His journey started in Temperance, Michigan, “a small town outside of Toledo, Ohio, right on the state line.” He recalls growing tomatoes, peppers, and pumpkins on his family’s 13 acres that they farmed by hand. “It was more or less like a big hobby and a lot of work, but it was good growing up. Dad was pretty good about teaching us to work hard. I learned a lot and we had a lot of fun as a family.” His family owned Zeiler’s Market for many years, which they recently sold. “It was a farmer’s market originally. Over the years it expanded, with a deli and wine and beer, so I grew up working on the retail side of the food and beverage industry.” In 2000 at the age of 24, he decided he was ready for a change.
He started by exploring the States. “I drove around the country for a month and a half trying to figure out where I wanted to go. I knew I wanted to get out of my family’s business and move out of the area I grew up in, but I wasn’t really sure where, so I drove around the country by myself. It was really a great experience. I learned a lot about myself, and the country, and where I wanted to be. I just fell in love with Arizona.” What drew him? “I love the mountains, I love the desert, and I love the climate. Where I’m from, the Toledo area, it’s older, so moving out here everything was new. I remember walking through the Civic Center downtown and my shoes were squeaking on the sidewalk. It was so clean, I couldn’t believe it. I’ll never forget that experience. It was something very simple, but it was kind of a defining moment."
After brief forays in the real estate industry and as a baggage handler at America West, he found himself back in the food and beverage industry. “I ended up going to a bartending school since I knew the spirits, but needed to learn the basics of mixing drinks. My first bartending job was at the Pointe South Mountain by the pool. It was a lot of frozen drinks with pre-mixed sweet and sour, typical for poolside, and we were busy.” “At first I was a little down that I was going backwards, back into the customer service industry, but then I realized I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it when I worked for my dad, but I had really never stepped outside of it to see what other things were like.”
For the next few years, Charlie kept himself busy, frequently working two jobs. He spent a year in California, “which is when I first started working for Marriott, at the Santa Clara Mariott. I missed Phoenix, though, so a year later I moved back and transferred with Marriott to the Camelback Inn.” He also helped open the Marriott Desert Ridge, and worked at Keg Steak House, and the Arrogant Butcher and Phoenix Sheraton downtown. He even found time to get his pilot’s license. “My girlfriend at the time, now my wife, said to me, ‘well, what is it you want to do?’. I said I always wanted to try flying and I ended up getting my private pilot’s license and then studied for my commercial pilot’s license. But when my wife and I got back from our honeymoon, we found out we were having a baby. I did get my commercial pilot’s license but never ended up pursuing it.” Any regrets? “No, because what I have now, having my family, my wife and kids, is really so much more than I could have ever had flying airplanes, or doing anything else, really."
