What many call careers, Joe Zeigler calls interests. Beginning as a firefighter in Williamsburg, Virginia, Zeigler left to earn a degree in fire protection from Oklahoma State University, picking up a BA in business along the way

Taking a job as a fire protection engineer with Kemper Insurance somehow led to a ten-year stint as a professional motorcycle racer

In 1981, Zeigler founded the Penguin Road Racing School and wrote How to Fly, a how-to manual for motorcycle racers. Intrigued by the developing world of personal computers, he retired from racing to become a consultant for Digital Equipment Corporation

Zeigler launched six computer stores and the nation's first computer discount warehouse—only to lose them at the hands of an arsonist. He rebounded to write FirePrograms, a software package for fire departments and the world's first low-priced UPS shipping manifest software. He sold both businesses to focus on his writing.