The air tightened inside the open of the 8’ rusted metal box, as Charles eased down slowly onto the back of a bull that he had been waiting hours, weeks, to ride. 

“I'd watched people leaving by ambulance that night,” Charles said, “because these bulls are what they call ‘ranked mean.’ I'd watched people break things - arms, legs. I had to sit and watch 19 train wrecks before it got to me.”

Charles is not a bull rider. He is a business consultant, who previously worked in the automotive industry, and during the mid-2000s, he was challenged with leading his team through the recession.

“It's 2006, and the company, the industry, is facing one of the biggest challenges in its history,” said Charles, “We didn’t say it, but the company had less than 30 days in cash. We couldn't buy a pencil without a vice president’s signature. At the time, the company said we needed to continue to grow our business.”

But there wasn’t any budget for promotions that would normally grow the business. As a foster care alum, Charles had experience with no money. So, he “decided to replace capital with creativity.”

Charles made a deal with the top automotive dealer in the country, who also raised bulls as a stock rodeo contractor. If the dealer could break the national sales record, Charles would ride a bull. 

That is how on an October night in Texas, a tall, middle-aged, automotive sales rep stood alongside 19 college-aged bull riders waiting his turn to last his eight seconds in the arena. 

When Charles climbed over the fence, after being bucked off by the final bull of the night, it was confirmed by the announcer–he’d stayed on for 4.6 seconds, placing third in the event.

“I told them they could keep the trophy,” Charles said. “Thank you, but I’m not going to be bull riding anymore, so I don’t need a trophy.” His company, on the other hand, was “kind enough” to get him a belt buckle to commemorate being the automotive company’s “Bull Rider of the Year.” He’s stored the silver belt buckle away, but the picture of his 4.6-second ride is saved on his computer. 

Charles spent 12 years in foster care, 11 of which were spent at a Christian group home where his twin brother and sister also lived. 

"I'm an identical twin,” Charles said. “He was there with me the whole time. When you're identical twins, the egg splits, and so you look alike, you think alike; that's what our situation is.”

Charles and his twin share a lot of experiences. They lived in a group home together, went to the same college for their undergraduate degrees and their MBAs, and worked at the same company for 30 years. They even went through the challenges of the recession together, taking slightly different strategies to help their company. The two learned how to face challenges together—head on. 

Charles and his brother were the first in their family to go to college. While being away from home wasn’t a challenge for them like it was for many of their peers, there were other challenges that they faced, including financial struggles, social norms, navigating basic college processes without support from home.

Charles didn’t know who to list as emergency contact on his college paperwork, so he put down the group home where he had grown up. And that’s where things like his grade reports were sent. “They would say, ‘Oh, you had a good semester,’ and I was like, ‘How do you know that?’ I forgot that I put them down as our person of contact.” 

The group home remained Charles’s and his twin’s main support system, even after they aged out. Leaders at the group home helped them develop a budget, introduced them to the chancellor at the university, and offered the twins a scholarship. The twins also worked odd jobs and work-study to fund their educations. 

Then, after getting their MBAs, the two quickly went on to work at the same large automotive company. “I figured out a way to draw two paychecks, two pensions,” Charles joked. 

He attributes his successful career of over 30 years with the same company to being true to his values, helping others even when it didn’t directly benefit him, and learning to respect others’ differences. 

“I think you have to have a set of values,” Charles said, “and that's different for everybody. I've learned in my life that you can't judge everybody by the same set of values. I dealt with people in different cultures and different environments, different backgrounds. To try to put everybody into the same box, didn't work. So, I would try to be respectful of people and what their experiences were, the cultures they came from, the background and just the different personalities. You have to find a way to lift up people, and everybody's got a different potential.” 

He continued, “I'm a Christian, and I have those values. That helped guide me when there were questions about what I should do. I read the Bible, and I try to apply this to my life. And, it makes me see the world is not all about me. I try to invest in other people cause let's be frank - other people had to invest in me to get me here, or I wouldn't be where I am.”

Charles “retired” a few years ago. He now works for himself, as a business consultant, where he uses his knowledge and years of experience to help advise others in decision-making. He shared the following advice for people starting in their careers:

“Everybody's gonna make good decisions and bad decisions, and it's what you do when you make both that matters. I think that's what I would share with people - develop your value system. 

The more you live, the more you learn that probably there's more answers you don't have than you do have, but that shouldn't stop you from sharing what you do know with others. And so, don't get caught up - I don't have every answer to everything and that's okay. Let others help you. I think that's the key.”

Charles hasn’t gotten back on a bull since that night in 2006, but he still leans on his support system and remains close to the community that he’s built through the group home, his biological family, his church, and his friends. Every year, he goes on a hunting trip with his brothers and his nephews. He also participates in an annual reunion with the group home alumni. 

“I don't think people are islands,” Charles said, “I think if you're an island, it'd be hard to get to you. I think you have to find a way to interact with other people in a way that you listen and you learn, and sometimes you share your experiences, but sometimes people just want you to listen and that's okay.”