At 14, I went into fast food as a short order cook...yeah, I
know, they don't do that anymore... I had to get a physical and a doctor's
permission, which I did all on my own...And, as I moved up in the world, I told
my mom that I would cover everything myself. I paid for my own clothes, my own
books, my own transportation to school some 5-6 miles away, everything...I was
self-supportive aside from having an occasional dinner at home and living
there...the rest was all on me...I can tell you that I know the value of one
dollar...And, oh yeah, I used to pay for my own dental work myself...I remember
the surprise my mom had when I got one of my teeth pulled back then.
At 19, I went into the corporate world and began learning the
hard knocks of business...I was self-taught as a typist, getting a book out
from a library and teaching myself on the office equipment...People seeing how
fast I could type landed me a job for years as a speed typist and
proofreader...I typed 120 wpm back then which is still amazingly fast...I wrote
and typed out my first book, The Black Book of Sales Secrets, in one
weekend...I don't consider that any kind of a feat...I just think I'm normal.
I found I did pretty well in whatever I delved into and I
made some impressive record-breaking sales in real estate, collectibles and
other industries...but this was making money for others all the time, which is
fine as I consider that on-the-ground training...I helped form an insurance
technology company and I ran the fundraising, raising $3.25 million from
friends and family in a six-month period; all strictly angels. I took on the role of VP Sales & Marketing and learned lead generation and basic marketing...invaluable lessons.
I put myself through college and university. I graduated Summa Cum Laude, which is pretty rare and not really heard of much. I got straight A's in every single class be it biology, mathematics, finance, accounting, legal basics, you name it, I aced everything. It's like graduating in the top 1% of the country.
Every year we would give to the various Toys for Tots campaigns and get a bunch of toys to the children in hospitals during the holiday's...
Then one year we saw a growing number of homeless in our neighborhood and thought, "Why not help them out? They need it more than kids"...And, people were calling them "homeless" and I thought that wasn't right. So I called them "our neighbors." And thus "Breakfast With Our Neighbors" began...
I put out some social media posts asking people for a little help...Oh my goodness! Did I get help? On the day of the breakfast, we had literally 100s of people show up with tents, clothing, sleeping bags, food galore, supplies like crazy, you name it, we had it...And the press showed up and their photographer spent hours hanging around...We made front page and I was pleased at doing something significant.
My dog, Ronin, a white Akita, is my other super-pal. He's a real trooper and has been through a lot. A few years ago he tore his ACL (it's like dislocating the knee--ouch). And then a few months later he tore the other ACL because of the strain from hopping on one leg...I had no idea it was that bad and then bang, he could not walk anymore...That was such a bad time for us...The only way I could get him to the bathroom was to take him on a cart. And so I did for the next 10 months. We called it the "Ronin Trolly." I've learned so much since and we healed him naturally with all the right supplements. We dropped his weight from 140 lbs., gradually over time, and now he's perfect, fully healed and walking on his own.