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Following Your Passion
Edward Toledano ’83: Finding Your
"Hole-in-One," by Rebecca Ellen Clay ’77
Sometimes it takes a few too many bogies and double bogies ever to have an eagle or a hole-in-one. Where can
I make my next hole in one? was a question that Edward Toledano, Class of 1983, began to consider seriously
after 9-11. We have all learned that if we put money first, it takes over our lives and steals our dreams. Edward
was not going to let that happen. He decided to follow his dream.
Richness is measured
by the friends we have.
And by doing whatever
you have a passion for.
After graduating from the University of
Georgia, marrying his college sweetheart,
and working in a variety of industries, from
the lumber business to financial services,
public relations, marketing, and the tech
world, Edward set a new path for himself to
follow his dream.
On September 11, 2001, Edward was
attending a training session for a new
employer in Washington, DC. “My friend
next to me pointed to the screen on his
laptop showing the video of the first plane
hitting the twin towers. Right after that,
someone came into our conference room to
tell us to take a break. Then we learned of
the Pentagon plane. We were three miles
from the Pentagon, on the sixth floor at
the top of our building, and we could see
the smoke rising in the distance,” Edward
remembered.
Deeply affected, he called his family to let
them know he was safe. “Two of us rented a
car for the next day to drive back to Atlanta.
We drove 100 mph to get home. It was a
long drive, and I wanted to be with my wife
and my daughter.”
The experience had a lasting impact, and
set Edward thinking about following his
passion. “A year later I left the company. It
had been the fourth technology company
I had worked with though the dot-com
era. I was burnt, just did not know it. It
had really started the year prior on that day
in Washington.” My wife, Jena, and I had
both been working 70 - 80 hours a week.
It kept us away from family time and away
from each other. We had to get the balance
back. So, with Jena’s encouragement, he said
goodbye to the dot-com world, and hello to
golf—and being Mr. Mom.
Conducting a financial assessment was his
first order of business. He planned for a
ten-year period with no income from him.
Switching roles with his wife, he became
Mr. Mom, a stay-at-home dad for his
daughter, Ansley, and his wife became the
family breadwinner. While “it took some
ego adjustment time, my time with Ansley
and our quality of life has been fantastic.”
Now he spends his days devoted to
family—and to his “passion for the game
of golf.”
Now in the seventh year of his ten-year
plan, Edward has made the most of this
opportunity. He is President of the Board
of Atlanta Jr. Golf, which serves 1,200
junior golfers; Foundation President of the
Wayne Reynolds Scholarship Foundation,
which provides scholarships to Jr. Golfers
of Georgia; President of the Dogwood
Foundation, which hosts The Dogwood
Invitational; Board member for the Druid
Hills Golf Club; member of the Royal
Dornoch Golf Club in Scotland (where he
makes a yearly pilgrimage); and an active
member of the Donald Ross Society, which
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