When I was little I folded up the boxes for my parents’ calendar business. Once I had stacks on stacks of 18x12x2 boxes ready, I’d build forts out of them. I don’t know if my parents ever sent out the ones that got crushed by accident or if the customers thought it was shipping damage.
Instead of staying home sick from school, I went to work.
I played on CorelDraw there to pass the time. “Photoshopping” and playing with icons.
I knew some of the regulars, like the copier salesperson Bruce. I watched, listened, and learned what work was.
I didn’t see everything though. Like Dad working all night.
Both of my parents worked at our family business, so a standard 9-5 job wasn’t something I fully understood. I still don’t.
In the car, I remember Tony Robbins on cassette tape.
I always thought we were rich, but Mom tells me that we weren’t. Felt like we were rich.
When I went off to college, I always had the family business as a backup if my dreams didn’t work out. To be honest, I didn’t have any dreams nor did I want to go to college. It was an adventure though.
It wasn’t until I came home from college, moved in with my parents, and started my “backup plan” of working with my parents that I started dreaming of goals.
It wasn’t until I moved in with girlfriend (now wife) that I started pursuing those goals. You see, she had 2 children already and I had stepped into being a stepfather. This was a wake up call.
Now I’m a provider, not just drifting through the world.
I found some motivation and went to work.
I learned more in those 6 years, putting knowledge to practice and reviewing results than I could have ever learned at any college.
The family business doubled in sales, then doubled again, then doubled again every other year for 6 straight years. We expanding into a new building that was double the size of the one I started in (Their 3rd place). Then we expanded again into the current building that is 80,000 sq ft.
My dad was finally able to buy his sailboat. Something he’d wanted to do for a long time.
There were a lot of growing pains along the way, but we handled it all. From running new ethernet cables and building custom computers, to hiring new staff, buying more equipment, and investing in job management software.
I learned a lot during this time and now help other businesses that wish to reach new levels because I’ve seen what work goes into growth like this.
