We all have distinct chapters in our lives — school, careers, relationships, different cities, different goals and dreams — with a table of contents outlining who we are.

Some chapters span years while others cover small increments of time more significant to who we are than any number of days a calendar could hold. When you’re living it, you don’t always know what decisions or stories will jump off the page. Sometimes the things that feel so significant dissolve under the weight of time. Sometimes the things we take for granted, the mundane, seemingly insignificant pieces of our day-to-day lives are what tell the real story. Any moment could be the moment that changes your entire future.

Bob Oates knows a thing or two about turning the page. The owner of Bob Oates Sewer Rooter in Seattle, featured in this issue of Cleaner, has owned four drain cleaning businesses, each a unique chapter in his professional story.

Oates began working part time for his father’s sewer cleaning business in Queens, New York, at age 12. His sewer and drain cleaning career began in earnest when he dropped out of high school at age 16 to work full time with his father. In 1982, at age 22, he started his own company.

By 1989, Oates was running three trucks. But he was also growing weary of New York, so he did some research and decided to move to Seattle. The decision was partially spurred by the region’s rainy climate, which he felt would ensure steady drain cleaning work.

Oates first worked at another company for about six months to get the lay of the land before launching Super Rooter on his own. But about seven years later a divorce forced him to sell the business. That prompted him to start yet another company called Alligator Sewer Service, with a large, readily recognizable alligator as the company mascot.

That was the beginning of another chapter, and a real turning point in the story. A local plumber who wanted to establish a foothold in the local drain cleaning market started courting Oates to sell the Alligator name. Eventually, he convinced Oates to sell him the business and stay on board under a four-year contract to develop a drain cleaning division. As you’ll read in the profile, it proved to be one of the most important chapters in Oates’ professional life.

We all have our own stories, and each is made of many chapters. Some are happy and filled with success, others highlight life’s struggles. But no great story is made of a single chapter, and no single chapter should define your life or business. One leads to the next and you craft the story you want to tell — the life and the business you want.

We’re about to cross another year off the calendar and begin anew. I hope it’s a chapter that stands out for all of you.

Enjoy this month’s issue.