I’m never shaving my beard. Here’s why.

By Jacob Tempel

If you would have told me a year ago I’d be at this point in my life, I would have laughed. Hard. Amazingly, through the support of my friends and adopted family at GoDaddy, I am here. I am alive, I have my boys, I have a plan to purchase a home and I speak my mind. I am my own man again. Finally.

My dad was a single parent too. I watched him work hard to put a roof over our heads and food on our plates. He never gave up and he wanted to do whatever he had to for his kids. Fast forward to my adult years and I find myself in self-destructive situation where I felt like I had no control of my life, my money, my time or my family. I lost the lesson my dad taught me all those years ago.

I don’t know how I got there, but I didn’t believe in myself and didn’t believe there was light at the end of the tunnel for a long time. I had commission only jobs with employers who weren’t the most ethical. One day, I went into work and the office was cleaned out with the door locked. That was that. And that was enough to give me the spark I needed to take my dad’s lesson and make it my own.

I was homeless and had a few shirts and jeans to my name. And that was enough to start with when I found GoDaddy. They took a chance on me and I stepped up to the plate, determined to kill it at my job. I had a job where a company wasn’t going to pack up overnight. A company that treats its employees like heroes every single day. I had team and manager support to keep growing not only professionally, but personally as well.

I’ve taken advantage of the free counseling, which I’m so grateful for, and other benefits and perks GoDaddy offers to help me get my life back on track.

My GoDaddy family reminded me daily that I can have a different life for me and my kids and that I wasn’t alone in the journey. They helped me have the strength to define and be myself. Their encouragement helped drive my commitment to get out of the victim mentality and own my outcomes. My first step of independence was to grow a beard.

It took me a long time to deal with decisions I’d made in the past to be able to start saving for my house, but I did it. And I got a car. And I got my motorcycle. Now, when I say no to my kids wanting some toy, it’s not because I can’t afford it.

My girlfriend has been a tremendous support for me too. I’ve had to go to court and instead of wearing a monkey suit, she encouraged me to go as me. Plus, I’ve said for years I wanted to get a tattoo on my hands and I just kept talking myself out of it. Finally, she set the appointment, paid for me and drove me to the shop because she believed it was an important part of my growth…and she was right.

I’m 37 and starting over. I feel free and I couldn’t have done it without GoDaddy helping me get the strength to keep doing the right things and making the right choices. When a friend jokingly asks when I’m going to shave my beard, my sign of independence, I proudly say, “never”. It’s mine and it’s me.

Jacob is based in Gilbert, AZ. He’s one of the phenomenal humans who work at GoDaddy. #GoDaddyLife #GoDaddyBrave