...the last 8 months...

Hey family and friends, I’ll begin this by saying that this wasn’t an easy decision for me to start a GoFundMe page. Beginning with my very first job when I was 14 until this day, no matter how much I loved or hated whatever job I was doing, Ive always given it 150% and have never been fired once along the way. Leaving my job in the music world a few years back for a position in the events world here in LA was one of the hardest decisions of my life because music always has and always will be my biggest passions and where I truly feel I belong, so transitioning into a new role with long hours, little days off and not much passion about it wasn’t easy, but I still gave it everything i had because it’s who I am. In the few years I’ve been in the events industry, I’ve been recruited by all 5 of the major event companies in LA and have excepted positions with 4 of them. In April of 2019, I accepted a promotion to join bright events in a sales role with the opportunity for my biggest financial growth potential yet after proving myself for the first year. I had originally been brought on to develop business with my local music industry contacts, but within the week of accepting the role and my actual first day, the two employees with the company who handled all the USC accounts both resigned apparently due to the work load being too much to handle, so on my first day, I was notified that the plans for me had changed. Over the next 11 months, not only did I successfully take on both of the former employees accounts, I also acquired a large number of additional accounts at USC that had been using our different competitors, resulting in 1.5 million dollars of revenue and smashing forecasted salegoals for the year. My 1 year review, where I had planned to accept a large and much deserved raise, was already scheduled for the first week of April, but on March 10th, we were all called in for an meeting to notify us that, effective that day, we were all being furloughed with no pay until further notice. Myself and almost 400 other employees were given our last paycheck and told we’d be back when this is all over. Also during these last 8 months, for those of you that don’t already know, my divorce become final after being separated and living separately for almost 2 years, which has also been hard both mentally and financially. The one bright light in my life is my daughter who motivates me everyday to keep my head up and not give up! I stayed at the house with her and her mom and slept on the couch for the 1st three months of the quarantine to make sure they were safe. It was a great feeling going to sleep and waking up 15 feet away from her room every night along with caring for her everyday while her mom continued to work from home, but equally as hard to go back to living at my apartment at the end of May when her mom felt they were safe, especially when on the first night of being back, I listened to the riots out my window here in Long Beach destroy my neighborhood a block away. But up until last week, when she started her new pre-preschool, I’ve continued to go over and care for and see her everyday, which has been an amazing bonding experience as she continues to grow. I’d like to end by saying I know these have been tough times for all and please, please, please don’t feel any pressure to help out because your love and friendship is priceless and worth more to me then anything. If you can help out, I’d like to think of it as more of a loan than a donation and would be willing to pay it back once I’m able to find work and get back on my feet again. For those of you in the Los Angeles area, I’d also be willing to do any odd jobs you may have as well. Writing this has been tough because I’ve worked so hard for everything I’ve got to this point in my life, but even though I’ve followed all the guidelines set fourth by doctors and scientists since this whole thing started to make it go away, it appears things still won’t be back to normal for some time , which is frustrating, but out of my control. So until then, I’ll stay positive and keep trying, because that’s all we can do! Thank you all for taking a minute to read this! Please stay safe and healthy and looking forward to seeing you all again once this nightmare finally goes away! Eric!