Business began to pick up and we brought on our first hire, Carl.

I met Carl when we were both 17, right after I had moved in with my foster parents, Ken and Sally. Carl, the family “genius” who was reading the New York Times at 3, skipped two years of school and entered Johns Hopkins University at 16.

Despite the fact we were members of the same family, I really didn’t get to know him. I only saw him during the summer and on holidays for family functions. During these events, he was aloof and routinely hung up in his room until the last minute before dinner. Everyone used to say he would either cure cancer or become a criminal. He was intriguing to the super insecure, geekish and socially immature 17 year old I was at the time.

A lot can change in four years.

By the time I graduated college, I was super charged and Carl was adrift. I’m not sure whose idea it was, or exactly what transpired, but I do know that the interview process boiled down to me simply asking Carl, “Do you want a job working in my store? I have an extra bedroom and you can live there for free.”

Soon thereafter, Carl moved into the second bedroom of my apartment and starting working full time at Hometown Video and Ice Cream Parlor becoming our first employee.

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