Damon Gersh is the president and CEO of MAXONS Restorations, Inc., a leading disaster restoration and recovery specialist company in New York.

The world changed on September 11, 2001. Though terrorist acts can happen anywhere, as a New Yorker who watched the events of that day unfold, I remember it as a surreal nightmare. As the owner of a New York City disaster restoration company, I knew that the days ahead would change my life in ways that I could not even begin to comprehend. I liken the feeling to standing on a beach watching a tidal wave slowly approach from the distance. It became clear that I must either learn to surf the wave or be swept away by it.