Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

TAKING A GAMBLE: Leap of Faith

Former Stratosphere executive leaves rat race to work as a church administrator

Although Chuck Davison found success in the casino industry, he is enjoying more fulfillment as a church administrator at Calvary Chapel Spring Valley and attending Bible college. Photo by Ralph Fountain. Chuck Davison and his wife Kristin play with their 18-month-old daughter Kylie on the playground at Calvary Chapel. Photo by Ralph Fountain. Chuck Davison, left, shares a laugh with his father-in-law, the Rev. John Michaels, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Spring Valley, in Michael's office. Photo by Ralph Fountain. Chuck Davison talks with Tom Nesmith as they wait for their Bible class to begin. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

It's a cliché, but it has been a simple anthem of athletes and eager hopefuls; the motto of the hopeless, destitute and downtrodden; and a mantra to the most successful: Quitters never win and winners never quit.

But what may be inspiring to some isn't always practical for others, just ask Chuck Davison.

He knows that, sometimes, to win, you have no choice but to quit.

That's what Davison did a year ago.

At only 29, he had reached what many considered the pinnacle of success by becoming vice president of marketing for the Stratosphere. But, according to those who know him, that job was probably just a stop on his way to the ultimate top.

"Chuck had a lot of maturity for his age and a tremendous amount of drive," says Michael Gilmartin, Stratosphere's spokesman and one of Davison's former employees. "He was on the fast track."

At 30, Davison quit his powerful, influential job and its six-figure salary, opting instead to follow his heart and what he believes is God's will.

In a few moments of an outstanding career that started when he was 20, gone were Davison's five-figure bonuses, the "five-year plan" to purchase a bigger house in Las Vegas and a second home in California, future trips to exotic places and just about every little luxury a well-paid man takes for granted.

Though God's will ultimately led him to a new job as church administrator at Calvary Chapel, where he makes about 65 percent less than before, Davison, a born-again Christian, says he has never been happier or more successful. To borrow a phrase from his former profession, one could say he has hit the jackpot of a lifetime.

Sitting behind the desk in his modest church office recently, Davison reflected on his decision to leave gaming and the turn of events that brought him to work for the church he has attended since his youth.

"It was what I'd always wanted, to be in a job with influence and money. I got to the point where I thought I was successful, but it was empty," Davison says of his rapid rise through the ranks of gaming management.

Before graduating from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1994 with a marketing degree, the lifetime Las Vegan and Western High School alumnus was recruited to join Mirage Resorts' management training program. That first casino job in 1992 earning $6.52 an hour led to one promotion after another and ultimately to his becoming the youngest vice president in Stratosphere history.

When he quit, friends and acquaintances thought Davison, now 31, was crazy to leave behind the money and authority, especially considering he had always wanted to be rich and powerful.

But Davison felt a growing unease working in the gaming industry. The atmosphere was becoming edgier, more sexual. And he says he was finding it difficult to rationalize his ultimate duty: to convince people to gamble.

"I would try -- as a lot of people do -- to justify it by (thinking) `We provide entertainment and if you can't control yourself, we have programs for that.' So we were covered on both ends," Davison says. "In the grand scheme of things, there's no sense of accomplishment in bringing people in and taking their money. At the end of the day, it wasn't worth it."

The demand on his time was becoming unbearable, too; 80-hour weeks were the norm. He never saw his baby daughter, who was sleeping when he left in the mornings and asleep when he came home at night. His wife of three years missed him.

"I was giving up everything life was about: family, friends. It was never-ending," says Davison, who remembers being saved in Sunday school when he was 6. "It sounds cliché but it's true: In the world of gaming, the higher up you get the more you sell your soul."

If the hotel received a bomb threat, Davison got a call. When a player hit big, Davison's phone rang, sometimes at 3 a.m. His job had created a chasm in his life and the only way to fill it, Davison says, was to take a leap of faith by quitting and praying for the best.

"I contemplated where God wanted me, and I realized it wasn't about today or tomorrow, it was about eternity," Davison says.

During the first three months of unemployment, though Davison had a compensation package and savings to live on, he says he worried. His wife, Kristin was still attending college and his paycheck had been their only income. Four gaming companies called him and one extended a job offer. But Davison didn't want to get back into a situation that took so much to get out of, he says. So he prayed.

"During that time I contemplated my life, worried about my legacy," Davison recalls.

Then church officials approached him with a job offer. They had been looking for two years for someone to handle the business aspects of the church, someone like Davison. They didn't offer him the job right away, because they didn't think the church could pay him enough, says the Rev. John Michaels, senior and founding pastor. But they figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"His heart has always been in ministry and he was the perfect match for what I needed. He had the management skills and most of all, he was a born-again Christian," says Michaels, who also is Davison's father-in-law.

The decision to take the job wasn't difficult, though the adjustment, at times, hasn't been easy, Davison says.

"One of the biggest things is having to balance the ministry aspect of my job with the business aspect," he says, explaining that gaming is all about the bottom line while ministry is more concerned with getting the message out to as many people as possible.

He believes his decision was the right one. He finds his work fulfilling and sometimes marvels at the time he can now spend with his family. That more than makes up for any material loss, he adds.

"I've never heard of anyone on their deathbed saying, `Man, I wish I had worked more.' ," says Davison, who last week started Bible college. He doesn't know yet what he will do with his theology degree, perhaps teach one day. "This is truly where I feel God has called me to be and I am making a positive difference at the end of the day."