Meet John Dashler
 
 
Part I. The Short Story of My Life
I made a statement on the opening page that holds true with this "bio" on me, John W. Dashler, Independent Candidate for Governor of the State of Georgia.
Most everything about my campaign is unique. Therefore, presenting myself to you in a unique manner is an extension of who I am.
I want you to know what I believe, where I came from, what I came from, what I became, how I became it, how I think about things and most importantly, who I am. Therefore, I'm going to try to paint a self-portrait in words in as short a version as I can.
My wife, Dianne, and I raised our four children in Dalton, Georgia. Our "wings" brought us to Dalton 29 years ago, in 1976. I was a Signal Officer in the Army at the time. Passing through to visit an old Army friend after completing a tour of duty in Germany, we were headed to The University of Tampa on the Army's "Boot Strap" program. I had attended night school for several of my ten years in the Army and needed a semester to complete my degree in business management.
We never made it to Tampa. My friend convinced me to join him in his small business. Four years later I took ownership of the business, led it to a nationally known company in the floor covering business and sold it in 1988.
Shortly after I sold my manufacturing businesses, I began contemplating the next move. It didn't take long. As a boy I had a dream of one day owning a submarine sandwich shop. That dream became a reality when I founded Italianos Subs and Pizza. Three locations, a couple of years and a lot of work later, I realized my love for cooking was best practiced in our home. I sold Italianos.
During the Italianos years, I became dissatisfied with the "professional" management of my money. I taught myself how to operate a computer, purchased some financial/investing software and a financial satellite system (the internet didn't exist back then). I began to manage my own money and became a full-time investor and trader of the financial markets. "Trading" the market is stressful. I still had a need for adventure that was not satisfied.
When I founded Dashler Racing, Inc and fielded a team in NASCAR's All-Pro Series, the need for a challenging adventure was satisfied. Tammy Jo Kirk from Dalton was my first driver. Bart Ingram, Gainesville, Ga. was the series Rookie of the Year driving my #71 Italiano's sponsored Chevy in our second year. Then, Bobby Gill and I teamed up for two years finishing 2nd in the series championship points by 1 and 3 points, respectively in two consecutive years. Remembering an observation of a friend, "the way to end a racing career with a small fortune is to start with a big fortune", I ended my racing career while I still had some financial flexibility. I continue to be a huge NASCAR and short track fan. (Last year, I enjoyed racing with Bobby 11 times in pursuit of his 4th Hooters ProCup Series Championship. Some things hadn't changed. Bobby won 5 of those races. I even got to help at most of those races. In Hickory, Bobby didn't have a team. I assembled one. For the first time ever, I was the "crew chief". My debut was not remarkable. Bobby pitted in 3rd. We lost 8 places, sending him out of the pits 11th.)
In '94 an old friend and former competitor from my Unituft days asked me to turn-around his substantial business that was formerly a division of NYSE listed, National Service Industries. Mission accomplished, and three years later I retired "for good" at the age of 50.
Nonetheless, I continued to do some consulting work. I never lost my love of leading people and sharing those "tricks of the trade" with others. Being part of the process of helping people succeed has been a life long joy. I am extremely attracted to situations where people have the desire, but are a little short on the tools. It's never been about the money. It's the challenge. It's the sheer joy of competition. The more complex or distraught the situation, the better. The more overwhelming the odds, the more satisfying is the victory. When you master the things that must be done to achieve outstanding results the "money" just happens. ("Money" can be real financial wealth, or it can be a figurative term representing whatever a person's goal is.) Success is not a painless process. It takes conviction and hard work.
Consulting was rewarding and exposed me to several opportunities for another business venture. However, something was holding me back. I couldn't explain it at the time. Opportunities that I would have normally jumped on, I just couldn't "pull the trigger". In time, I finally adjusted. I had already lived the American Dream: I had personally achieved many successes. I had helped many others do the same. Now, I had the time to watch my grown children as they cut their trails in life. Each has succeeded in their chosen paths. I am most proud that all are responsible parents, spouses and dedicated to their families.
Yes, I have lived the American Dream, but it wasn't always like that.
I was born in Baltimore, Maryland, 58 years ago. In the first grade, my barely literate, truck-driving dad relocated us to his hometown, the small Susquehanna River community of Havre de Grace, Maryland. I spent all of my childhood living in a succession of modest rental properties. My early childhood friends were the black and Italian kids. Yes, we were of humble means, but I didn't know it. That is, not until I was 12 or 13. Then, I began to notice the difference between my hand-me-down clothes from my older brother and those worn by most of the other kids. At the time, I didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse, but God gave me an intellectual capacity that placed me in the advanced classes, which were populated mostly with kids of the upper class. I had two sets of friends- the "haves" and the "have nots". I liked and fit in with all of them. But, I felt pressured to look like the "wealthy" kids. I began to work. When I wasn't in school, I worked. I did odd jobs for old folks, shoveled snow, raked leaves, cut grass, ran errands, "hunted" night-crawlers (fishing worms which I sold for a penny each), and shined shoes in the bars for a few years beginning at age 12. I used the money to buy clothes to simulate the appearance of the other kids.
I began to look the role, but that wasn't the source of my self-esteem. My self- esteem came from sports. I played football (2years), and lettered in basketball and baseball. Sports were fun and occupied a lot of my time, but I still had to work. I worked a job as a stock clerk and bagging groceries after practices, games and on Saturdays. Saturdays at midnight I had to be at the News Depot to pack out the papers for my Sunday morning route at a nearby naval base. That job ended around 5:30 in the morning. A half hour later I met my after-school employer at his grocery store. He attended the early Catholic mass and would return about noon to pay me $10 for washing and waxing the store floor.
I was a gifted draftsman in high school, but failed to obtain the co-op scholarship at Drexel I applied for. (My grades were never mentioned to my children.) I worked as a pole lineman after high school, saving my money to go to college the next fall. Uncle Sam had different plans. Being drafted into the Army was no surprise, nor did I find it objectionable. My dad was a WWII vet, decorated and wounded during the Battle of the Bulge. My granddad was blinded in WWI. My great, great granddad was a cavalryman for the South in the Civil War. It was my turn to go and that was the way it was. Much to my surprise, I truly liked Army life.
After serving as an infantryman for a short time, I graduated from the Signal Corps Officers Candidate School at Ft. Gordon, Georgia on the 4th of May, 1967. At age 21, I commanded my first company in Germany. It was a challenging assignment. (It was the first turn-around situation of many more to come.) Then, it was off to Viet Nam.
Stuck in a staff job was not what I had envisioned RVN to be. But, it didn't last long. One day I was told to report to BG Thomas Rienzi. I knew not why. I reported and he asked me to tell him why I wanted to be his aide-de-camp. I told him I didn't want to be his aide. He asked what then did I want to do. I told him all of my training was for wartime, I was here, I was a Captain, and even a 22 year-old captain should be commanding a combat company. Upon return to my staff job, I was told to report to the group commander. Uh-oh. The CO informed me he didn't know what I had said to the "old man", but to pack my stuff because I was flying north to take command of a combat construction company. I loved it. Traveling from one end of the country to the other building telephone systems by day and playing infantryman by night was a soldiers life that suited me well.
After Viet Nam and the Signal Officers Advanced course in New Jersey, I found myself 5 miles from my hometown at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Post Communications Officer was my assignment---- but, not for long. Upon reporting for duty, the post CO and a man named Major General Frank Izenour intercepted my records and "convinced" me to fill a special need. (That always meant something no senior officer wanted to do.) It was. I was to assume responsibility for the consolidation of the military components of two installations- APG (Home of the Ordnance Corps) and Edgewood Arsenal (Home of the Chemical Corps). A little "side" mission was creation of a brand new battalion sized headquarters. After those "little" projects were completed, a commander was assigned and I served as his deputy commander for a year. Then, I got the job of a lifetime- Post Communications Officer. A few months later, an old friend called and "requested" I take a job with him in Germany. Col. John S. Blair was my role model. (Ten years later, in 1983, he and his lovely wife, Betty, joined us for the dedication of a new 120,000 ft building I dedicated in his honor as having been the man that most positively influenced my life.)
A couple of months later I reported to the 7th Signal Brigade Headquarters in Mannheim, Germany. Col. Blair still had not disclosed the job to me. After telling me "if I did the job he knew I could do, I could have any job in the brigade I wanted". The twinkle in my eye deceived me. He noticed. "Except mine", he added.
Materiel readiness officer for a brigade of thirty company sized units wasn't too overwhelming in 1973 at the age of 26. However, the units were spread all over Germany and every unit had failed the most important readiness inspection conducted in the Army. My job was to turn them around- quickly. I accomplished the mission, loved the job so much, I requested to remain in it for, unknown to me at the time, the last three years of my army career. Just before the tour ended, each unit underwent the same inspection they had all failed just prior to my arrival. They all passed. Not only did they pass, but did so with very high scores. (However, the highest score ever achieved by a communications unit was not broken. It was established in 1968 by A Company of the 26th Signal Battalion, commanded by yours truly, 1Lt. John W. Dashler.)
During that assignment I earned a nickname, "Captain Determination" and my last boss said of me at my farewell party, "Dashler only knows one bugle call-'Charge'".
That brings me back to the beginning of the story of my life. I have taken you full circle: how I was raised; how I came to leave my "roots"; how I came to live two storied careers, one in business and one in the military; but, you may still be asking yourself, "Who is John Dashler?"
Yes, I had lived the American Dream. But, there's more that you need to know. There's the personal side, the community side and the family side.
When we left the Army, I rode a motorcycle to work for 2 years because I couldn't afford a second car. Life was pretty much business 24/7. The business grew. From 25 employees when I joined it to 100 employees when I bought it, Unitfuft was beginning to emerge from 60-70 competitors into a national player in floor covering's marketing services industry.
By then, we had four actively involved children. I mixed business with water boy for the 8th grade football team, President of this club and member of that one. Before long, I found myself on one community board, then another. With children spread over 14 years from oldest to youngest, the life of many duties (business, community, schools and family) lasted awhile.
Through my involvement in the schools, I became aware of the "drop-out" problem. In our school system, the rate was 50%. I was shocked. At the time, I was on the board of the chamber of commerce and used that role to initiate an extremely ambitious program to solve the adult literacy and high school drop-out problems.
I led the effort for four years. Known as Education is Essential, the program became a national model and was part of a nationwide broadcast on ABC in the mid-eighties. We had a lot of success making a positive difference in many people's lives. My in-plant adult literacy and GED programs, resulted in a cap and gown GED graduation ceremony. We graduated a class of 23 GED recipients the first year of the program. But, that wasn't the story. There was a tear-jerker. Two of our elderly employees learned to read and write in that program. The personal achievement of these people was significant.
But, the most important goal of the program was the impact on their families. These were families of generations, cycle after cycle, where education was not important. The cycle was broken. Education became important in all of these families- for the first time ever! It was a community model that worked. I reflect on this as one of the most gratifying achievements of my life.
By this time, Unituft had grown to be the 2nd largest in the industry. We had several operating divisions, 350 employees and a great nationally known reputation as an excellent company. Like the stock market (sell at the top), I held true to a commitment I made to the management team- I'd offer it for sale to them when I turned 40. I did. The deal closed 16 days after my 41st birthday.
That almost completes the story, but not quite. What a life!! The American Dream----- lived by me!! Actually, no. There was something missing. You would think that a man of my age having done all the things I had done would be on top of the world. I wasn't. I had traveled the world and been in all but 4 states of our great country. I lived two storied careers. I was relatively young. Had a great bunch of kids and a loving and dedicated wife. What could have been missing?
My conscience had begun to bother me. I had made some personal missteps. I began pondering the purpose for and the meaning of my life.
What happened next can best be told by relating a discussion that occurred in Park City, Utah several years ago. I was on a ski vacation with my life long best friend, his boys, and another family. There were several kids present. They were all teenagers. They liked staying up late talking with me. I always connected well with teenagers. One evening one of them, referring to Viet Nam, asked if there was anything I would do differently with my life if I could go back and change anything. I responded immediately.
The kids were shocked by my answer. Like me, none of them had been raised in the church. This was my answer. "I would have become a Christian when I was Sean's age (13). You see, I've made some mistakes in my life. I know now, had I been a Christian, I wouldn't have made any of them."
In answer to prayer, years of prayer, I became an Evangelical Christian man at the age of 51.
I spent most of the past 8 years immersed in one subject after the other. Always a subject of interest was leadership and management. I wrote a couple of books, but had no luck finding an interested publisher. Different segments of history, the American Revolution and the Civil War were long studies. Biographies were always interspersed.
However, studying the Bible and learning what it meant to be a Christian was the one topic that dominated all others. Prayer became part of my life. After a couple of years of "idleness", I began to pray that the Lord would reveal His ultimate purpose for my life. I consulted frequently with an old Army friend, Pat Polis, who had gone into ministry late in life. Pat pastored churches in Knoxville, Tennessee for several years. "How do you know when the Lord is calling you and how do you distinguish it from simply justifying something you want to do", was a frequent question I asked Pat. "It isn't a loud voice, like the movies. It begins as little things. Then, it's bigger things happening more and more frequently. Then, a mental picture begins to paint itself. Then, it is clear." Beginning in November 2003, several unexplainable and unrelated things began happening in my life. Finally, the realization occurred, that's what was happening to me.
Everything about my life has now been justified. All of life's experiences were for a reason. There was a purpose of greater good for my life. It was a script that I had not authored.
Great story! So what? What Georgians want to know is what do I bring to the party? Why should you entrust the responsibility of leading Georgia in my hands?
Am I the most talented? No. Am I the most intelligent? No. Am I the most experienced? No. Am I the most educated? No. But, I can hold my own. I am a well-rounded, if not total package. I am a highly experienced leader and manager of great responsibilities in many challenging environments- military, business, community and schools. I have never failed to achieve outstanding results. I am a troubleshooter, problem solver, a motivator, a visionary, an achiever. I have a knack for simplifying complex situations, defining problems quickly, seeing a clear vision of root cause problems and bringing about solutions.
I possess an entrepreneurial mindset. I have learned money is not the solution to every problem. Most often, money is no substitute for good ideas, hard work and determination. I do not believe in throwing good money after bad money. I am a team builder, a teacher and a quick-study student. I have always been a "go to" guy for the tough jobs. I thrive on them. Seeking the highest office in the state simply puts me in a position I have confronted many times in my life- at the bottom, facing overwhelming odds. I remain undaunted and unintimidated.
The most significant difference between me and the other highly skilled and talented leaders serving you is one of priorities. Our present leadership is committed to gaining and maintaining power. As such, they are immersed in the game of power politics. It is a corrupting process. Many well-intentioned and good people represent you in our state government. Unfortunately, they are players in the partisan power game. Too many of them have abdicated their "Georgians" agenda for the "red team" or the "blue team" game of power. I represent the "you" team. And, it is my contention that, once I am elected, many of these fine people will abandon the power politics game and jump on board the "you team". Think not? Electing me, an independent, sends a loud and powerful message from Georgia's voters. The message: "Enough is enough. We want change and we want it now. Get on board with an agenda for us or suffer the consequences in the next election!" Politicians will get the message. And, they will respond. They will work toward returning Georgia to the best place to live and do business, and the most prosperous state in the South. All they need is some "tough love" from the voters! That's you!
Enough for campaigning on this page. That wasn't the intended purpose. I wanted you to learn who I was, how I thought, and an overview of my life. I feel comfortable that I've achieved what I intended to do.
For those of you who would like the details filled in, following this paragraph are more details of the life experiences of John W. Dashler. For those of you that have spent as much time as you care learning about me, thank you for taking the time and making the effort to read these pages. If you are motivated to help, click on the "volunteer", or "contribute" buttons. One thing is absolutely certain, I cannot prevail without your help, and that is not plural- it means YOU!
Continue to Part II: The Details
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