"the Big Guy Gary Stephens"

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME…

The early years

Basically, I have done a whole lot of things in my life. While growing up as the middle child in a military family and then serving our country in the United States Marine Corps (the ‘s' is silent), I have had the opportunity to live in Panama, Korea, Japan, Okinawa, The Philippines, and to visit many countries in Central America. This, added to living in a half dozen states in the Union, and driving from coast to coast several times, has enabled me to read a map and speak a sentence or two in several languages. And I mean just a sentence or two!

Working for a living

Along with my degree in Marketing from Virginia Commonwealth University, I have over twenty years of business management experience in sales, marketing, and business development. I don’t want to leave out being a financial advisor and selling insurance. Oh yeah, there’s some pressure…telling people what to do with their life’s savings! But the highlight of my career was the thirteen years I spent traveling the country as a stand-up comic, performing over 3600 shows. Imagine the feeling when 200 people are literally in tears laughing and applauding, joke after joke after joke…on those nights when you are really “on”. What a great honor when Showtime selected me as ‘One of the Funniest People in America’.

And then suddenly

But my life almost came to an end in September of 1991 when some goober caused a six car pile up on the New Jersey Turnpike. After surviving the near fatal car crash, my life took a big turn. Clinical depression stepped in and “friends” stepped out. Life was not as good as it had been. But thanks to God, my best friend Deb, to whom I have been married for over twenty four years, and the four people who remained on as friends, I got through it. Life is better than ever, now that I look at it.

What's important

Yes, I have done a lot of different things. Being an umpire for Little League, coaching children in the game of golf, sponsoring a ‘Sportsmanship Award' for a local athletic association, running a marathon, being a heavyweight boxer (in my younger days), playing to a single digit handicap in golf, reading stories to little children, and laughing until my side hurts with my best friend, Deb. Yes, my life has been filled with change. Learning to adapt to the changes has given me strength of heart and the confidence to strive forward. Working at 7-Eleven, being a bill collector and skip tracer for those not willing to ‘pay the piper', selling paint at Sears and pumping gas when the ‘Full Service' sign was everywhere, and a number of other unusual occupations, has taught me we are all the same at the end of the day. The things that are important in life: God, family, and friends, are stronger than ever. People wonder if you truly see things differently after a near death trauma. I know I do.