I went from the boardroom to bankruptcy. I had to tell my kids I couldn't afford to pay for their college.

• In 2006, my dream job was eliminated right after we had purchased our dream home.
• By 2009, we had to file for bankruptcy and lost our home.
• I was depressed but I couldn't give up, I had to provide for my family.

My position was eliminated in 2006 from a nine-year career as the Chief Investment Officer of a mortgage company I helped start. It had been my dream job.

We purchased our dream home the year before — a four-bedroom corner lot in the suburbs. One daughter was graduating from college, and one had just started college. My parent loan for them was $36,000 for the first two years.

I wasn't worried yet. I had wanted to go into sales in 2003. Now was the time, so, I became a Loan Officer for the same company. I started building my business and was doing well.

Suddenly, you couldn't give money away. I went from closing nine loans a month to zero. The mortgage crash of 2007 to 2009 decimated the economy and my family's life.

Everything changed very quickly

I actively networked with local Chambers of Commerce and civic groups. Networking is a key part of starting and building business relationships.

I presented my "Goal Getting" Goal Achievement seminars to Boards of Realtors and businesses. I wrote a column about lending for a local Real Estate magazine, attended several chamber events, and led a Chamber networking group.

I made friends with a Coffee News franchise owner and loved the business model. I used my 401(k) to buy a franchise selling advertising to local businesses to start another income stream. I could also use it to advertise my Loan Officer business. As the recession continued, however, restaurants, my main distribution channel, started failing, businesses stopped investing in marketing, and sales plummeted. Now I was getting worried.

I started applying for jobs, and contacting people I knew at mortgage technology companies I had worked with previously. I was offered a position at a vendor I had worked with in my previous role. I loved the company. While negotiating salary, my hiring manager called and said their largest mortgage customer had failed. All hiring was frozen.

We had to file for bankruptcy

Now, I was feeling desperate. The "B" word kept me up at night. My parents filed for bankruptcy twice as I was growing up, and I swore I would never do it. I would never put my kids through that. I promised myself.

I found a part-time job as a Bakery Clerk at The Fresh Market near my home for $9.00/hour. While working as a bakery clerk, I continued building my mortgage business and Coffee News business. My wife, at the time, refused to get a job.

I was trying to make ends meet, but we never did. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches became my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We used credit cards to buy necessities. Bills were increasing, our limits were reached, and in 2009, we had to file for bankruptcy. I was emotionally devastated.

We lost our home, and our credit score tanked. We moved from our dream home to a 400-square-foot basement apartment on a horse ranch.

I had to call my daughter and tell her I couldn't continue to pay for her college, and we didn't have a house for her to come home to. It was the saddest time of my life as a father. She said she was OK and planned to get an apartment with her friend anyway.

I couldn't give up

I was feeling depressed, but couldn't give up. I did what I needed to provide for my family. I started studying new skills online: programming languages, new technologies, and social media. I started a blog to share my "Life on the Ranch." I posted my résumé everywhere online. I kept a positive attitude, believing I could reinvent myself and thrive again.

In 2010, I closed my businesses and concentrated on the Fresh Market. I applied for a full-time Bakery Manager position and was accepted, earning $16/hour. It wasn't much, but I survived the recession and would start building my career again.

Six months later, my networking and résumé posting caught a recruiter's eye, and First Republic Bank in San Francisco hired me.

I packed up our car and took my wife, kicking and screaming, to San Francisco, leaving that chapter behind.