I was born at the end of the 70s, raised in the 80s, and grew up in the 90s. I dropped out of high school and enrolled at East Carolina University for what would have been my senior year. I majored in Broadcasting Communications with a concentration in Radio and Television performance.
I also had the good fortune of being appointed Program Director at 9.13 WZMB Zombie Radio. During these years, I got to become good friends with a lot of individuals in the night scene.
Paul Edwards was one such person. He owned a great live music venue called Peasant’s Café. For two and a half years, I enjoyed some of the best touring bands around. I remember seeing Keller Williams many times, usually playing to crowds of less than thirty. I got to see him several years later in Los Angeles at the House of Blues, and he sold the place out!
I have great memories of my friends and experiences in college. More than likely, this started my career path in the hospitality industry.
After college, I moved around a lot as a computer consultant. Denver, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and all over North Carolina. I have driven cross country several times, and have had the good fortune of meeting a ton of great people.
After hoping back to North Carolina in hot pursuit of a woman I had been dating off and on through the years, I settled back into my hometown. Not by choice however.
In December of 2005, I was able to fulfill a dream…opening and owning a restaurant. I owned and operated Fifty Fifty Lounge and Grill for five years. It was an amazing run and without it, I would have never met my wife, Dena.
By the summer of 2010 I had sold my house, and moved up to Indianapolis to be with Dena. I got a job at RealMed as a System Administrator. After they were bought out by Availity, I hopped over to Sarcom for a short bit before finally landing at RCI.
How I was Made
For those with an appetite for more J Powell, I’m provided a gripping tale of my birth, as told by my Mom…BEWARE!
“My husband Russ and I decided it would be great to have a “water birth”; having Jonathan at home in the bathtub. We planned to have our midwives and my mother and sister present for the birth.
On Friday, at 4 pm I woke up with cramps – I timed them and they were definitely rhythmic but not painful – just like menstrual cramps. At 5:30pm our families journeyed to our house after work. Russ had been cooking all day to keep busy. The contractions were coming about every 5-7 minutes and lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute. I was thinking “wow – I can handle this – its not so bad”.
The midwives called soon after and told us to kick everyone out. They felt it would be a while yet and didn’t want me to get “performance anxiety”. They suggested relaxing together. Russ lit some candles and put on Stevie Wonders’ Talking Book. We were lying in bed when the midwives dropped by at about 9pm. They did an internal on me and found me only a little over one centimeter dilated, but 90% effaced. Their recommendations were a bath, glass of wine and some sleep. Years later, doctors told me that the glass of wine could be the cause of Jonathan’s goofy personality.
At 1pm I woke up in more pain. I timed my contractions and they were still 5 minutes apart, but definitely more intense. The midwives suggested Gravol to help me sleep.
The Gravol didn’t help me sleep, but it helped me relax. All of sudden at 6pm, the contractions were coming 3 minutes apart and I had to BREATHE through them. I needed Russ there rubbing my back as well.
I felt the urge to push a few times and told Russ to get the midwives back here fast! I got up to stretch and Russ showed me the filled tub – I had a few contractions while standing, and needed to put my full body weight on Russ. As I was leaning on him, the midwives were banging on the door.
They checked me out on the bed and I was fully dilated and Jonathan was ready to get out. The tub was too hot, so Russ dragged the hose in from the backyard to cool it down. I was told not to push. My mom and sister were called and told to get here NOW.
I was allowed to go into the pool at 7pm thankfully – what a relief. My mother and sister arrived soon after. I started to push at 7:25pm. I’ve never made so much noise in my life! I said between contractions “I didn’t expect to be so noisy” but it felt wonderful – Russ called me a little tiger. They were just low grunting noises way in the back of my throat. I was propped up on my knees with my arms over the tub and Russ by my side. Between the contractions I could chat and even helped check the fetal heart rate with the underwater doppler.
After an hour of pushing, out came our beautiful baby boy, Jonathan Windom Powell, at 8:47 pm. We let him float in the water. We imagine this is where his brain damage came from, as well as watered-down sense of humor.
Russ, Jonathan and I lay in bed together and basked in the glory of it all. It was a truly amazing experience to have my child at home in such a relaxed environment.” -J’s Mom