Looking back on my life I have always had a gift for sales and just never saw it. I was the kid that got "he talks too much" on my report cards.
I was the teenager that had girlfriends tell me I'm a smooth talker.
I feel it is important to know that I did not come from money. I was born in small town Kentucky and my family (though was middle class) had to labor by the sweat of their brow for everything they had. Now there is nothing wrong with hard work and honest labor, but from the time I was little, my parents had instilled in me the ideals that if you did not go to college you will labor your life away in factories for the rest of your life.
For a while, for me, this was true. I flunked out of college and found myself in the workforce world. I worked very hard for what I had (which was not much) but it was honest work and what I acquired was my own. But that sentence has always gnawed at me; "if you don't go to college you will work in factories the rest of your life".
That is the backbone of my will to succeed. I knew there had to be a third option out there. I knew there couldn't be just 2 options in this world. I wish I could tell you it was at that moment, I realized what I should do about it but that just would not be true.
I found a woman I loved and begun to settle down. And after living together for some time she left me without warning and it broke me. I was ready to die. I wrestled with my will to do something great and my will to die for days and finally I yelled out "live for WHAT!"
I begun to apply for sales and marketing jobs. I didn't care if I got the job or if I failed. I didn't care if I even qualified for the position. I felt if I managed to get an interview at all I had accomplished something and after losing someone you love a small win is still a win.
That is when I found car sales. I had looked into car sales before but every time I applied I was told they like me but I lacked experience and they just don't have the time or ability to train me. This car lot was different. They wanted people with no experience (much easier to train someone who does not already have bad habits). I got the job and this started my journey into the sales world. I went from having no electric, rent so past due I had an eviction notice, no car, and no food in the house to owning a brand new car, expensive jewelry, and being able to finance a trip to the Bahamas with my 4 closest friends.
Here is what I learned that got me to that point;