I was born July 6, 1957 in Seagraves, TX. Times were tough and the weather was dry. My father went broke farming cotton soon after my birth. He, my mother, 3 siblings, and I moved to Plains, TX where dad worked two full time jobs to put food on the table. I was the baby of the family and spoiled rotten. Age wise, my closest sibling was 7 years my senior. When it was time for me to start school, my mom had to literally drag me out of the car kicking and screaming. Because my siblings had been answering and doing everything for me, I did not fare well academically or socially. I would take every opportunity to stay home “sick”. Childhood diseases such as rubella, chickenpox, and mumps were good excuses for lengthy absences. Consequently, my phonics, spelling, and math skills suffer to this day.

Beginning with 5th grade I took up with the class clown who had been held back from the pior year. Not exactly a great recipe for someone struggling socially and academically. From an early age I was severely overweight. Despite that fact, I excelled athletically and was an outstanding baseball pitcher. My aspiration was to be a major league player. Unfortunately, due to disobeying my coach’s instructions about not throwing hard curve balls, I threw my arm away at age 13. I was also an above average football player and eventually earned regional and state honors. My athletic ability and wit carried me through life until I went off to college.

I enrolled at Texas Tech University the Spring of 1976 and found out that all those absences in elementary school were not to my benefit. The fact that I was a poor student, coupled with my partying habits resulted in me shamefully dropping out of school December of 1978. Based on the good name of my family and the inexplicable kindness of a man named Roy Redding, I went to work for USDA doing field work.

I managed to hang on to that job for a few years even with a lack of discipline in my personal life. I then decided to sabotage a good thing and quit USDA to be the office manager at a cotton gin teetering on disbandment or bankruptcy. On the surface, this sounds like a bad move. However, it occurred in 1981 when personal computers were essentially unheard of. The cotton gin had a Radio Shack computer for their local transactions and were connected to a large cotton cooperative for marketing purposes. I struggled mightily with both but eventually concluded that computers were the wave of the future and I should embrace them. This put me a step ahead of most people in regards to automation and has kept me there ever since. After a very rocky eighteen months with the cotton gin, another kind gentleman named Jack London (his real name) asked me to come back to work for USDA.

Around that time, it came over me in a very clear and concise fashion that I was throwing my life away. It was a spiritual experience that made me very aware of my mortality and volition. Fortunately for me, I chose the right path and decided to take advantage of all the grace that had been extended to me from so many quarters. Numerous destructive bad habits were dropped, and with them went the bad company. Almost simultaneously, I met the woman who would become my wife. Within a year we were married.

My rededication to living life the way it was intended went neither unnoticed nor unrewarded. With the support of others, I made my way into management with USDA taking the reins of my first office in Memphis, TX, January 1986. At this time my agency was automating millions of farm records. Again, I was in a place that put me well ahead of most people regarding computers and online activity. I should never have been hired to manage that first office. As a management trainee, I was required to apply for the job and, if hired, acceptance was mandatory. I was essentially thrown into managing one of the larger offices in the state of Texas. There, I attempted to supervise as many as 11 employees. I discovered later that I was the lesser of the evils who applied for the job. I did the best I could and learned numerous lessons. Some of them the hard way. I spent a year and a half there, then was fortunate to find another office with a slightly lighter workload and closer to home. With the support of friends and family, I was hired at the Big Spring, TX office where I served as County Executive Director from 1987 – 2012.

During my years with USDA, I was afforded opportunities to acquire and develop numerous soft and hard skills. Number one, I learned to be proactive when dealing with people. This included clients and employees. My first director let me know that if I wanted to survive in my position, I needed to get out from behind my desk and greet clients at the counter. This advice served me well over the years. I also had to develop public speaking skills. I had essentially zero experience in this area and received virtually no training. Also, YouTube and the internet were not available resources. It was baptism by fire. I found out that preparation is key. I also happen to have certain natural abilities that lend themselves to the process.

Eventually, I was able to overcome my fear and lack of experience to become what I believe to be a well above average public speaker.

I never got over dropping out of college. I disappointed myself, my family, and other individuals who had invested in me. My entire adult life it gnawed at me that most people in my position had a bachelor’s degree. I was also convinced that not having a degree held me back from promotion. In 2006, my wife and I agreed I would go back to school while working full time. Online programs were scarce but online classes were becoming more and more popular. December 2011, at the age of 54, I graduated from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin with a Bachelor of Arts in History and a minor in Child and Family Studies. During my college reboot, I took approximately 90 hours of classes, most of them online. My grades were all A’s except one B in Business Math for which I was quite grateful. As I graduated, my wife and I began to discuss what I would do with my degree. We had thought I might teach but were not sure when. We decided I should enter into an alternative certification program immediately, which I did. I applied for my first teaching job in June of 2012 and was hired as a high school social studies teacher. I retired from USDA in July of 2012 then started teaching in August.

Over the next 9 years I was humbled beyond degree. It had been so long since I was in high school, I did not remember what it was like. I forgot that students were there because they had to be. My heart was for students like myself. I was offered the advanced classes but asked for the lower achieving students. All of my good intentions fell by the wayside on about day two. I tried to resign but my principal convinced me that he hired me because he thought I could do the job. He recommended/insisted that I hang in there. I did so with the certainty that if I survived the year, I would resign, and I did. That summer, I was walking into a local business when I heard “Mr. Liles, Mr. Liles”. As I approached the vehicle from which the voice was coming, I recognized one of my worst students sitting behind the steering wheel. He was so excited and happy to see me. It made me rethink my position. I reapplied for my old job and got it. Teaching then became two things to me, 1) a labor of love for the students, and 2) a challenge to become a good teacher.

During the 9 years I taught, over 1000 students cycled through my classrooms. I loved them and did my best to teach them whatever the curriculum called for. I also did my best to instill some of the social and work ethics I either ignored or missed out on when I was younger. I resigned from teaching in May 2021 to finish up a graduate degree. I will leave the assessment of my teaching up to my supervisors and students. I will say that when I decided to resign, the administration and many students did not want me to go. I have been asked to return by my principal. I suppose I was doing ok.

COVID struck during Spring Break of 2020. We were told that classes would resume a week late, then another week, then they did not. During that time, I was teaching remotely as conditions and resources would allow. I also had a considerable amount of spare time on my hands. Just for fun, I began to look at graduate programs. I came across one for Instructional Design and Technology which was predominately in my wheel house. My wife and I decided I should go for it. I started classes May of 2020 and graduated December 2021.

I have been married to the same wonderful lady, (Debbie), for the past 37 years. Our daughter, (Kacy), is 35 and lives in Ft Worth, Tx. She has a toddler named Grady who is clearly the most intelligent, funny, and affectionate child in the history of the world. Debbie and I are active in our church. For fun and fitness, we enjoy walking. We also enjoy traveling and have been to many of the major cities in the United States.

If you have read this far, you are somewhat like me. I like to know about someone. What is their background, where did they come from, and where are they going? I hope the above information satisfies those questions for you. I would be happy to expound on my background and future plans. I would also be glad to answer any questions that my bio may have precipitated. Please feel free to get in touch.