22/09/2023
Hello everyone! I am entering into the .skip $5k grant opportunity to help get my business running strong! I have big plans for my business, apart from just selling these beautiful creatures. While this is great, I have SO many more plans and the $5k would be a HUGE help and would allow me to get a 3d printer to begin producing and selling my own line of supplies that I designed with all of you awesome reptile enthusiasts I have either had, or not quite yet had, the privilege of running into! My designs will not only be AWESOME, but aim to take out a lot of the hassle and guesswork that gives a negative haze to the whole reptile world.
Apart from that, I would need to get patent help and supplies for the printer. If there is more funding left over, I want to also branch out the breeding aspect by getting a few more awesome species to bring more smiles to people's faces!
This is as good a time as any to go ahead and give my testimony for why I got into breeding chameleons. In 2011, I left my home 5 days after my first son was born to go off to this amazing country we all know and love... Afghanistan. I deployed with an intelligence unit from my home base in Cali, to go look for bad people and keep our troops safe. Well, I left there not so ok. I had a few experiences that made an impact on my life, in not so good a way!
The day I got back home, my wife told me I was different and something was wrong. I brushed her off and said I was fine. I really did not realize the profound effect my deployment had on me. I went years being an alcoholic and doing whatever possible to keep my mind occupied. It wasn't until 2018 that I figured out I needed help. I was suffering from PTSD, depression, and anxiety. While I was able to stop the alcohol through treatment, it did not take away all of the rest!
Fast forward to Covid. Staying home was not so good for me. I wound up getting my little dude Grogu during this time. All of you I have met walking around with him and Mando don't realize this, but these guys are my medicine! They have helped me TREMENDOUSLY! I just hope to be able to share the same joy with you! I also plan to start a nonprofit for this reason🤕
