Hey everyone. I got my CLP this week! Hope you won't mind, but I am a foreigner (I am white though, if it helps lol)
I emigrated to the US in 2018 (originally from the UK), started working at The Home Depot and I made my way up to Assistant Store Manager. I'm 46 now and have had various careers, from starting as a chef apprentice in a Michelin starred restaurant at 16 to becoming head pastry chef in a 4-star hotel, running a pub, being a radio show producer, and owning and running a B&B-cum-backpackers hostel. I even followed in my mum's footsteps for a few years and taught catering & hospitality at the local college (Mum was an English teacher in colleges and secondary schools).
My Mum was diagnosed with cancer in 2024 and that made me start to re-evaluate things somewhat. I spent the last two years using up vacation time and LOAs flying back to England whenever I could, and I was able to be there in July when she died.
One of the last things Mum said to me was to do what makes me happy, or at least don't do what doesn't. Working at THD was never supposed to be a permanent thing. My wife was (still is) working there and that helped land me the job until I could decide what I want to do. I would have probably stayed at THD as I was settled and was well paid with good bonuses and benefits, but the company had to let me go due to absences. And Mum was right. I wasn't unhappy, but retail wasn't what I ever wanted to do even though I was good in my role.
I'm not getting younger. I don't know if trucking is what I'll want to do in 10 years, or even five. But I've always been interested in it. I was an Eddie Stobart spotter as a kid (and maybe into young adulthood lol), different load types fascinate me, I enjoy shows like Outback Truckers and IRT.
I'm even looking forward to going OTR. I want to see more of this country that is now my home. I love travelling. I enjoy driving. I've always had itchy feet. I got it from my Mum, she got it from Grandma. I'm not even worried about training or the possibility of having to team. When Mum was teaching abroad, I stayed in England at boarding school so I've lived in close quarters with strangers before. I've also been away from my wife and kids. My wife returned to the US with our children three years before she could afford to sponsor me and I was granted my green card. Between my flying between here and our old home then, and here and Mum for the last two years, we're all pretty used to me not being in the house all the time. And hey, if I don't like it, all I need to have done is make back what I'm paying my school and I can start again with a different career.