A Little About Me

By Patrick Green

My life has been a mission of discovery and exploration.  As a child I always enjoyed taking machines apart and reassemblying them.  Later I would read my mother’s Algebra books at the age of 8.  I read St. Augustine’s ”City of God” at the age of 11.  Despite my efforts, I never was able to complete Thomas Pinchon’s ”Gravity’s Rainbow” no matter how hard I tried; three attempts so far.

I had always assumed that I would be a physicist.  Unfortunately, my aspirations to become a physicist was beyond the imagination of my teachers whom I relied on for encouragement.  Instead I made the mistake of following their ideas which were limited by their own imaginations or lack there of.  Despite my being a top student in math and science even I needed guidance.

It was only after I became a teenager that I realized that many people lacked imagination.  I began developing my imagination at the age of 13 when I learned how to do self-hypnosis.  I achieved remarkable results by optimizing my mind.  Ever since, I have developed the habit of meditating as a means of reaching higher levels of consciousness.

My interest in the human mind coupled with my hunger for science resulted in many adventures.  I particularly remember one science experiment where I learned how to make the perfect ”screwdriver” without having to buy the vodka.  My mom would have been shocked if she had known that her son was brewing hooch in his closet under the guise of being a scientific investigation.  Needlesstosay, my friends thought I was a genius.

Both my parents were born into poverty.  My father was from the poorest part of Panama called Colon.  My mom grew up in the South of the U.S. where she was the oldest of 13 kids living in a small community next door to one of the most exclusive resorts in America.  

My father went on to an exemplary career with the U.S. Department of Navy working with the old Univac computers.  He later retired after a 25 year career at IBM.  My mom has been a community activist working with disadvantaged people and issues ranging from alcholism, homelessness and prevention of child abuse and child neglect.  She holds a doctorate degree in psychology and has been a doctoral supervisor at American Universtiy.

From my parent’s humble beginnings I developed a respect for myself and for others.  Further, I learned that anything is possible if I put my mind to it.

Having been misdirected away from a lifetime in science I became fascinated with big business and in particular financial matters.  For me it was the culmination of all my interests and ideas.  Creativity, problem solving, learning and imagination were key elements to achievement. 

Although we were never truly acquainted I always admired Maurice ”Hank” Greenberg of AIG.  His vision of a global financial organization was a parallel to my own ambition to create a global financial company.  I have modelled Greenshield Investment Group from information gained during my tenure with AIG .

My initial introduction to business came from Sol Price.  Sol, is the originator and founder of Price Club which has evolved into Costco.  Prior to Price Club Sol had successfull created and built FedMart which was later sold to the Mann organization for a large sum of money.

During the early days of Price Club, long before we had a single customer, Sol would speak to me every day about his vision.  As he spoke I could see his ideas come alive.  It was after my two years with Sol that I decided that business would be my life as well.

Over the years there have been other contributors to ”Project Patrick”.  Hopefully, I will make them all proud before it is all said and done.  I joined the Seal of Liberty because the values we have pledged represent my values as a business man.  It is my feeling that wherever people of like minds gather, I want to be there too.

My life has been a wonderful and exciting experience so far.  It has not always been easy. But it has been fun and interesting.  I have the love of my beautiful wife and adoring parents and the smiles of my children with bright shining eyes to guide me.  Now with my association with a group of fellow star travellers I am looking forward to many more fulfilling adventures.