So, Here I am back again. it is 1992. Although I have to backtrack, just a little bit. We had a beautiful daughter in 1985. She was the world to me and my wife. My wife got pregnant in 1990 and it wasn't right from the get go. She had problems and prematurely delivered a baby boy, on April 6th ,1990 who was 21 weeks old, still born. But still a child and it affected us deeply. I made a promise to her and my family that I would be set, by the time I was forty. I still had 10 years to do that, that proved to be a long time. Although, this was time a time of complete sadness, I felt it drove me more and more to my purpose. It was as if it put me in another gear. All I wanted was to succeed and no one is going to get in my way. I started going to the gym at 5:30 in the morning, everyday and I would work 12 hour days and do the right thing. I was on a mission, and no one could stop me.
Well, my wife got pregnant again and she was immediately listed as high risk. We found that the right doctor's we're at Newton-Wellesley hospital. She was on bed rest from January of 1991, until June of 1991. In the mean time I was working and taking care of my 6 year old daughter. who by the way, had her hands full, since I didn't have a clue how to take care of a girl! But we somehow got through it, I couldn't braid her hair, just told her to put it up in a pony tail and I'll buy her a bagel before school.
Well my son was born in August of 1991, a healthy big, 9lbs 14 oz boxer, who I aptly named After me. So he was the 3rd, I being a junior. All the while work is cooking. Ihave this idiot, who is now my boss and my owner seems to have settled on him being the future. I think no problem, either way, I can't really lose. I had made myself so essential to the day to day operation that I for some reason wasn't threatened. So, now it is September of 1992, and my owner brings me in and says, "you have to drive Butch home and take his keys for the car". It just didn't work out and that's when he said, "it is just you and me kid". Well from there, in 1993 i was promoted to Vice President. He told me I could basically do whatever I wanted. Run it by him and with his approval, everything was good.
So I immediately looked into making our own flavored coffee, because as I said before the company we were outsourcing it from was a mess! So within 5 months we had a line, formulas, specs and processes to start our new line. It was a home run. I did everything and was rewarded accordingly, with a big bonus and carte blanche to other business issues. We were also supplying a large chain in Canada with our coffee. I was given sole responsibility for the account, from pricing, quality control, purchasing, production management and commodity buying. I'll never forget going up there for a visit with my owner. Here he is yelling at the founder of 875 stores, "hey I don't have to sell you", and then I would step in and calm everything down. Well, we spent a few days there trying to solidify our position as suppliers, and I will never forget. We were at lunch just before we were to fly back, and I said to the owner, "we really appreciate the business you have given us, but you know, you are growing exponentially, which I commend you for, but we don't seem to be growing with you. So he turns to his executive staff and directs them to give us 1 million more pounds of business. Now, that probably what I wasn't thinking at the time but hell, what a lucky break. Coffee is a commodity so it is ll based on the price, but we walked on that plane with $2 million or more in sales than we hd 2 hours ago. Now I have to go back and figure out how to execute it, and do it without spending any more money. To be continued.......... Please give me your feedback everyone. Thanks for reading.
Well, my wife got pregnant again and she was immediately listed as high risk. We found that the right doctor's we're at Newton-Wellesley hospital. She was on bed rest from January of 1991, until June of 1991. In the mean time I was working and taking care of my 6 year old daughter. who by the way, had her hands full, since I didn't have a clue how to take care of a girl! But we somehow got through it, I couldn't braid her hair, just told her to put it up in a pony tail and I'll buy her a bagel before school.
Well my son was born in August of 1991, a healthy big, 9lbs 14 oz boxer, who I aptly named After me. So he was the 3rd, I being a junior. All the while work is cooking. Ihave this idiot, who is now my boss and my owner seems to have settled on him being the future. I think no problem, either way, I can't really lose. I had made myself so essential to the day to day operation that I for some reason wasn't threatened. So, now it is September of 1992, and my owner brings me in and says, "you have to drive Butch home and take his keys for the car". It just didn't work out and that's when he said, "it is just you and me kid". Well from there, in 1993 i was promoted to Vice President. He told me I could basically do whatever I wanted. Run it by him and with his approval, everything was good.
So I immediately looked into making our own flavored coffee, because as I said before the company we were outsourcing it from was a mess! So within 5 months we had a line, formulas, specs and processes to start our new line. It was a home run. I did everything and was rewarded accordingly, with a big bonus and carte blanche to other business issues. We were also supplying a large chain in Canada with our coffee. I was given sole responsibility for the account, from pricing, quality control, purchasing, production management and commodity buying. I'll never forget going up there for a visit with my owner. Here he is yelling at the founder of 875 stores, "hey I don't have to sell you", and then I would step in and calm everything down. Well, we spent a few days there trying to solidify our position as suppliers, and I will never forget. We were at lunch just before we were to fly back, and I said to the owner, "we really appreciate the business you have given us, but you know, you are growing exponentially, which I commend you for, but we don't seem to be growing with you. So he turns to his executive staff and directs them to give us 1 million more pounds of business. Now, that probably what I wasn't thinking at the time but hell, what a lucky break. Coffee is a commodity so it is ll based on the price, but we walked on that plane with $2 million or more in sales than we hd 2 hours ago. Now I have to go back and figure out how to execute it, and do it without spending any more money. To be continued.......... Please give me your feedback everyone. Thanks for reading.
Comments
Post a Comment