Jim Egan spent a lot of time working with young people and observing what makes them tick before he decided to put that experience to work for high school students and their parents with the release of The High School Graduates Owner's Manual. Jim wore the uniform of a Scout Leader for 8 years as his son Jay went from Tiger Cubs through reaching the rank of Star Scout in the BSA. Over the years, Jim served as a Den Leader, Cub Master, and Boy Scout Troop Leader. With some overlap, Jim also served 10 years as the Co-President of the housing board for a fraternity in Madison, WI, and also in an advisory capacity to fraternity members during that time. The main take-away from the 18+ years working directly with young people was: the time to be aware of many of the topics in the book were before huge mistakes were made shortly after high school due to lack of supervision, combined with a lack of experience/knowledge, and peer pressure from similarly uninformed friends and influencers. Jim Egan got his first big writing break as a junior in High School for the Talisman, the official school newspaper for Appleton West. He wrote a goofball column that in his view was mostly forgettable, until over 25 years later his phone rang one night and the anonymous voice (Brian Krueger) on the other end of the line was reading articles he wrote for the paper 25+years earlier. Throughout his business career, Jim did a lot of writing, including a two year stint when he wrote a widely read column called The High Plains Drifter for foodservicerumors.com. The idea for The High School Graduates Owner's Manual came next. Jim knew a lot about the topic, mistakes that you make when you are young because you don't know any better. Combine that with recognition that there were very few decent graduation gift options for High School Graduates, and The High School Graduates Owner's Manual was born. Jim is very grateful to his family and friends that have supported this project from the start. He looks forward to updating this work every year, and hopefully providing something of value to help our next generation of young adults avoid the mistakes that many make due to a lack of knowledge and experience, and provide them with some insights to help them realize their ultimate success much earlier in life. Jim Egan lives in Neenah, WI with his wife Joan, their dog Bootie Pie and cat Chimpee. Jim and Joan have 2 grown children that they are very proud of. Jay lives in Portland, OR, and Kerry in Madison, WI.
