorable Discharge. I wasn’t sure what to do with my life, but I knew that I didn’t want to settle for just any old job. I was renting a house and my dad let me borrow his pressure washer to wash my driveway. While I was washing my driveway a neighbor asked if I would do his for thirty dollars. I agreed, then his neighbor came out and asked the same thing. A business was born.
That was ten years ago as of February 2015. Just like any other business, I started out really slow and not working much at all. My goal was to do $1,000.00 per month. I figured if I could reach that goal, then $12,000.00 per year washing driveways sounded like some good extra money. Eventually, the company grew and we added house washing, roof washing, fence washing, pool enclosure washing, pool deck washing and any other random item a person has at their property.
To schedule a cleaning, please visit us at www.XcellentXteriors.com or call us at (863) 838-6850.
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Written By: Ryan Edrington
