People often ask me how and why I got into labor and employment law and human resources consulting. Well, the following biographical statement provides a detailed explanation.

Born and raised in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, I graduated from Philip Rogers Public Elementary School. Upon moving to north suburban Morton Grove, I attended Niles North High School in Skokie. Growing up, I learned about business, self-employment and entrepreneurship from family.

My father owned and ran a chain of pharmacies in Chicago for approximately 35 years. He often worked 80 plus hour weeks. On a number of occasions, I helped him with operations such as management, debt collection and liquidation. My grandfather was an immigrant and businessman who owned his own grocery stores in Chicago. On a daily basis, he was up at dawn going to produce suppliers and stocking his stores. Furthermore, he helped set other relatives up in business. Family taught me the value of hard work and how to compete and succeed in business.

While working for my dad and a grocery store chain, I developed an interest in human behavior and management styles in the workplace. I cannot definitively explain why, but I began to take notice of different types of status, performance and conduct-oriented behavior. Sometimes, these behaviors were counter productive and destructive. Other times, these behaviors instilled loyalty, sense of purpose and helped to increase productivity.

Additionally, as I got older, I became fascinated with work. Even the words “work” and “career” are interesting. In fact, work and career are two key driving forces of western civilization.

Furthermore, America was founded upon the principle of taxation with representation. What’s taxed? Our earnings from work. What’s represented? Our freedom, including the ability to engage in the work and/or career of our choice. So, part of my motivation for my career choice is my fascination with why and how we work; how we earn a living. My educational pursuits reflect this interest.

While an undergraduate at Bradley University, I advanced my interest in human behavior by majoring in psychology and pursuing coursework in both clinical and industrial/organizational psychology. After graduation, and prior to pursuing a Master of Arts degree in industrial/organizational psychology, I did social work and counseling with long-term mentally ill individuals in inpatient and outpatient settings in Chicago.

Based on my fascination with human behavior, I debated the merits of clinical psychology and industrial psychology. I chose graduate study in industrial/organizational psychology, at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I pursued this degree because I am fascinated with workplace behavior, employee productivity, why people pursue particular vocations and because it pays well.

During my first year of graduate school, I adopted the perspective that the practice of industrial/organizational psychology was “soft”. It was too “touch feely” and I have always thrived on pressure and conflict. Consequently, I decided that once I earned my masters degree, I would attend law school at the Ohio Northern University College of Law and become a specialist in labor and employment law.