FAQ About Anthony

What are your roots?
My grandfather on my father’s side, Louis, was a Greek immigrant. He came to Montana after he arrived in the United States to work for the Milwaukee Railroad. He and my grandmother, Doris, lived most of their lives in Lewistown, Montana. My grandfather on my mother’s side, George, was a second generation Germany immigrant. He and his wife, Clara, owned a large farm and cattle ranch near Lewistown, Montana. My father, Jim, was a junior high school teacher and school district administrator and my mother, Carol, was head nurse of the psychiatry unit at the Deaconess Hospital in Great Falls, Montana. I have a younger sister, Gayle, who lives in Billings, Montana. She is married and has two sons and a daughter. I'm married and we have one daughter and one son.

Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Great Falls, Montana. Great Falls is known as the “Electric City” for it’s hydroelectric dams on the Missouri river. The explorers Lewis and Clark traveled through Great Falls on their quest to discover an inland water route across the continent. During the cold war Great Falls was a primary Soviet target due to the location of Malmstrom Air Force Base on the eastern part of town and the nuclear tipped missiles dotting the open landscape near by. Great Falls has about 60,000 people. It is said that Great Falls is the windiest city in America. 

Where did you go to college?
I received both my undergraduate degree in management and master’s degree in business administration from the University of Montana. I was also an exchange student for a year at Hangzhou University (now called Zhejiang University) and I lived in Tainan, Taiwan for a year and studied at the National Cheng Kung University and work as a teacher and management trainer.

Why did you become an entrepreneur?
I had very little exposure to the corporate world as a child. My father was a teacher and my mother was a nurse. Great Falls is a small community with an economy based on military jobs, agriculture and oil refinement. My father, however, ran a series of small businesses during his time off from teaching during summer breaks. He owned a house painting business, a chimney sweeping business (a 1970s thing), a miniature golf course, a salmon fishing boat in West Port, Washington, and a large cafe which operated during the Montana State Fair in Great Falls. I was often involved with the operation of these businesses. I started running my own lawn care business at the age of 12 and it grew to the point where in high school I employed a number of my friends. I continued to find business opportunities during my college years. Some of these included selling refurbished dorm sized refrigerators to college students to operating a temporary tattoo business during the summer fair season in Montana, Idaho and North Dakota. With this fair business I netted over $20,000 in about 8 weeks during my summer breaks from college (real money in the 80s!). This money helped to fund my studies in China and Taiwan and my travels throughout Asia. I always enjoyed making money by running my own businesses and I discovered at a young age the concepts of OPT and OPM -leveraging other people’s time (OPT) and other people’s money (OPM). This exposure to risk taking and operating businesses lead to my life as an entrepreneur. 

Why do you love traveling?
Growing up in Great Falls, like anywhere, had it’s advantages and disadvantages. The huge open prairies gave me both a since of boundlessness and isolation. I loved the fact that my friends and I could freely ride our motorcycles near Giant Springs, float on old inner tubes down the Missouri River and go camping in the Highwood Mountains near town. My family was usually busy running businesses during summers so we rarely traveled beyond Montana and Washington state. In school I wasn’t exposed to much racial diversity. Most of my classmates were white middle class kids. In fact, I didn’t have black or Asian classmates until almost high school. My curiosity about other cultures and countries lead to my life long love of travel. See my Photos page for picture galleries of some of my favorite travel destinations.