A journey forged through adversity, rebuilt with determination, and elevated through the world of technology.
From Broke Veteran to MSP Owner: How I Turned Rock Bottom into a Million-Dollar Business
A Short Autobiography by TJ Dalton
The Moment Everything Changed
Look, I'm just going to say it: the moment that changed my life involved getting splashed in the face with wet dog shit.
I know that sounds crazy, but that's exactly what happened. There I was, 2010 or 2011, throwing trash cans into the back of a garbage truck for $20 an hour—which was pretty decent money at the time—and one of those cans slipped back out and splashed me. Right then and there, I knew I was done. Some people might do that job for 20 years, and that's fine, but that was it for me. I was done.
That disgusting moment was actually the beginning of something incredible, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Iraq: Where I Learned to Lead Under Fire
Let me back up to 2007. I was 22, maybe 23 years old, deployed in Iraq for 14 months. I was just an E4—pretty low ranking—turning wrenches as a mechanic in the motor pool. I had a wife and kids back home that I was supporting, which already made my situation different from a lot of other young guys in the service.
Then things got chaotic. We didn't lose anyone to death, thank God, but our motor sergeant got sent home. Then the replacement had issues and got sent home too. They found someone else to shove into the leadership role, and honestly, he had his head up his ass. Even though I was lower ranking, I couldn't deal with the stupidity. I got irritable. I got pissed. So, I kind of took over the leadership role myself, and he ended up just staying in his quarters and left me to run things.
Suddenly, I had about six people under me in a war zone in a foreign country. Holy cow. Here I am, 22 years old, trying to provide leadership when I don't even know what the hell I'm doing myself. I'm trying to get myself home while trying to get them home too. The pressure was insane.
But you know what? That deployment taught me something critical: stay alert, stay alive. You always have to stay focused on the mission—do your job to the best of your ability and get home. That mentality of "failure is not an option" got burned into my DNA.
And that's the thing about being under pressure in a war zone—bombs blowing up, mortar rounds going off, gunfire all around you. When you've dealt with that, listening to a frustrated business owner complain about their computers down the line? That's nothing. I can handle someone's mouth when I've dealt with literal explosions.
Coming Home: The Struggle Nobody Talks About
Coming home was harder than being deployed in some ways. I like to use the term "converting back" because that's what it feels like. In the military, you're given your task, you know what you got to do, you get it done. But when you come back home, a lot of that stuff doesn't relate to the civilian world.
My cousin got me a job turning wrenches for a crane company. I'd already been doing that for about 10 years, and I realized pretty quickly—my heart wasn't in it anymore. I had a wife and kids; I couldn't just live at home like some 22-year-old kid figuring things out. I paid for a place for my family to live while I was overseas. So, my transition was completely different than what other young veterans experience.
I got my CDL and started driving a truck. I liked driving vehicles in the military—I drove a semi delivering supplies, operated a recovery tow truck. But you know what happened? I started getting fat. Sitting in that truck all day, doing 60 hours a week, no activity. It was awful.
That's what led me to the garbage truck—still driving, but at least I was getting out and moving, dumping trash. Good money, staying active. And then came that moment with the dog shit that changed everything.
The Computer That Changed My Life
About three or four months after that incident, I was still irritable, still done with where my life was heading. One day, I saw a broken computer that someone was throwing away. I wasn't allowed to take it home—it was against company policy. But I took it anyway.
With the help of a close uncle, I fixed it!
I was so impressed with myself for fixing that computer that it kicked everything off. I started thinking, "Maybe I can do this. Maybe I can learn IT."
Now, let me be clear about something: I didn't just decide to learn IT and get a job in the field. Oh no. Being the crazy person I am, I decided to start my own company.
Sink or Swim: Starting a Business While Broke
Talk about pressure. I went from truck driver to service industry to turning wrenches, and now I'm switching to IT? Not only switching careers, but starting a business? Under a year in college for IT, I had lost my job driving a truck due to an accident, then starting a business with a wife, kids, and a house with no money? What was I thinking?
I didn't have a dime. No backup. No safety net. It was just like the military all over again—sink or swim. I was determined, even through all the tough times, all the struggling. Because here's the thing: I didn't just have to learn the IT side of things. I had to learn the business management side too.
The leadership skills from the military, especially from that chaotic deployment where I got shoved into running things at 22—that's what saved me. I learned to work under pressure. I learned to adapt and overcome. I learned that failure is not an option when you've got a mission.
But I'm not going to sugarcoat it. The transition wasn't just hard, it was brutal.
The Employee Nobody Wanted
Here's the part of my story I used to be embarrassed about: from 2005 to about 2012, I was hard to employ. Really hard.
I had a lot of baggage. I was dealing with anger. I was dealing with emotions I didn't know how to process. I was vocal—really vocal—when I saw leadership making stupid decisions.
In the military, if you speak up, you might get an Article 15, they might pull your pay or your rank, but that's it. In the civilian world? They just fire you.
I wasn't trying to be an outcast. I wasn't trying to be a problematic employee. I was just trying to tell people when their processes didn't make sense. I was trying to contribute, to help improve things. But a lot of employers weren't willing to listen. They were set in their ways: "This is how I'm doing it, and this is how we're going to do it."
And I'd be gone.
I'm grateful that certain people didn't give up on me during those struggling times. Because the truth is, I couldn't shut the switch off. I couldn't separate being in military mode from civilian mode. I was dealing with stuff that made me hard to work with, and I was trying to find my place back here.
Finding My Path
My wife finally got me into a church, and that helped me start figuring things out. I had to learn to separate work from home, to not carry the weight of the world on my shoulders everywhere I went. I had to accept that some things were out of my control, and I couldn't fix everything—even though every part of me wanted to.
That's the thing about veterans. We feel like we can fix everything. We want to be there for everybody, support everyone, put out every fire. When things are spinning out of control and we can't fix them, it eats us alive.
But slowly, things started clicking. The business started growing. I started meeting people, networking, going to seminars when I could finally afford to travel. People started hearing my story.
The Story I Was Ashamed to Tell
Here's what's crazy: four years ago, I was embarrassed to tell you my story. I thought it was a failure story. I felt like I had failed at everything—failed as an employee, failed at finding my place, failed at so many things. I thought I was just a small-town boy operating a business to put food on my family's table.
But as I talked to more people and opened up, I realized something: my story wasn't a failure. It was a success. It was a testimony.
Two or three months ago, I got a message saying I'd been nominated as a candidate for the MSP Titan Award for veteran-owned businesses. Me. The broke guy who got splashed with dog shit and decided to teach himself IT. The guy who was hard to employ. The guy who started a company with no money and no backup plan.
Looking back almost 14 years ago, grossing around $22,000 with over $14,000 in expenses makes you wonder what you’re doing! I never thought I'd be here. This year, we’re a seven figure MSP! I've got a great team. I even hired my buddy from Iraq—the guy I served with 20 years ago—as my service manager about a year and a half ago.
I'm 41 now. I've got about 10 more years before I start thinking about retirement or selling the company. And you know what? I'm at the best point of my life. I've got grandchildren. My life is fantastic. It's a blessing.
Ask me 10 years ago, and I was miserable. Angry at everything. Hated everything.
What Veterans Bring to the Table
Let me tell you what I've learned about hiring veterans, because I've hired several now—some worked out great, some didn't.
The ones who make it bring something special: they understand structure. They know how to work under pressure. They've been trained in leadership. They know that failure is not an option. You give them a mission; they're going to complete it whatever it takes.
But—and this is important, some veterans come into the workforce with a lot of baggage. Mental stuff they're dealing with. When they can't separate those personal struggles from work, it becomes a problem.
I've been there. I was that guy.
So, here's my advice for employers: if you're going to hire veterans, you almost need some type of psychological training to deal with some of these guys. You need to read the room, see what they're struggling with, and figure out how to be both a boss and a mentor. If you can get them through whatever they're dealing with, they will become incredible employees. The military has already trained them in leadership, working under stress, handling pressure—all the stuff that makes a good employee. You just need to help them flip the switch from military to civilian.
And for MSP owners specifically: if you're the type who sits on the chariot barking orders and not listening, a veteran's not going to work for you. Veterans need to work beside you, not just for you. They're going to want to bring their values to your company. They're going to take ownership of their tasks. They're going to give you feedback when something isn't working.
If you're not open to that, don't hire veterans.
What I'd Tell Other Veterans
If you're a veteran reading this, struggling to find your place, thinking about suicide because you can't shut the military mode off—listen to me.
Your story is not over.
I know they say 22 veterans a day commit suicide. I know you're trying to find your place back here and haven't found it yet. I've been there. I felt like my story was over, like I was a failure, like I'd never find my way.
But here I am, 13 years later, living proof that your story doesn't have to stop at rock bottom.
You have traits that the business world desperately needs. You know how to not quit. You know how to adapt and overcome. You've been trained to complete the mission no matter what. When you find your passion—whether it's IT or anything else, the rest falls into place. The determination, the grit, the refusal to fail, it all comes together.
The civilian world might not know how to handle you at first. Hell, you might not know how to handle yourself at first. But if you can get through the struggles, if you can learn to separate work from home, if you can find people who won't give up on you—you've got everything you need to succeed.
You don't need money. I started with nothing. You don't need connections. I was just a broke truck driver who fixed one computer. You just need that same determination that got you through deployment: stay alert, stay focused, complete the mission, get home.
The Path Forward
So yeah, that's my story. From Iraq to garbage trucks to building a million-dollar MSP business. From being the problem employee nobody wanted to being nominated for industry awards. From thinking my life was a failure to realizing it's a testimony.
I'm heading to Beverly Hills in December for that MSP Titan Award. Whether I win or not, I want my story to encourage other veterans. Especially those starting businesses in the IT field.
Because 13 years ago, I was broke and looking for gas money. My wife had stuck with me through deployment, through my anger issues, through job after job. And now? Now I can take my camper out camping. I can provide for my family. I can hire other veterans and help them find their way.
If I can do it—broke, angry, hard to employ, with no IT background—you can too.
Your story isn't over. Sometimes you just need someone else to light that fire and bring it back out of you.
Stay alert. Stay focused. Complete the mission.
And whatever you do, don't let anyone tell you that you can't make it.
Because I'm living proof that you can go from rock bottom to standing on top of the mountain. You just have to refuse to quit.
