Jefferson Consulting Associates LLC was founded TWO DECADES ago this month. The paperwork came back from the Delaware Department of State, Division of Corporations on Jan. 22, 2004, two days before the Macintosh computer’s 20th Anniversary.

Reflecting back on 20 years of "Not Working for the Man," I can say that my clients hire me because I know a thing or two. I know a thing or two because I’ve been around a time or two! I was trained in the Hudson Valley of NY, the suburbs of the DC Metro area (Reston, VA), and in Cupertino, CA - home of The Mothership. I have consulted with small-to-medium-sized businesses and nonprofits in the Delaware regional area. I have been invited to private residences to provide technical services for families and home-based businesses. I have rubbed elbows and shaken hands with business owners, top executives, and public office holders in New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties, as well as southern PA, southern NJ, and Eastern Shore, MD.

As an Apple Certified Trainer, I led technician and help desk support certification courses and positively impacted the career paths of dozens of IT Professionals at partner training centers, classrooms on Apple campuses, and onsite at Johns Hopkins, MIT, Cornell, Colgate, UNC Chapel Hill and my own alma mater, Washington College. My travels as a technical instructor have also taken me to K-12 school districts in Connecticut, Florida, Alaska, and Saskatchewan Province in Canada. I also worked with the U.S. Army 3rd PysOps Battalion at Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty) and former soldiers employed by a cellphone repair franchise based out of Charlotte, NC.

I delivered my last technician class in early 2020, at UNC Chapel Hill Medical School, just before the COVID-19 shutdowns. Coincidentally, The Mothership discontinued leader-led technician training around the same time. It was all good because I had grown weary of the business travel. I refocused on the local/regional market, partnering with a company named Splashtop to provide remote support for business and home users during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s been a wild ride, these last twenty years! Technology is constantly changing, in little ways and sometimes in big ways. The challenge is keeping up with all the changes and understanding how those changes affect my clients, and translating that into services. I never had employees, but I understand the particular expense, tax liability, and risk that “job creators” take on. Being a “one-man show,” I've maintained the quality of "the product." The buck stops with me, I'm responsible for all, and if my boss is an unreasonable jerk, I have only myself to blame.

I did not build an empire or become a millionaire, but then again, I never set out to do that. From the beginning, my mission was to help PEOPLE and make their lives better. I achieved this by providing relevant services based on the knowledge I have acquired and the gifts bestowed upon me by The Creator. Technology has simply been the medium by which I have delivered those services.

There have been ups and downs, as with any business. Sometimes, my cup runneth over. I had so much business that I couldn’t return all the calls in a day. There were dark times when I wasn’t sure if I could make the credit card payments. It is in moments like these, one must dig deep and tap into faith. It’s essential to have faith in yourself. If you keep telling yourself that you’re intelligent and resilient and you’ll figure out how to overcome adversity, you will succeed. Keep feeding yourself a negative narrative, and you will not. So here I am, crushing it, and always keeping in-mind those wise words of Henry Ford: "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."

What do the next twenty years hold? Who knows!? Perhaps I’ll initiate an apprentice or two, and they might become my first employees. Perhaps Jefferson Consulting’s portfolio will be purchased by a larger MSP (Managed Service Provider). Maybe Jefferson Consulting will buy that MSP. Someday, I will retire - as we all do at some point - but not anytime soon!

I love what I do and have a loyal client base that loves how I do it. They can rest assured that Davis Jefferson, the technician with good “people skills,” the computer doctor who makes house (and office) calls and has an excellent “desk-side manner,” the “Trusted Technology Advisor” is going to be there for them when needed.

Thank you for your business, your support, and your trust.

Tags: Anniversary, 20 years