Thank You

I'm going to work solely for myself. Which for me, has been a dream since I figured out that you have to work for a living. Some people dream of becoming a firefighter or a professional basketball player. But for me, I just wanted to own my own business.

As my wonderful wife would attest, few things get me excited. Despite being very blessed, there are not very many things I boast or brag about, because in my opinion, most things aren't true accomplishments. And while it's important to savor these moments, they're just the perks of going through life. But this feels different. Starting and getting this business off the ground to the point it's at now might be the hardest thing I've ever done, and I am only 50% of the effort. So being able to post this gives me immense pride and satisfaction to know what we've done and how far we've come in such a short period of time, and incredible optimism for the future.

With all of this pride, joy and optimism comes the humbling reality that without the many people in my life who have been there and stuck by me over the years, none of this would have been possible. I can't tell you the exact day when I had my first desire to work completely for myself, but I can tell you it was a long time ago. Since that day, I can recall almost completely from memory who was there, who taught me what I needed to know, coached me along the way or nudged me in the right direction. These people helped me in life and helped me get this business off the ground, even if it was indirectly.

It was a road full of bumps, detours and determination, but I would like to sincerely thank these great people for helping me get here:

• God: Thank you for allowing me to come into this world. Thank you for all of the gifts you have bestowed upon me, I often feel undeserving of everything I've received.

• Mom: Thank you for giving me my financial awareness, it has come in handy more than a few times.

• Dad: Thank you for giving me my incredible work ethic and willingness to take on risk. I can't half-heartedly do anything, and I have known for a while that I received both of these gifts from you.

• Grandma Nancy: Thank you for delivering me into this world! Thank you for always being there for me, always supporting me and always being proud of me.

• Grandma Marilynn McGree: Thank you for your profound impact on the family. The value you put on education has permeated through many generations of McGree's and it began with your influence.

• Grandpa Frank McGree: Thank you for the tough love. Thank you for the advice when I thought the rest of the family was crazy. Thank you for being my travel buddy to away LHS football games.

• Siblings: Thank you for giving me my competitive edge and always keeping me on my toes.

• My 4 McGree Uncles & Aunts: Thank you for being there for me over these last 30 years, all in very different but very impactful ways.

• All '01-'05 LHS Faculty and Staff: Thank you for helping to settle me down and getting me ready for college. Sister Ann Marie specifically – thank you for believing in me and writing me a golden letter of recommendation for college. I still don't know what you wrote but I do know that I wouldn't have been accepted into Carroll without it, you saw something in me. Thank you for believing.

• Ryan LaBrie: Thank you for teaching me and getting me excited about databases. Your class is unequivocally the most useful class I took in college and the baseline knowledge I learned in your class has morphed into business for this company. Thank you.

• Samuel Cardenas: Thank you for giving me my first I.T. job. I had no experience, so I'm not sure why you hired me, but 11 years later it's turned into a profitable business. I still have my slinky that you gave all of us who worked for you.

• Richard Kingsberry: Thank you for teaching me the ropes of I.T. Big Rich. You're one of the kindest people I've ever met and I'll never forget your giant laugh.

• Jeffrey Vasquez: Thank you for teaching me how to be a systems administrator, or as you liked to call it, an "I.T. pimp". You taught me some really cool tips, tricks, and ways to hack Windows XP machines.

• Eric Deister: Thank you for hiring me at SPU. SPU became the place I flourished as a sysadmin as well as met many great friends, including my eventual business partner. My time there was wonderful and I thank you for the opportunity to get inside the doors.

• Karen Tausher: Thank you for hiring me on the Central Systems team at SPU to introduce me to Mr. Lewis, it's been great for both of us :)

• Timmy McGree: Thank you for being my best cousin growing up and now my CPA. I'm happy we get to speak on almost a weekly basis about business, one of my favorite subjects. Timmy told me when I was forming the corporation 'If I had extra money right now I would invest, because you guys are going to kill it.' He was right. Thank you for the vote of confidence.

• Randy McMahan: Thank you for being a great mentor. Thank you for the tremendous advice on the type of and how to file for the corporation. Your continued guidance is extraordinarily helpful.

• Jason Stoops: Thank you for being my 509 bro. We'll always share this bond, but it wasn't the only bond we shared. You are a fantastic individual, a person who puts everyone else ahead of himself. In the 6.5 years I've known you, I'm not sure I've ever heard a selfish word come out of your mouth. Don't ever change.

• SPU as a whole: Thank you for taking me in over the last decade and letting me call you home. The people that make up this stellar institution are absolutely wonderful. A Christian organization that stays true to their mission. Thank you for supporting me in more ways than I can count.

• Preston Lewis: Thank you for taking the SPU job. Thank you for putting up with my constant phone calls. Thank you for being on top of things over the last year. I'm astonished at the progress we've made so far and can't believe how promising the future is. We might own 50 businesses together before we call it quits.

• Robin McGree: My wife. My beautiful, wonderful, patient, forgiving, understanding, wife. I don't know what to thank you for first. Or last. You contributed everything from a support perspective. You might have thought I was crazy, but you didn't shoot me down the first time I said I wanted to leave my stable job for this company, even when it only made a few hundred dollars. You saw the vision, you understood my passion. Thank you for everything. I love you.

If there is anyone I forgot, and to all of our customers, thank you so much.