J. Shay Guess spent 17 years in county government as a tax assessor and appraiser. Then a local election changed everything. He was winning by 120 votes until the affidavit ballots came in, and he lost by 1,500. The new officeholder contracted the appraisers out, so Shay was out.
A hundred and fifty job applications later, every one of them rejected for lack of private sector experience, he sat down to lunch with an old mentor who tested his empathy before she told him what the job even was. That was the beginning of his disability career.
J. Shay Guess is an EDPNA at SAM G Enterprises in Mississippi, and has been doing disability advocacy since 2012.
In this conversation:
- The Path That Found Him: 17 years in county government, the election he lost by 1,500 votes, 150 rejections, and the lunch that changed it
- The Hard Years: what the first five years of a solo practice look like with no income for stretches, an exam he failed twice, and a Christmas Eve moment in a checkout line he credits with turning it around
- Building Something Real: his wife joining the business, COVID, and marketing a practice the way you would market music
- What This Work Is: running it the right way, and why he never closes a client file
- Legacy: his son joining the business, clients who come back, and the community he helps hold together
"Running the business the right way is a practice. Every day you're doing the elementary things over and over and over."
This conversation was lightly edited for clarity and never for message.
Join more conversations like this one by RSVPing for a Chronicle event.
Disability Heroes is produced by Chronicle.