11 - Backstory (2)

Clara’s life changed when she met Mr. Wong in high school. He was a self-defense instructor, training people to work as security guards for high-profile clients and celebrities.

She had this innate desire to learn to defend herself, so she begged him to teach her, but without the money to pay him, she volunteered to help him with chores instead, cleaning around the dojo, the bathrooms, and throughout the building.

Mr. Wong was surprised that a girl so young as Clara wanted to volunteer in the dojo to get her lessons. 

She told him about her recurring dream of being abducted and wanted to learn how to protect herself in case it happened in real life. It was a valid argument, and he did not want to discourage her, so he accepted her proposition. 

The two bonded over time because of her dedication and diligence. Clara would always come after class when her schedule permitted. 

After each lesson, she would help clean up the room, returning the mats to their proper order and mopping the entire area clean. 

He had never seen a student so concentrated as her before. He figured she should be out with her friends, enjoying her life, watching movies, but there she was, working her butt off to get what she needed. 

In the course of the years they worked together, he never imagined wanting a daughter until she came into his life. When he learned of their little family’s plight, he did everything possible to help them. 

When business became slow, she volunteered to help him with his flyers and advertising, encouraging him to place ads on the local radio and the newspaper so people would know where he was. 

Doing this revived his business enough to survive a few more years until she went to college.

Mr. Wong had assigned himself as her guardian as long as she needed him. He had kids, but Clara became nearer and dearer to him through the years.

When she helped his business get back on track, he started paying her a small salary so she could quit the other odd jobs that did not pay her that well. 

And since she, Max, and Jeremy were always a package deal, he had volunteered to be their guardian, with no questions asked. He taught the boys self-defense so they could defeat their bullies.

Mr. Wong’s dojo became their hangout place. Parents started enrolling their kids, and once again, business was thriving. 

Jeremy and Max did odd jobs in the building, cleaning the different gym equipment, the dojo, and the bathrooms, among all things, to pay him back for all the lessons and the help he was handing out to them. Like Clara, they helped to distribute the flyers when they had nothing to do.

The siblings strived to be rich and distinguished when they grew up. They wanted to break out of the stigma of being an orphan, uneducated people who would never amount to anything. 

They studied hard to ensure they could land scholarships to help with college tuition. Clara guided Max and Jeremy to take computer classes since working with computers became popular. People in the computer and software industries were getting paid handsomely to program softwares or build computers.

Mr. Wong helped the siblings with their other bills and school supplies while they worked for him part-time, so they could concentrate on studying instead of working too many odd jobs that always left them too tired to do their schoolwork.

Because the computers were taking over the nation, Mr. Wong’s business began to fail. 

Another facility with more updated and high-tech gym equipment had opened a shop in the next city over. They claimed they were training better security personnel because of this, so they were losing their trainees.

Money was getting tighter, and instead of competing head-on with their rival, Clara had suggested they venture out further and specialize in the technology side of the industry. Something that needed little capital because they needed to supply the equipment only upon demand. 

It was a slow start, installing security cameras, monitoring systems, and intruder alert technology, but as their clientele grew, so did their profit. Eventually, when the business kicked off, they could buy all the updated gym equipment they needed to compete with their rivals. 

Clara would often tinker with the new camera equipment and take them apart in his office. Practicing what she learned in school and applying it to whatever hardware or software she could get her hands on. So, even before she graduated, she knew how to enhance and manipulate the different monitoring systems offered in the market. So when they reached their intended clients, they performed better than what they were designed for.

Mr. Wong hired Clara as soon as the money started coming in. 

She was in charge of the software and technology side of the operations since he was not that tech-savvy. He even gave her the fancy title of Chief Technology Officer. 

She then hired Max and Jeremy to help develop the security systems. It gave them firsthand experience of the numerous applications of things they were learning in school.

After her college graduation, Mr. Wong mentioned he wanted to shut down the business and advised her to think about her future. He suggested joining a more advanced technology company to showcase her skills or open up her own security shop. 

He argued he was getting old and didn’t think he could handle the business end of the company on his own anymore. So Clara secured a loan with a local bank and proposed buying 70 percent of his shares to keep the company afloat. 

She hired a personal assistant, an accountant, and a marketing director to boost sales and keep Mr. Wong off his toes. She kept 30% of the shares and divided the rest between Max and Jeremy. 

Mr. Wong declined to be part of the company, but Clara could never imagine training the security personnel without him. 

He had more wisdom to give out to the people he was training. So she promised that as soon as they both found his replacement, she would allow him to retire. 

But in the meantime, he could be part of managing and screening the security personnel they sent out because Clara knew nothing about training people and weighing in on their capabilities.  

She hired several trainers and instructors that taught the different disciplines of self-defense: Karate, Krav Maga, Jeet Kune Do, and Jujitsu, among a few others.

Clara’s only request was to allow her free rein on the software and technology side. And as a bonus, she would allow the personnel he was training to learn their software to make them more hirable.

When their security company got more jobs than they could fill and enough money to sustain the business, they hired more people and expanded their office, moving them to a newer location. 

They constructed new buildings for the newly named Security and Software Technology (SST) offices.

One building was for the Security Workforce department. They had the largest dojo Clara had ever seen. It had a gym area with the latest equipment where they conducted training and drills. 

In the same building, they had a placement agency the trainees could avail as soon as their training ended. Training rooms were available for holding seminars, and sessions on using the most recent SST software were provided. Mr. Wong’s office was in this building so he could oversee the trainees.

The second building was designated to the Science and Technology department. She had the contractors build a state-of-the-art research lab to enhance and develop proprietary technologies and software. This building housed the Accounting, Finance, and Marketing Departments, together with Clara, Max, and Jeremy’s offices.

A glass-covered bridge that overlooked the lake in the distance interconnected both buildings, giving everyone a marvelous view of the sunrise and the sunset on both sides. It served as easy access to any department they desired to visit.