I started working at age eight selling cards, wrapping paper, and ribbon door–to-door. By the time I was twelve, I had saved enough money to buy my first lawn mower. Fortunate to live in central Florida where it rained nearly every day, and the grass grew two inches each week, I enjoyed a thriving yard business!
By the time I was sixteen, I sold that business and went to work for Jim Gooding, founder of Gooding’s Groceries! Starting at $1.15/hour, I sorted returnable glass bottles in a metal roofed concrete block storage area in the 97 degree heat. Within months, however, I was promoted to bag boy, and learned from one of the finest supervisors ever, Jim Butler! I double bagged heavy items (like cans), and put light weight items (like crackers and chips) on top. I put ice cream in freezer bags, packed cold items with cold items, bagged meat separately, and put eggs and bread on the car’s front seat! I was really, really good at what I did, and ultimately was promoted to order for, and stock, all frozen foods. Before I left Gooding’s just a few years later to enroll at Georgia Tech, Jim offered me a job as assistant manager for his new Inverness store.
At Tech, I worked two part-time jobs and took twenty credit hours per quarter to pay for school and graduate on time. I stayed an extra year to earn a master’s degree, and entered Emory University’s School of Dentistry the next fall.
Never did I imagine the challenges, victories, or daily discoveries that owning and operating a general dental practice could bring!! Through thirty-eight years, I have been blessed with the responsibility of caring for some of the finest people on earth. Many became close friends, and nearly all became a joy for me to see.
On the fifteenth of this month, I will cease to practice, and so will end my truly astounding career! How blessed am I to have experienced the life I’ve lived?? Whether selling cards, bagging groceries, or restoring teeth, I’ve always given my very best to whomever I served… And that’s life, isn’t it? Always giving your best to others, and living with a spirit of abundance! And now, looking back on an extraordinary career, I’m “on top of it all!” Thanks be to God…
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“What you get by achieving your goals is not as great
as what you become by achieving your goals”
Zig Ziglar
Dr. Kerr, I absolutely love your energy, enjoyed dental material and anatomy with you today. You are an amazing human being. I will be in touch with you, looking forward to working with you in future.
Thank you. We appreciate you!