Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Strom.
Hi Christopher, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Life was not easy. growing up. I was the first child of 4 and the only boy. I was raised by a single mother most of my childhood… My mom married and remarried 4 different times. My real dad had a bad drug problem. which ultimately ended up in divorce and re-location to yet another city. A new group of friends. A new childhood. Soon after, my mother had my little sister with my 1st step farther. I remember being excited that I was going to be a big brother. I looked at my baby sister with love and promised to spoil her… she got to about 3 or 4 years old and my mom divorced again. Were located. Except for this time. to a nightmare… My mother found a class A p.o.s. by the name of James…I don’t blame her for ultimately marrying James because she was in need of financial support… it was the 90s and it wasn’t the easiest for single moms… so we started out as a happy little family. We went to church together. We ate dinner together… We pretended together. Then one night he tried to kill my mother in her sleep because he thought she was cheating on him…I walk out of school the next afternoon to my mother in her car, boxes and suitcases loaded in the back and my heart sank yet again…I knew the drill. I knew what this meant… So, I dragged my feet and slowly walked to the car never to return to the 3rd life I’d tried to build. I never dared to have close friends. So, we settled in Arlington Texas next. In a little 3 bed Duplex. Eating dollar general every night for dinner and me promising my mom I would grow up and take care of her. Still promising my little sister I would spoil her… New school… New friends. By this time, I was nearing my teenage years, and to say I had gotten a little bitter would be an understatement…I picked all the wrong friends. I made all the wrong choices… Who knows the reason why? Maybe I thought it wouldn’t last anyway so it didn’t matter. My mom found her high school sweetheart during this time and remarried… This man just so happened to be my real dad’s best friend back in high school. I didn’t trust him. I didn’t trust anyone. But ultimately. he turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to our little broken family. He took great care of us. Spoiled us. We moved into a big house in Grand Prairie Tx and my step sister (his daughter) and I hit it off as besties because we were so close in age. We went Barnett Jr. High. Then to James Bowie High School. We did what average kids did in that day and time. We got into a little trouble. never anything serious though. The whole time I never knew that I was damaged. I had pushed feelings deep down inside of myself that I never wanted to feel again. But I truly never thought they would remain there. I trusted no one. Everyone that entered my life I looked at as temporary. So, the ability to get close was foreign to me. These circumstances eventually ended up in me picking the wrong crowd of friends. One night I was with these friends, doing drugs, and drinking. We took a lot of a drug called Xanax and mixed it with alcohol. I had just turned 18 years old a couple of months ago. One of these friends had a gun. It was not loaded but still a gun. We thought it would be comical at the time to hold up a store… remember.18 years old. We didn’t take any money. Thankfully, no one got hurt and I went to prison. I could say a lot about my time in prison but I think the reason I’m writing this is not to focus on that story but to focus on the story thereafter… I spent my entire 20s growing up in the worst prison in Texas. Did I blame any of this on my childhood? Maybe. But eventually, I blamed it on myself and grew up and matured knowing I needed to take responsibility for the bad choices I had made. So, I went to school. I worked hard. I received my Associate’s degree in Electrical Technology with a 3.86 GPA and an Honors in psychology 2 years before I was released. My beautiful mother never missed a day. I called her and we talked and laughed and spoke about how amazing the future was going to be together. Eventually, I was released and was able to come home to my family. Less than a year later my mother passed away of pancreatic cancer… She was 55 years old… I thought I had walked through the hardest part of my life already but nothing I had been through had prepared me for this. I lost the biggest fan I had ever had in life. Most importantly…I lost the time I was meant to spend with her before she joined God in heaven. My foundation crumbled. My feet slipped from underneath me. And I was truly lost… My stepdad and I cried on each other’s shoulders, but not in front of my sisters. We told each other we would always remain close and be the strength of our family. And we have. So eventually I picked myself up. I dried my tears. And I carried on. I found a beautiful girl who I am now going to marry and who was also my high school sweetheart. She has been my rock since coming home and has never left my side. I started my electrical career and began working hard. My stepdad lost his job during my mom’s sickness so I was able to help pay bills and we were able to pick up some work together to stay afloat. Eventually, I began to advance and became a foreman for big commercial projects. I went to church. I prayed. And God blessed me and my family. I kept going to school and learning and focusing on my future and the future of my family. I bought my first brand new car 3 years after coming home. It is a 2020 Dodge Charger. A year after that, we are building our first brand new home… Resilience. Determination. Hard work. Integrity. Honesty. And a little prayer. These have been my building blocks and will continue to shape my future and my family’s future… I have been through the storm… I have seen the bottom and it did not claim me…I will never give up or look back. Because only looking forward will you continue to grow. Trust in God. And trust in yourself. You might be surprised with what you can achieve. 😉
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
• Mother passing away
• Grandmother passing away
• Prison in ’20s
• Covid
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am currently a Senior Electrical Estimator for a big commercial/ industrial company. I started out as an apprentice and worked up to a foreman. Then eventually to a Project Estimator. And now Senior. I am most proud of the quality of my work. I am proud of how serious I take my position. And how far I’ve been able to advance my company through my hard work.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
The electrical industry will continue to thrive because trades will always grow and transform and adapt to the market it serves. I see the electrical industry making a big push toward solar energy. Battery power. Disruptive innovation will continue in my trade.
