Christopher Roger Doelle

History in My Own Words

The Early Years

Where to begin? I was born in Redwing, Minnesota on Friday, November 13, 1964. I was given the name Christopher Roger Doelle. The Christopher came at my mother's bequest as she had wanted to name her previous sons Christopher but was overruled by my father (Tim and Tom were his choices.) Finally, after her insistance, she got her way and my name was Christopher. (I think it was Tim that wanted to name me Theodore) Tim, Tom and Ted would have been just too goofy. :) The middle name came from my father's brother Roger. And the last name Doelle, pronounced Daily, is of German descent.

The Early Years were a time of making friends fast - but not too close - as we moved a lot.

Grade			City
Head Start			Winona, MN.
Kindergarden			Rolling Stone, MN.
1st Grade			Lewiston, MN.
2nd Grade			Rushford, MN.
3rd Grade		Aloe Elem.	Victoria, TX.
4th Grade		Smith Elem.	Victoria, TX.
5th Grade		Guadalupe Elem.	Crescent Valley, TX.
6th Grade		Patti Welder Jr. High	Victoria, TX.
7th Grade		Lolita Jr. High	Lolita, TX.
8th Grade		Lolita Jr. High	Lolita, TX.
9th-12th Grade		Industrial High School	Vanderbilt, TX.

As you can see, I had to learn quickly how to make friends. As a result, I am very comfortable meeting new people. This has been invaluable later in life.

High School

High School was a pretty cool time. It was a time when I figured out really who the heck I was and what I liked in life.

The College Years

College was a blast. That pretty much sums it all up. As Alan Jackson says, it was a time when I "learned a lot about livin, and a little bout love." I got my Associates of Science Degree from Victoria College and my Bachelor's of Science in Kinesiology from Stephen F. Austin State University. My minor was Psychology.

College was a time that created a large number of memorable stories. Hopefully, someday, I will have time to recant some of the more entertaining episodes.

I think that the largest single benefit of college is the in great number of friendships formed. College is really the first time in your life that you get to choose your friends. Well, at least if you went to a small high school. I mean all through school - we are sorta forced to choose out of the limited number of people in "our class." At college the sphere of selection becomes enormous. For that reason, I think that college friendships are some of the strongest. Probably the maturity level attained by college age lends itself to creating better friendships as well.

Just Out of College

Well, I left college unemployed like the rest of the world and moved in with my friend Michael Wright. He had an apartment on the southwest side of Houston and he let me stay with him while I "got on my feet." I got a job stocking the toys at Auchan's Hypermart - it was well below my ambitions and they guy that interviewed me knew it too. He said that he didn't want to give me the job because he knew I would not be there long. I lied and told him some story about wanting to start at the ground level and work my way into senior management. He bought it - which I guess is a testament to why he was manager of the toy department at 45 years old. It was a good arrangement as Mike worked nights and I worked days. In a one bedroom apartment, the bed never got a rest. We would see each other long enough for the one that just came in to say "I'm going to bed." That job lasted two weeks.

I then got a job as a "trainer" at Gold's Gym. I thought, "Cool, a chance to put my degree to use. I'll be helping people shape their bodies..." I was selling memberships. The job SUCKED! It was a high pressure con job where everyone we called has just "won" two free weeks. When they showed up to start working out for free, the routine was that we showed them on a tour. A quick run through the building and then usher them into a little 5x5 room where they were brow-beaten into buying a $300 membership. It was a total scam. I worked there a month - long enough to get one paycheck and spent the entire time ushering people in the office and telling them that it was a scam and that they should go somewhere else. At the end of my month, I went to my boss, told him I was no good at selling and that I was quitting.

One of the side benefits of working at Gold's Gym was access to all the Houston area fitness magazines. From there I got the number for a branch of the YMCA that was looking for a Youth Sports Director. I called up the contact and set up an interview. The interview went great and I was made an offer of $22,400 a year to be the Youth Sports Director of the Alief branch of the Houston Area YMCA Association....finally, a career. (not too bad - six weeks after graduation.)

The YMCA Years

The YMCA was another huge lesson in life. It was defintely a trial by fire, as less than one week after meeting with Gordon Echtenkamp to interview, I was on the field running a soccer league with over 1000 children of all ages. I was maligned by angry parents, left in the lurch by undependable refs and generally abused by anyone that cared to pay any attention to me. But amidst all the chaos, I learned a lot and made some amazing friends. I had parents who took up my cause and helped tirelessly in an effort to make the youth sports a success. I had volunteers who constantly sacrificed of themselves all for the "mission."

While at the Alief branch, I took it upon myself to computerize that branch. While on a service call, Scott Rockenstein from the Association Office (The Houston Y headquarters) noticed some of the things I had been doing locally. He asked me if I would be interested in a position in the fledgling computer department of the Association Office. I said yes, they interviewed me, I got the job and soon I was doing technical support for all the branches in the Houston area.

more later....

Canis Gigantis, Inc.

I quit the YMCA to "follow my dream." I think the single biggest thing I learned was that if you want a dream to come true, you have to wake up early and work hard at it every day. I left the security of my position at the YMCA and took a stab at running my own technical support company. I had learned a ton while working at the Y, but was totally unprepared for the changes that would happen as a result of my move. An entirely new era was dawning under the name of Prime Concepts Computing.

The Future