When I was 17 years old, I dropped out of high school and got my G.E.D. I then started a rock band and where I often placed myself in bad situations and acted impulsively.

When I was 23 years old, I was going to meet some friends after work at the House of Blues. Suddenly, someone shoved me, it was dark, and I instantly became disoriented and defended myself against the unknown attacker. The physical altercation was a shock to me and during my defense, more people began to pile on, in my mind I assumed I was being attacked by a gang.

Upon inspection of House of Blues surveillance tapes, the person that assaulted me was a security guard at the establishment. He stated that he shoved me because he mistakenly believed I was someone else who had been sneaking into the establishment that night and was underage. I believe that person had possibly physically engaged with the security officer that night prior. He made a mistake, and this is why the charges were dropped.

At the Knights Library a very close friend of mine had been drinking heavily and was emotionally distraught regarding some personal struggles he was going through. I stepped to the side of the building to find him kicking sprinkler heads, during that moment police spotted this activity and arrested both of us. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and not kicking sprinkler heads, this is why the charges were dropped.

In my life I have found myself in other troubles including losing my driver’s license. This happened during the course of a busy period when I opened Gymnastics USA, had my first child, and my father died (all occurring within the same 45 days). I did not realize it was suspended and several months later, I was pulled over after visiting my recently widowed mother in Ocala.

My life, during that time and several years thereafter, was met with a lot of emotional conflict including a confrontation with my former father-in-law. We were in an argument that turned physical after words were stated (that were since retracted) by my former father-in-law, including an insult on my wife. Things quickly and briefly turned physical at that moment, a shove. No one was hurt, injured, choked, or knocked to the ground. My wife Kellie was there, I stepped away, and she calmly drove us home from the incident. My former parents-in-law called the police, resulting in my arrest for the physical altercation.  My former parents-in-law have testified to the fact that they regret making the phone call, he retracted his words and actions, and he pleaded for the record to be sealed. This was a very private and personal time where we were dealing with family struggles of a very private nature, tensions ran very high that afternoon and culminated in words and actions that all of us regretted.

At this time, my former parents-in-law and my former wife, have both given positive statements of my character to the media, and fully support my endeavors toward public office.

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I speak about my faith a lot and sometimes people ask why, the answer is because I remember who I was when I was not walking within my Christian religion. I have grown tremendously throughout my life and gained wisdom through real life experiences; I am not proud of every portion of my past but value the lessons I have learned throughout my journey in life. I have learned self-control, patience, kindness, and humility. It is why I serve on over a dozen community organizations, why I keep my family rooted in our faith, and why I am running. I know the power of redemption and taking what was meant for evil and using it for good to transform your life. 

My past is part of the story of the person I have become today, and I am not ashamed of it, nor do I hide from it. I am not a perfect person, and I am trying to do the best I can in life to be kind and serve others.