His is a rags to riches story.
On Thursday night, the Queenstown-based property developer opened the his latest development, the doors to New Zealand’s first six-star hotel, The Carlin, a $30 million-plus project.
It is a far cry from the life he had as a teenager, living in a tent after fleeing his family home.
The diminutive and softly-spoken Californian native could wax lyrical for hours about The Carlin — something he has dubbed his "retirement project" — but is less inclined to speak about his life.
"I am so shy, you would not believe it.
"When I was in school I sat in the back of the classroom, so nobody would look at me, and if I had to give a speech I’d play sick and stay home."
Mr Carlin (67), a concert pianist, who also plays guitar, drums, Irish whistles and saxophone, inherited his musical talent from his late father.
He had a music publishing company, through which he would take classical music, like Mozart, and simplify it for school orchestras.
"But when the photocopy machines came in and they had no money, schools would print 20 copies of violin parts and 40 flute parts and put him out of business."
Mr Carlin, a father of three, said he lived his life "like a chapter book", however, his first one was far from ideal.
"I didn’t get compliments as a child.
"I got beat — physically beat with a whip — and put down.
"So if people say ‘your food’s good’, or ‘your music’s good’, that’s valuable to me."
After leaving home at 17, Mr Carlin spent two years living in a tent.
A government grant put him through chef school.
Upgrading to a caravan, Mr Carlin managed to squirrel away $13,000 and, at the age of 23, convinced several doctors to invest and build the 200-seat Kenwood Depot Restaurant.
While working there, Mr Carlin received a call from a friend who was working on lighting at a Van Halen concert, informing him the band just fired its chef, and needed a new one.
In a matter of hours he had pulled off four services — the band was so impressed they referred him to 80 others, including Sting and The Police, Ozzy Osbourne, Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta.
He sold his share of The Kenwood, using the capital to start Carlin Catering, which also provided a butler’s service, and spent the next seven years touring with artists and celebrities.
That led to him starting Carlin Manufacturing, a company which builds mobile kitchens.
"I was getting more compliments for my mobile kitchen than my food."
He sold the company after 10 years, and, by then in his 30s, retired to Queenstown, having decided the US was "heading in the wrong direction".
In 2003, he composed 14 orchestral pieces, performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, for an album, The Princess of Wales — a musical and pictorial memoir, which reached number 23 on the New Zealand music charts. "Pretty good for classical music".
Bored with retirement, he decided to immerse himself in property development, first at Queenstown’s Lakeside Estates, then onward in Christchurch and on the Gold Coast.
Now it was The Carlin.
"This is my baby.
"This is what I want to do with the rest of my life — be the CEO of this boutique hotel, with a good management team ... maybe I could go to a 40-hour work week from 70."
Mr Carlin said looking back on his chapters so far, his drive and determination had been born from a survival instinct.
"I’ve gone up and down two or three times, through the Global Financial Crisis and the pandemic — never bankrupt, but I’ve gone from millions of cash in the bank to tight times more than once.
"I just never give up and I strive to carry on with a nice lifestyle, and not go back to the tent."
