From Babies "R" Us to Director
Raised by an immigrant single mom who had to get her GED after his parents divorced when he was in elementary school. Perk remembers helping her study. That's where the work ethic was born — watching his mother refuse to quit.
By 10, he was a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo. By middle school, he saved up to buy a CD burner in the late '90s and started selling mixtapes — "Hot Shit" Volume 1, Volume 2, multiple versions — hustling copies to classmates to make his own money. The entrepreneur was already there.
At 16, the grind went legit — working the floor at Babies "R" Us for three years. Then he became a bellman at the headquarters hotel for the NFL during the Super Bowl in Jacksonville — where he got to see and meet the athletes he'd only watched on TV. That proximity to greatness lit a fire that never went out.
He enrolled at the University of North Florida — a school people joked stood for "U Never Finish." His first semester was a rude awakening. He slacked off and got a warning that he was about to lose his scholarship. Reality clicked. He locked in, hustled, worked part-time, and graduated on time in four years. UNF didn't stand for "U Never Finish" — not for Perk.
In 2007, he walked into the back office of a major wealth management firm. No connections. No pedigree. Just a relentless drive to outwork everyone in the room. Then the market crashed. They were going to lay everyone off within a year. Instead of waiting for his fate, Perk got his investment licenses, worked extra hours, and prepared for whatever came next. He was one of the few they kept — because of his ambition.
Nobody handed him anything. That was his advantage.
By 24, he found himself making six figures — still living at home, stacking every dollar, and in 2009 he bought his first house. From annuity operations to the advisor desk. From individual contributor to nationally recognized top producer. He didn't just hit monthly goals of $400K in new money — he crushed them consistently, earning recognition as a top performer among 120+ advisors nationwide. Then he did what most wouldn't: he stopped performing and started building leaders.
As a manager, he led a prospecting team to the #1 spot in new money acquisition — over $400M in a single year — earning Pinnacle Club honors reserved for the top 5% in sales performance. He built the sales strategy for 100 registered advisors delivering $2.1B in new assets. He helped lead his division to its first-ever $1B in managed sales.
Then he bet on himself — walking away from the corporate ladder to launch Ruthie's Card Collection, a sports card and memorabilia business born from passion and hustle. He was off to a hot start during COVID, riding the boom. But ego got in the way. He got greedy, overbought inventory, and when the market crashed, he fell behind. The business collapsed. He went bankrupt. Lost everything he built.
By the summer of 2022, he knew the business was going to fail. He was horribly depressed. 200 pounds. Drinking. Not working out. Not taking care of his body. Not present for the people who needed him most.
Then came a conversation that changed everything — a real talk with his sister and his wife. They told him he needed to be present. He needed to turn things around. So he looked in the mirror and looked at his past — everything he'd accomplished, every obstacle he'd already beaten. He wasn't ready to die just yet.
He started studying David Goggins and Jocko Willink — discipline, hard work, extreme ownership. No more excuses. Back to the basics. He started walking. Every day. Then the walking turned into running. He found a burst of energy he hadn't felt in a long time — and he didn't want to stop.
In six months, he went from walking to running 80 miles in a single week and finishing his first marathon. It was slow, but that wasn't the point. If he could finish that race, there was no quit left in him.
He took that same focus back to work and bounced back to Director of Wealth Services. He helped improve processes that seemed impossible. He achieved performance metrics never seen before. And he fell in love with what he does — not because of the title, but because of the people. They care. They want to make positive change. They just need direction and love from someone who has been there before — someone who can warn them of the good and the bad coming as they grow.
The bankruptcy taught him what success never could: who you are when you lose everything is who you really are. And Perk? He chose to get back up. 10 toes down. Confident. Unbroken.
More recently, something else shifted. The edge softened — not the work ethic, but the war with himself. He's found the urge to just be overly nice and more forgiving of himself. To know that he means well. That trying and failing doesn't mean it's over — it means there's another opportunity to win tomorrow.
And that's the mission behind Top Performer — to be there to help you bounce back in life and exceed. Remove the hate that's holding you back. Stop worrying about the future. Focus on living your best life in the present. It's not easy — but nothing worth it ever is.
Running, pull-ups, and leg day aren't just exercise — they're medicine. Zone 2 heart rate training isn't a fad — it's a lifeline. Discipline equals freedom of mind, body, and soul. Each morning is a battle between courage and cowardice. Perk chooses courage. Every. Single. Day.
