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 the consultant-turned-trainer, I have 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 Florida, Alaska, and Saskatchewan Province in Canada.

It was my great honor to work with the men and women of the U.S. Army 3rd PysOps Battalion at Fort Bragg and former soldiers employed by a cellphone repair franchise based out of Charlotte, NC.

I delivered my last technician class in early 2020, just before the COVID-19 shutdowns. It was coincidental, but 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 took over some accounts from another consultant who was retiring, so with that, 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! 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. I never had employees, but I understand the great expense, tax liability, and risks that “job creators” take on. Being a “one-man show,” I've maintained the quality of "the product." The buck stops with me, and if my boss is being unreasonable, I only blame myself.

In the past twenty years, 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 by providing services based on the knowledge I have acquired and the gifts bestowed upon me by The Creator. Technology has been the medium by which I have delivered those services.

There have been ups and downs, as with any business. Sometimes, I was so swamped that I couldn’t return all the calls in a day. I got so busy that I had to ask my wife to check the PO Box and make the bank deposits for A minor inconvenience when the business is rolling in cash, the bills are getting paid, and steak is what’s for dinner.

There were dark times when I wasn’t sure if I could make the credit card payments. Every business owner has these moments. At 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. Attitude is 90% of this game.

There has been great joy and incredible frustration, but I never considered quitting, even when I got my Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2013. I will not lie; the last 11 of the past 20 years have been challenging. There are days when I feel fatigued or get so stiff that I can’t walk. Sometimes, it feels like my feet are glued to the floor. These are the Parkinson’s symptoms that affect me the most. In these times, I must take great care not to fall and injure myself. I had to swallow some pride when it was time to carry a fold-up walking cane in my laptop bag and more so when it had to be deployed to steady my gait and balance. The day I went to the DMV to get an accessible parking placard was tough for me. But I did these things because my family and customers rely on me to be there for them. Because of my responsibility to family and business, I have taken a new focus on health: taking care of myself so I can take care of others. My personal challenges have strengthened my resolve to continue and keep on providing the excellent service that has made Jefferson Consulting Associates known as the area’s “Trusted Technology Advisors.”

So what do the next twenty years hold? Who knows! Only The Shadow 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’ll 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 calls and has an excellent “desk-side manner,” the “Trusted Technology Advisor,” is going to be there for them when needed.

Tags: Celebrate, Anniversary, 20 years