One Black Man's Life and Impact
Nathan Adams, Jr.
Entrepreneur, Father, Brother, Son, Friend, Citizen
I was born in the inner city of Baltimore, Maryland while my family lived at 806 W. Lexington St. in the Edgar Allen Poe Homes, aka the Projects. My parents were Nathan and Isabella Adams. I am my mother's third child but the first of second marriage; my 2 older siblings were grown and were no longer living at home.
My grandmother, Susan Keller Lee, who we affectionately called Granny lived 2 blocks from my mom on the second floor of our aunt's (Nettie) house, located at 1009 W. Lexington St. along with her son, Uncle Charles Henry Lee (Hoggie). She was a quiet lady, walked with a cane which she called her boyfriend. She visited my mother quite regularly and tried to give motherly advice on raising us, because Granny didn't agree with the abuse. Granny didn't talk much about her childhood, only that it wasn't pretty. She grew vegetables in her small back yard and later canned them for family. She also made soap and other things I don't remember and was very handy as being a daughter of a slave and never knew her parents. Granny had the best scrambled cheese and eggs and bacon that I think I've ever eaten. Granny was very religious and a faithful member of Ebenezer Baptist Church. Granny seemed content with her life.
My mother was disfigured as a child and suffered from mental health issues most of her life. At 4 years old, she was playing with matches and her dress caught fire burning her face, neck and shoulders. She was very bitter at the world and was content to stay in the projects as I later learned. Occasionally, she would take in sewing work for people but mostly she depended on welfare / social services. She was very abusive to me. I felt that I was her main target because she consistently reminded me that I was just like him--that bastard. My father had abandoned us when I was 7 years old. y mother had a nervous breakdown after he left us. She spent time institutionalized at Crownsville State Hospital. Big sister Nettie and Auntie cared for us during that dark time.
My father later in my forties shared with me that he left us because he said that unlike my mother, he wasn’t content to stay in the Projects. I did not learn the reason for the breakup until I was in my 40's. After he left, he met a woman, Dorothy, whose sister lived near us in the Projects. They had one son, Marcus, with whom I developed a relationship with in my fifties. However, I had very little connection to my father over the years. While he eventually came around to be part of the lives of my younger siblings, we never developed a bond even though I was his namesake. When my father died, my wife, whom I was separated from at the time, called to tell me of his death and that she saw it in the obituary section of the newspaper. I want to thank her for that, because our family would have never known of his death otherwise, that's how much I was in his life.
My big brother Leroy Lee, shared with me that he enlisted in the Army when he was 17 years old by lying about his age. He said he lied so that he could escape the abuse at home. He retired in Kentucky from the Army (serving in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam wars) after 20 plus years. He and wife Katherine raised his son Marty and 2 girls Ludmilla and Jeanette. He stated he would never move back to Baltimore due to the bad memories he left behind. My big sister Nettie was 13 years older than me and had also left home because of the abuse, but she remained in constant touch with the family. I often called her my hero, because of the important role that she played in my adolescent life. Even to this day in 2024, at the age of 88 she does not like to talk of her childhood because of the painful memories. She says that's all in her past.
At a very young age, my mother made me responsible for my younger siblings (Ronald, Donald & Celestia). They resented the fact that as the oldest I was made responsible for them when our mother wasn’t around. They would often tell me "You're not my father" and they would often lie and exaggerate about things that I did not do to get me in trouble with our mother. I was once stabbed by my mother because Auntie had helped me purchase a suit for Easter by doing chores for her and my mother became jealous. I received many beatings and mental abuse on behalf of my siblings, resulting in trauma that would haunt me long into my future and my relationships with my first wife and children. I am by no means using my trauma as an excuse of any wrongdoing I did to my family.
I developed a work ethic early in life. As a kid, even while still in elementary school, I ran errands, did yard work, cleaned houses and other odd jobs for my grandmother, uncles, aunts and other people in the neighborhood. My love for horses drew me to horse stables on Amity St. Those visits led me to cleaning the horse stables for the Arabbers and they would pay me 25 or 50 cents. Those funds helped my mother put food on the table. My younger siblings, Ronnie, Donald and Celeste never understood the pressures that I felt as a kid. I also assisted at the candy counter at Jumbo’s Variety store (1000 Lexington St. at Schroder St.). I kept busy mostly to make money to contribute to the household but also to escape the daily abuse at home because in my tween years, the responsibility of taking care of my siblings became even greater. I didn’t realize that the responsibility would play such a pivotal role in my adult life in owning and managing a business. I feel my younger siblings to this day have animosity towards me. My older siblings Leroy and Nettie not only encouraged me through life but was always telling me how proud they were of me. They knew the challenges that I had faced and would continue to face as a black male. Watching and listening to them helped me get through some of those challenges and I will be forever grateful to them. God bless them.
Most importantly, my mother’s sister, Nettie (fondly called Auntie), was a seamstress at Camden Yards and lived just two blocks away at 1009 W. Lexington St. She endeavored to keep me constructively busy whenever possible. Auntie didn’t have children of her own, but she treated me very well. I learned to shovel coal in the cellar of Auntie’s house and cut wood for my grandmother who had a wood stove and resided on the 2nd floor of Auntie’s house. I remember Auntie bought me a half sub because I had helped her all day. When I got home, my mother saw me with the sub, took it from me, then gave it to my siblings (Ronnie, Donald & Celeste) and made me watch them eat it. I feel that had it not been for Auntie, my sister Nettie and Rev. Anderson, who would later play a pivotal role in my life, I don’t think I would have survived! On several occasions, Auntie told my mother that if she didn’t stop beating me, she would report her to the police. Because of those beatings, Auntie got me out of the house as much as possible. When our mother suffered a nervous breakdown, my sister Nettie along with her young son, Charles, moved into my mom’s house to take care of us so that we would not become wards of the state. She remained with us until our mother was released from the hospital. Without this selfless love, I don’t know what would have happened to me and my siblings. We will never be able to repay her.
After we were evicted from the Poe homes, due to my brother Ronnie's mischief, our family moved to 226 Arlington Ave. To this day it was the worst place I ever lived. We had only one faucet that worked and one heater in the living room where we slept. From North Arlington Ave, we moved to the Fairfield Homes. The Fairfield Homes is where I met the Rankin family that was seven girls, a mother and father who became lifelong friends. Mr. Rankin told me; I was the son he never had. Wherever they lived, we always found a way to reconnect. During the time I lived in Fairfield, I was affectionately called the Bicycle Man, because I could put bikes together from the pieces that others threw away. My brother Ronnie was called the Jolly Green Giant because he was 6 ft tall before he was a teenager.
I became a Boy Scout under the leadership of Mr. Joseph Haines who was a scout master and was affiliated with Rev. Anderson and the Christian Youth Council. I met Rev. Anderson, a local pastor, entrepreneur and my guardian angel who ran the youth camp for boys and girls. I attended his Christian Youth Council camp program for a number of years. Rev. Anderson, impressed upon my mother that I would be an asset to the camp program, but also someone who could help out as a sitter with his children, so I went to live with him and his family (wife Greta, daughter Lenore and son Donald). What I didn't know then, is he saw what I was going through at home, and he wanted me to experience life without abuse.
Rev. Anderson recognized that my life at home was detrimental to me and gave me the guidance that was needed to help me grow into a man. I worked at his High's Dairy store as a counter person, he taught me to drive and get my driver's license and taught me how to drive the school bus. He helped to groom my leadership skills and to this day, many years later, some are invaluable. I was given the opportunity to pay it forward by serving as a helper, camp leader/counselor and bus driver for the camp. Some of the campers, who are now adults, fondly recall the impression that I made on them to be good people, give back and make something of their lives. It wasn’t until 2017 that my brother Donald told me that my mother told them that I left home because I didn’t want to be poor anymore. This was so far from the truth! Rev. Anderson removed me from our home when I was about 12/13 years old to get me away from the abuse after witnessing the abuse. I also know now that Rev. Anderson didn't need me as a sitter but was helping me escape the abuse at home. This family worked with me through my ups and downs to instill morals and values. I remain indebted to him and his wife Greta forever.
I remained with the Anderson family until I was drafted into the Army my senior year. I chose at the time of draft to go into the Marine Corps. My reason for choosing the Corps was their reputation for men. I decided that I would never have anyone beating me again. Between my mom's abuse and Marine Corps abuse, I feel I was mentally damaged forever. I was honorably discharged from the military because Wannetta, my wife to be who was pregnant with our son, would write me letters pleading that she did not want me to go to Viet Nam because of the chance of me getting killed. I also felt strongly against fighting a war based on Muhammed Ali and Malcolm X beliefs and the example they set (I have always been a rebel). This was something I rarely talked about. I feel the negative reinforcement of childhood and the reinforcement from the Marine Corps led me to deal with life in a fearless fashion. My ex-wife often stated that when I came home from the Marine Corps, I was crazy. This was something that I rarely talked about, but as you will hear in some of the videos, people that knew me before and after the Marine Corps that I have always been a fair but no-nonsense person.
My first job in the auto industry was at Rev. Anderson's gas station where I worked as a teenager. An early mentor was Bob Gosnell, the automotive tech teacher at Carver high school in Baltimore. I often sat in his classroom even though I attended Forest Park High School. I would cut classes just to attend his class. I now know that he took a great chance in allowing me to be in his class. Again, this was a black man who saw someone who wanted to learn. While working at Rev. Anderson's dairy store, I met a girl, Wannetta Hepburn, who was pregnant. Shortly after giving birth to her daughter Nikole, we entered into a relationship. In 1970, Wannetta being 16 and me being 18, we married because now she was pregnant with my child and her mother stated she was not going to be bringing a bunch of babies in her home. Shortly after we married, her mother forced Wannetta to give custody of Nikole to her and her husband. We both came from totally different backgrounds, but both dysfunctional. I made this life changing decision against the advice of Rev. Anderson, his wife, Greta, and my future father-in-law, Mr. Hepburn. Rev. Anderson told me that he didn’t expect me to be with that type of girl, a teen mother. Mr. Hepburn saw me going in the right direction but marrying into his family would be a bad decision. Nathan III was born shortly after we got married, October 2, 1970. Not listening to my elders, this is where my personal life struggles began. We had a rocky marriage with both parties being unfaithful, but we both did the best we could do to raise our family. I hope one day my former wife Wannetta will forgive me as I have forgiven her for all the hateful, wrong things we did to each other. This is where I learned that there is no book on how to be married or raise children.
Racing has always been a part of me, starting with bicycles and carts I built. I began drag racing on the streets of Baltimore, but I had to stop because of lack of finances, being a new husband, father and responsibilities. In 1979, we moved the family to Virginia when Wannetta went into the United States Navy. Even though my wife was in the military, I still needed to help provide. I worked on the cars of service members as well as others, but this being the South, I could not get a job as a technician or helper, only a car washer or janitor and I refused to do that. The realization of racism in this country hit home! It was during this time in March 1981 that my daughter Tiffany Erika was born. Tiffany was under a year old when her mother was sent to California for training. I became a stay-at-home parent and cared for her and my son. Nikole remained with her grandmother in MD. Once Wannetta returned from CA, she was given orders and shortly thereafter, we moved the family to Grand Prairie, TX near Dallas. This is when I learned that the whole family becomes a part of the military, when one moves, we all move except when she went out to sea. I began working part-time at Checker Auto Parts and demonstrated the skill for diagnosing cars. Customers began asking me if I did repairs on vehicles. This led me doing repairs on cars in my driveway. I would work at home in my driveway while caring for my precious baby daughter Tiffany by my side. While in Texas, I started customizing our van and would do Truck-Ins which consisted of van owners and their families from surrounding cities and counties getting together for cookouts, fun and games for the weekend. I met one of my oldest friends, Allan Rodewald, an up-and-coming artist / muralist from Houston. He did pin striping and murals on vans; I later developed a relationship with his brother Alex. We did business and bartered with each other. As I look back, those were the years of our growing pains. Boredom started me working on the van and doing so also allowed me to bond with my stepdaughter Nikki who often hung out and helped me to do customization on the van. Nikki was an integral part of the interior work and detail. No one else in the family showed an interest in the work we were doing on the van but her. Nikki had come to live with us after the passing of my mother in-law and showed an aptitude of wanting to learn automotive and has told me on many occasions in her adult years how this has helped her. Cecil, a junkyard owner in Dallas that I purchased parts from, taught me to weld. He helped me build a wrecker unit and I installed it on a 1973 Chevy pick-up body. I also built a 350 motor for the same truck which I named the “Happy Hooker”. While working as a shade tree mechanic, I started taking classes/seminars provided by Snap On, Mac Tools, Matco and other companies through auto parts suppliers. This is when I conceptualized my business. I finally realized that "if I can work that hard for someone else, I can work that hard for myself!' Nate's Towing and Auto was born.
While working as a shade tree mechanic, I conceptualized my business. I finally realized that "...if I can work that hard for someone else, I can work that hard for myself!"
Nate’s Towing and Auto was born.
When my wife was reassigned to Kings Bay, GA in 1983, I began working as a freelancer at the garage of Jake Jacobs, a retired mechanic from Ford Motor Company in Kingsland, GA. Mr. Jacobs was one of the few Black men who controlled his own destiny. At that time, he was the first and only black mechanic for the Ford dealership in St Mary's County, GA; after his retirement, he opened his own shop. I knew that one day, I would emulate Mr. Jacobs who saw in me the potential to do so. Unfortunately, Mr. Jacobs was experiencing something that I would also eventually experience - his grown children wanted no part of perpetuating the business. My stepdaughter Nikki would accompany me to Mr. Jacobs when she was out of school for the summer. This is when I taught her some automotive skills and how to drive which she learned on the Happy Hooker. This is when our relationship strengthened.
During the next move to Pascagoula, MS in 1984, I continued to freelance as I accumulated shop equipment to add to my tool arsenal; I also built a trailer to haul it all. Unfortunately, I had similar experiences to those in Georgia where most businesses would not hire a black man as a technician or helper. This period was the most difficult time in helping to support my family financially, but we were able to provide experiences for our children such as fishing, camping, car and van shows. As tough as things were during that period, our children never went without anything. They always had a good Christmas and birthdays. I hope that Nikki and Nathan will look back and remember that they were afforded things that most of their friends did not have such as cable tv's in their bedrooms, parents with a boat and an Atari that was set up in the living room that we all played together. Even then, Nate 3rd would get mad when he lost (I'm sure everyone remembers that).
It was also in Mississippi that my children were exposed to the effects and impact of racism. Living in MS, I encountered my first dealings with the Klu Klux Klan at an auto parts store. It was in MS that I met a husband-and-wife entrepreneur team, C. L. Doby who was a mechanic and his wife Shirley who owned a day care. We became life-long friends with them and their children. Nikki also keeps in touch with their daughters Cornelia and Keesler and their son Terry. My relationship with C.L. Doby and having the tow truck I built, gave me a means to save a few dollars towards starting my business in MD.
The first opportunity to create a brick-and-mortar business came in 1986 when we moved back to Baltimore. I became an independent contractor, and I rented a bay from J&J Auto Service at 4218 Reisterstown Rd. A short time later, I moved across the street to 4213 Reisterstown Rd and where I officially opened Nate's Towing and Auto Service as a sole proprietorship in 1988. This space was a partial building lease from Foreign Motors (since closed) that was owned by Ira Berger; other parts of the building were leased to Joe's Body Shop. Mr. Berger was the first man to take a leap of faith and extend me the rental credit I needed to get launched. The new space included 2 lifts and a fabricated office that I had to build when I moved in. I recall in 1989, my father came to the shop, and I repaired his car. At that time, he told me he was proud of what I was doing, but I needed to get a job with a dealership because the white man was not going to let me own a business. For a man who had nothing to do with my upbringing, all I could do was feel sorry for him. He had been taught blacks could not be successful on their own. Sad, sad, sad.
The first employee of my fledging business was Elijah "Louie" Smalls from Charleston, SC; his job title was Assistant Manager, and he was also a mechanic. Relocating from another state, Louie was the best example of a man at a very young age that came from a good family foundation with goals and going in the right direction. Louie decided after eight years; he was going to move back to South Carolina for personal reasons. Years later, we reconnected and was able to share enjoyable times at his home in SC and at our home in NC. He shared with me and my wife how he regretted leaving the business. Sadly, he passed away from heart failure. I really miss him; he was truly my friend. He was the first of many individuals over the years who I took a chance on regardless of their background or circumstances. I felt that it was my obligation to pay it forward as Auntie, Rev. Anderson and others had done for me.
In 1990, Wannetta left the military, making me the sole income provider for the family and that made me focus that much harder on providing for my family. After some time, Wannetta was able to get another job, and she also helped out in the business. She played a pivotal role in the infancy of the business. She never understood that what I was doing for the future of our family legacy. This is where I learned that generational wealth was not taught in our families. Also in the 1990s, I was fortunate enough to be able to start racing as a hobby again, now some 20 years later. I also helped my son, and his friend Jermaine Wright build their first track car that was named the Young and the Restless. I started with high performance cars when I raced my first car, named Nasty Habit, a 1967 Camaro; there have been 5 subsequent Nasty Habits with each getting just a little nastier! The first 3 were Camaros then I made the strategic decision to move to dragsters, a more consistent type of unit. In addition to the Nasty Habit race cars, I owned a 1980 Chevy Monza that I had another racer Greg Platter, an auto technician/employee, drive while I was driving the dragster. I have always given opportunities and help in so many areas including racing and now, some 30 years later many racers and friends have thanked me for the support I gave them when needed without looking for anything in return.
My home track was Capital Raceway in Crofton, MD. It was at Capital Raceway that in 1994, I held the record for the most consecutive back-to-back wins in a season. I held that record for a number of years. I also raced at various race tracks up and down the East Coast and Florida. All of the race cars I have owned made it to the Winners Circle sooner or later thanks to my Pit Crew - Nate III, Mark White, my closest friend and Effie who later joined the crew in 1998. Every year between 1993 and 2005, we finished with enough points to go to the Division 1 Finals of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). In 2002, we place the highest that we had ever done – 3rd place in the NHRA NE Division Finals! Finally, in 2003, I built my first custom dragster. It was sweet! This was the dragster, that I taught my son drive at my home track Capital Raceway to get his NHRA license to drive a race car. Sadly, in 2006, my racing days came to an end when I suffered a detached retina from years of racing being a diabetic. As a diabetic, I refused to let anything hold me back, although our society puts roadblocks in front of you.
In 1991, the business expanded as I began hiring other employees such as tow truck operators, mechanic helpers, etc. In tribute to Mr. Gosnell, I gave back by hiring work-study students from vocational/technical schools in the area such as Mergenthaler Tech (aka Mervo Tech) which still operates in Baltimore today. I worked closely with counselor Mrs. Wright from Mervo Tech who designated students to be in the work study program. I taught automotive techniques and most importantly honesty and integrity. Jermaine Wright, one of the students, really showed an aptitude for learning so I taught him how to operate a tow truck and about the towing and the automotive business. I gave him his first job. I played a role in his life that was similar to the one that Rev. Anderson played in mine. Sadly, he chose a path I could not support. My stepdaughter Nikki also worked in the shop as a receptionist. She also had the responsibility to babysit my daughter Tiffany which was also a form of birth control! Nate III had also worked in the business over the years in capacities such as tow truck operator and shop helper.These were all skills he learned while working with in the business that would later be assets in his career as a truck owner/operator.
As a new small business owner, I fondly remember beginning relationships with people who I still count as friends to this day: my current accountant, Ezra Kronglas, was my first customer at the new shop; Mr. Joseph Thomas my son’s high school history teacher and later my customer; Marvin Miller from Mainline Auto Parts who extended me my first parts account and later opened his own store; and my good friends Keith and Michelle Hippey, who sold me my first truck and loaned me a truck after one of my tow trucks was totaled by fire. After that generous act, our friendship was solidified, and all of my tow trucks were purchased through Keith and Michelle. I worked and towed cars day and night. I often slept in rest stops out on the road. There were times when Wannetta would ride with along to keep me company. I became a "slave to the business". I needed to learn how to make decisions such as mortgage versus rent, allowing the business work for me and understanding how to treat my employees right. I felt the awesome responsibility of having to create intergenerational wealth. Finally, the income from the business allowed us to purchase our first home in Catonsville in 1990, which was after the older children, Nate III and Nikki, were grown and gone.
As the business continued to flourish, in the 1992/1993 timeframe, I purchased a tow truck, wrecker and a flatbed, my first commercial towing equipment, as well as a 3-car hauler. These expanded capabilities allowed me to acquire contracts with dealerships, parts stores, body shops, auctions, and rental/leasing agencies for both repairs and/or towing services! Even though all these things were available, the shadow of being black still loomed. Again, in order to acquire business, I had to be cheaper and willing to put up with the bull. I smiled and moved forward.
The mid-nineties were a time of great personal change. I separated from my wife, Wannetta, in 1993; we subsequently divorced in 2000. The marriage dissolved because of irreconcilable differences. My mother passed away in 1994 and my father passed away just a couple of years later. In 1996, I began dating Effie Somerville, who would later become the ‘Effie’ in “Nate and Effie’s Racing”.
I had always wanted to pass on the business to my children. My son was provided the opportunity to go to college or trade school, but he chose to go into the military instead. He was honorably discharged after two years. In 1996, we entered into a potential partnership agreement and an opportunity with the business that I had been hoping and praying for. Sadly, this arrangement didn't work out and my only son walked away from the business and a legacy. A truck driver by trade, my son Nate experienced slow periods and financial challenges such as child support and major truck repairs. I would help him out whenever needed by having him work with me in the business to earn what was needed. Occasionally, my employees would assist him in repairing his truck at no cost to him, but I paid the employees. I purchased a 4-car trailer because he stated he could tow on weekends to get caught up on his child support. Never once did he use the trailer, and it sat for 3 years until I sold it. I don't think he understood what I was trying to do for him. Years later when his truck was out of commission and my wife and I loaned him the money to get his truck repaired, he felt he shouldn't have to repay the loan, because he thought we could afford it. Outside of my son's children, we have had little contact with him since, but the door is always open. I want my children to understand that the opportunities they were afforded to them were above and beyond any that were afforded to me. I love and care for my children and all I ever wanted was them to go higher than me or their mother and achieve their highest potential.
The year 1997 was pivotal for the business as I saw the need to expand access to retail traffic. I closed the existing location and transitioned to a new location at 2365 Wilkins Ave where I had an opportunity to lease with an option to buy. I was not able to come to a mutually beneficial agreement with the landlord, so I eventually found the current location at 4904 Liberty Heights Avenue in 1998. With the assistance of attorney Yolanda Swift, I secured my first business mortgage from First National Bank, a 15-year mortgage with a 5-year balloon. At the end of the balloon, I was able to secure the balance of the mortgage with First National Bank. I remained with them through all the changes for the length of my business career.
In 2000, my marriage of over 22 years finally came to a legal end; we had been separated for 7 years. Wannetta signed off on the mortgages for the house and the business, so I was now free to move forward into my best life! I regret that I allowed our daughter Tiffany to stay with her mother after the divorce. I believe that upon advice from her mother, Tiffany, made some poor life altering decisions such as turning down a scholarship to Trinity College in Washington DC, rejecting the assistance later offered by Effie and I to help her buy a home using the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit that was offered by our first black president, Barack Obama, and not accepting an opportunity to take a position to work in Seattle, WA. I hope my children will one day understand that my goal was to encourage and propel them higher than me. In the minority world, this is called tough love.
I married my girlfriend, Effie (nee' Somerville) in 2002. As a wedding present, her mother gifted us 1 acre of family land in North Carolina where we built our retirement home; we later acquired more land from other in-laws. When I was a child, I had a job cleaning the stables and developed a love of horses so now that I had the land, we bought three of them – Lightning, Justice, and Jewel. They help me kick back and relax when I am home. This was also a central location for the family to get together from Maryland, Kentucky (Leroy’s family), Pennsylvania and Effie’s friends and family. We traditionally held Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day celebrations that included boating, swimming, tubing, four wheeling, go carting, corn hole and other miscellaneous games not to mention a huge fireworks display. We also got together on Thanksgiving with family and friends from both sides of the family and did so for many years. As the kids and other family members got older and traveling became a little more challenging, along with work, school schedules and health issues, it became more difficult for the big get-togethers. I am thankful that we still can hold smaller gatherings on occasion. Those memories will last forever!
My marriage to Effie was not without challenges. When I married her, I also married into her family. I developed good relationships with her brothers (some better than others). My mother-in-law always believed in keeping the peace, and I followed her wishes. She once said "my son-in-law has a big head, but I will tell you one thing, he has some knowledge in that head". She said she felt that I had been a whiper snapper in my life. I promised her that I would do my best to take care of her daughter. Over the years, I developed a relationship with Effie's son, Javier, who still lived nearby in North Carolina. However, after we got married, the relationship that my children, Nate III and Tiffany, had with Effie took a turn. I believe that they felt that Effie was trying to replace their mother in my life. Over time, they realized this was not the case. It’s sad that their mother could influence their thinking to this extent even as adults.
In 2003, after refinancing the business mortgage for a 15-year term, Nate's Towing and Auto continued to grow and expand; I continued doing renovations and improvements to the shop. I bought 3 tow trucks and a wrecker then later added 2 more tow trucks. At this point, I had the largest number of employees - 3 techs, 4 drivers. I built on my reputation for dependability and reliability as well as my distinctive vehicles to generate more commercial customers such as company fleets. As a teenager, Tiffany helped me out in the business doing flyers and hanging around the shop. Unfortunately, Tiffany had no interest in being a part of the business, so she went on to pursue other opportunities. It was my last best hope to pass on my legacy. I now understood how Mr. Jacobs felt all those years ago. It was a sad realization that I am still trying to reconcile.
It was time to take another leap of faith, so in 2005, I bought a custom-built pickup truck for my personal use. My philosophy was that “if the business cannot support my vehicle, then I need to close the business”. I also purchased a new 2005 tow truck as personal truck for backup use only in the event that I had to go on the road to work. Life was great and business was booming! It was also during these booming years, my son approached me to again come into the business and persuaded me to purchase a four-car trailer that he could use his truck for weekend towing while he was trying to get ahead of his child support. I trusted him and did it. The trailer sat for three years, never used. I then sold it.
Then…the Great Recession hit! The shop lost a lot of business because both commercial and consumer customers were either closing or downsizing. I estimate that my year over year revenue shrunk by 30-50%! At this point, I realized that it was time to develop an exit strategy. Neither of my children were interested in taking over the business and I did not want to go out like that. In addition to the economic times and my declining health, I also came to realize that there were real and lasting changes in the automotive industry. Cars were coming with longer, more expansive warranties that were serviced at the dealerships. Dealerships themselves as well as rental car agencies were consolidating. My customer base for fleet maintenance, now a large part of my business, was shrinking by the day. Sadly, the mechanics side of Nate's Towing and Auto Service never recovered. This recession proved to me once again that minority businesses were first to feel the pain of any change in the economy or businesses.
Dealing with the issues of employees proved to be a big challenge and sometimes a major distraction for me because I made it my mission to work with those who may otherwise get left behind – recovering drug addicts, the uneducated, felons, etc. These were the societal ills that impacted the class of people that I could hire so their problems became my problems. Many a day, I was told by friends and other business owners not to give a shit. I couldn't do that. I also often had to deal with child support chasing the employees down to garnish wages. If I saw some potential or redeeming qualities in the individual, I would do my best to help them with their life challenges. Many times, though, I had to let the employee go because the investment of my time and resources was not worth it, especially if they lied about it or stole from me.
In spite of all of this, I was determined to not let down the employees, contractors and partners who stayed with me over the years. I downsized the towing business to 4 trucks to maintain a level of service to my remaining customers. I worked very hard to not have to lay off or fire anyone due to the economy like many other large and small businesses were doing. However, I did curtail my hiring and did not backfill positions when employees left. Some employees did leave of their own accord, and I wished them well. Those employees who remained got paid every single week regardless of the business revenue even if I had to come out of my own pocket to do so. It was important to my integrity as a man, as a provider, as an employer and as a responsible member of my community to keep my word.
As I dug out of the hole opened by the economy, I had to get creative. In 2010, I demolished an existing storage building and added a larger commercial storage building with 2 rollup doors to be used for auto and other storage. This project made work for a bricklayer friend, Lee Alston, owner of Triple A Masonry to help him with his business. This was one of many actions that I have felt obligated to do over the years to support other Black businesses. Another change in the auto industry required more space to accommodate the redesign of lifts and equipment required to maintain vehicles. Even though I didn’t really want to, I needed to expand the work area of 2 bays in the main shop in order to preserve what little remained of the mechanics side of the business.
I continued to work on my exit strategy while running the Nate’s Towing and Auto day to day. In 2013, I put the real estate, but not the business, on the market. After two 6-month contracts, I received some interest from people who wanted to purchase the business, not just the real estate. The business entity known as Nate's Towing and Auto was not for sale! I still held out hope that one day, I could pass the business on to the next generation. Several attempts with my sister's son Wayne failed and that hope continued to diminish. As my relationship with my adult children became more strained, I realized that there was no one else to pass the legacy on to. Over the years, I had introduced my grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends to the joy of cars, racing, and running a business, but there was still no one. It makes me sad.
The next phase of my exit strategy began in 2015/2016 when I started leasing shop space to other Black businesses. Until the real estate sold, I would make the best use of this asset by giving others the same opportunity that Mr. Berger gave me. I began leasing space to (Frank) Scotts Auto an auto mechanic business and to Brian Hampton (Eclipse Tinting Services) who leased the entire rear building for his business. Frank was given the opportunity to purchase the property but could not obtain financing.
In 2018, the final phase of my exit strategy was taking hold. I was approached by a major corporation to purchase the real estate! I worked hard, scrimped and cut back so that I could arrange to pay off the existing mortgage in September 2018; my assets were then free and clear. I would be the one negotiating, not the bank. I was solely and completely in charge of my own destiny, and it felt good.
January 2020, Nate's Towing and Auto - now employing 1 mechanic, 1 tow truck driver, 1 flex worker (driver and mechanic) and 1 office worker - has come to its end. The real estate sale is complete! I have had a successful run of over 30 years due to the scores of former employees, business associates and customers who have been vital to the success of the business and to my personal mission to “leave something behind”. When I closed my business, I sent letters to my customers. Because of their loyalty to me through the years, I did not want to close the doors without referring them to someplace else to go. I miss them and will always be grateful for their loyalty. I hope I made a difference with some who came behind me...those who started their own businesses, having a stronger desire to become more competitive in areas where blacks were sometimes excluded. I was and still am a rebel and was never afraid to knock down barriers that was put up to hold blacks back.
To realize this project, I enlisted the aid of my lovely wife and several new and long-time friends. This narrative is a recollection of my life from my childhood to present. I am by no means claiming to be perfect and without blame. Now that my children are grown, I pray that they and others can use this information to give them some clarity of how my life was. I hope my ex-wife will take responsibility in that we both were equally to blame with the things that happened in our marriage. I never understood why my ex-wife and my differences would come between us in pushing our children to excel. I need my children to know that whatever happened during the course of my marriage with their mother, it was between me and their mother. I did the best I could with the tools, resources, information and love that I had.
Also, in 2020 I adopted a son, Samson Adams, a Cane Corso with the help and thanks to my nephew Charles "Chuckie" Adams. There are so many people who have enriched my life and I can't start to name you. I thank all of you, you are my shining stars.
This multimedia website is an attempt to portray the hopes, desires, dreams and challenges of one Black man in America, struggling to realize the American Dream.