What lead you to Internet Marketing?

Hey Guys and Gals.

If you don't mind sharing.

How did you get into internet marketing?
What lead you to this path?

For me.

I am from Gary, Indiana. Yes, it's the home town of Michael Jackson lol.
Not the greatest area in the world. But there are some descent people who are just like us all. Looking to make a good life for themselves.
It saddens me to see some kids still wanting the quick and easy money which leads them to a life on the streets. Sure, they are making good money. But 1. it's not legal. 2. It's DANGEROUS!!!

Anyhow.

When my brother and I were young. My dad saw something in computers and technology in general. It's funny that my mom saw no value in them. She got on my dad's case whenever he had us around them. She called them idiot boxes lol. I guess my mom thought they were time wasters. She would rather us read books instead.

As time went on. My dad's only hope was to at least have my brother and I be descent with computers. Well, we ended up falling in love with them. So we ran with it.

I ended getting a bachelor's at Purdue University in Computer Information Systems Technology. So did my brother. He actually just got a masters in business. We are extremely close. He is my best friend. I am proud of him for sticking with the masters program while being married with a young child.

For the last 15 years. I have been working as a software engineer / architect for various companies. Some of them large. Some of them small. I really enjoy the work. I moved to Chicago a few years ago for better work opportunities.
Landed a pretty cool gig that I do full time now. I always wanted to work in the health related field. I get satisfaction in designing software systems that helps doctors make better decisions with their patients. It's cool to also work with good people.

But when I sit back and think about what lead me here to marketing.
I think it's a combination of 3 things.

1. My dad. He is a retired electrician who loves electronics. He loves to take things apart and reverse engineer them. This rubbed off on me. I love taking internet campaigns and try to reverse engineer them. To see what makes them tic.

2. My mom: She is a retired special education teacher. One of her hidden talents is actually art and drawing. Anything creative is what she loved.
This also rubbed off on me. I love to create and inspire with creativity.
It's just fun to me.

3. The Challenge: I personally feel that we all need to find something that will

1. Actually be hard for us to achieve to some degree.
2. Help us improve ourselves.
3. Allow us to help improve someone else's life.

Internet Marketing is perfect for this. Especially since the internet is global. We all have the chance to do this on a global level.

All in all. I am in the process of creating a product and training videos myself.
I think it's important to pass down the information that I have learned to others. I am hoping that one day I can get more kids off the street. And point them to internet marketing. Point them to meet more people like you guys on this forum. I don't really care too much about the money. Sure, I will take extra cash lol . But I have been blessed to have a descent middle class job that I love. I just need something else that I can apply my creative and business passions to. This is perfect for that.

I know this was long.

But what is your story?

Mark