Having started his career with the telephone company in Akron before the war, Max was already experienced when he returned to Austin and began working for Southwestern Bell. He always wanted to work harder and accomplish more than anyone in the company, so he rose quickly through the ranks. However, even working long hours at his job while being married and the father of two children, he found himself with energy to spare. He built a home with his own hands in Austin's Tarrytown neighborhood, and later constructed a house on Lake Travis, using rocks found on the land and discarded lumber from the phone company. He also put in the communications system for President Lyndon Baines Johnson at the Johnson Ranch, and had the whole system up and running within two weeks.
This excerpt from his book tells a little about Max’s career with Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.
His marriage ended and then, at age fifty, he met and fell in love with Cassandra Colvin, a Southwestern Bell employee twenty-five years his junior. Thus began a whole new chapter in his life.
"I hit the ground running from my first day on the job at Southwestern Bell," Max recalls. "I was so glad to be back in Austin and, as I had been in Akron, determined to be better than anybody else at completing job assignments. I was just so competitive. And honestly, I never did lose that competitive feeling. As I rose through the ranks, I just raised my goals. I made sure I excelled in every measurement."