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Walter Hay, Imp/Export Extraordinaire (Vandalay Industries)

MJ DeMarco

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Note from MJ:
Our next FEATURED USER is another forum regular who has provided tremendous value to the forum in the the realm of import/export. He is our very own Art Vandelay.


FEATURED USER!

Please give some love to @Walter Hay !! He also has a book available for purchase as well, so please check that out!

Oh No! Not Another Rags To Riches Story!

Off To A Bad Start

My early childhood was a story of serious and prolonged illness, and after my parents separated, malnutrition. The result was stunted growth which attracted every “brave” bully wherever I went. At the age of 15 I weighed 66 lbs (30kg)

Budding Entrepreneur At Age 8

In the early post WW2 years there was a rabbit plague in Australia. Gutted rabbits with skin on sold for less than 3 cents each provided they were big ones with good quality fur.

I had never heard of vertical integration, but I had a business idea that I later learned involves just that. I carefully skinned and cleaned some that I had shot. My father taught me that anything but a head shot was a waste of ammunition, and I was in trouble if I did a body shot, so I never wasted a bullet.

I wrapped the cleaned rabbits in newspaper and went door to door selling them for 10 cents each, a good example of value adding. I deliberately chose my target demographic in order to improve the chance of making sales. Older women took pity on me because I looked so pathetic, and I sold out whenever I went out selling.

Moved To The Big Smoke

When my parents separated, my mother moved with me and several of my siblings, to live in a run-down suburb in the city where at first we slept 5 to a double bed, 3 one end with me in the middle and 2 the other end.

I was frequently beaten up by the district’s bullies. My mother worked night and day to pay the rent and feed us. I recall being sent to the grocery store the day before payday with enough money to buy 2 eggs for the evening meal for three of us.

We operated a con that saw me, my mother, and one sister get a good 3 course meal once a week for the cost of a meat pie. No details because it would still work at any medium quality restaurant that is busy, but I don’t want to lead my readers into a life of crime.

Moved Down Market

The walk home after finishing work around midnight was too far for my mother so we moved closer to the CBD. My welcome to the new area involved the local bully’s enormous mother pinning me to the wall while her enormous son beat me to a pulp.

Having worked out my own version of a martial arts hold that didn’t require strength or weight, neither of which was in my armory, I caught him by surprise a couple of days later when he wasn’t holding his mummy’s hand, dropped him flat on his back, and gave him a huge black eye.

Second Business Started At Age 12

I saw an opportunity that filled a real need. Bath water was heated using kindling fired venturi style heaters. Wood was hard to come by after most of the district’s wooden fences mysteriously disappeared at night.

I negotiated exclusive access to the broken wooden boxes in the local beer bottle recycling depot and after splintering the wood sold it to - you guessed it, little old ladies. I gradually increased my price as demand outstripped supply.

Big Change In My Life

I know religion is taboo on the forum, but I mention it in passing because when I discovered a religion that:
  • Wasn’t after my money

  • Had no hierarchy

  • No paid ministry – all work done by volunteers

  • All congregations were independent

  • Were identified by Bertrand Russell in “Power - A New Social Analysis” P81 as: “The best representatives of the primitive tradition (first century Christianity) are the Christxxxxxxs.” No name – I’m not proselytizing, but if anyone’s curious, just PM me.
My attitude to life changed. Mentally I left the jungle. I no longer lived by my wits.

About the same time I dropped out of high school to provide relief for my mother, worn out after years of working 70 hours a week. I began in the shipping industry as a messenger boy on a subsistence wage, working my way up to the point where I was earning enough to live on with a little left over.

My Big Breakthrough

This came when, after studying at night I got a boring, but better paid job as the Accountant for a car dealership, where different marques were sold in the one showroom.

After my boss decided that I needed an assistant, I trained a girl who did so well that I had a lot of free time. I used that time to study everything I could lay my hands on about the cars.

The professional salesmen were too lazy to bother, so, when they discovered I knew every detail about all the models, they would introduce me to prospects as “the expert”, and leave it to me to explain it all. They got all the commission and I didn’t even get a thank-you.

I persuaded my boss to allow me to attend to prospects if there were no salesmen available, and before long, I was outselling the pros.

My attitude was that I was not selling the car, the customer was buying it. I was there to help them understand what they were getting, how everything worked, and all the differences between makes and models. If they didn’t ask questions I kept quiet. I was not popular with the pros, particularly when they saw I was outselling them without using their con man techniques.

Career Change

Now with a sales record behind me, after applying for over 100 selling jobs,

I found one with a small manufacturer selling highly technical industrial chemicals, employing a staff of 4 including me. As the sole salesman I doubled turnover every year for over 3 years.

Producing >800% increase in sales led to the business adding 19 more workers, none in sales. A new director was brought in with capital to fund expansion. His sales experience was selling soap and cosmetics and he wanted to teach me how to sell. I resented being told that my sales approach was all wrong, so we parted company.

After a year of commission selling while trying but failing to find a decent job due to the fact that I had no letters after my name, I made the big decision. I started my own business not realizing that I was leaving the slowlane.

Selling those technically demanding industrial chemicals taught me a big lesson. The boss had tunnel vision and wouldn’t consider introducing products outside that very limited specialty. I often suggested ways to solve manufacturing problems that I met up with in factories, but he was stubborn.

I decided to become a manufacturers’ troubleshooter. Now with my background in selling products that at least partially solved some of those production problems, I set out to offer free problem solving in industries that I knew well.

Coincidentally, my solution to the problems almost invariably required them to buy my product. There were many occasions when I had to formulate a new product or more often, modify an existing one.

Start Up Capital.

Having been very poorly paid I had accumulated only $47, so if I didn’t make a sale within a week, or two at the most, my children might go hungry.

I made that sale, and I so impressed the factory manager that he made sure I was paid within 7 days. It was a big sale, and that company became one of my best customers.

How I Made That Sale

Having persuaded the factory manager that I could fix the huge problem they had tolerated for years, I arrived at opening time, ready for work. I deliberately wore a suit and tie with a white shirt! When I removed my coat and tie, rolled up my sleeves, and joined in the hard grind in hot, dirty conditions, it wasn’t just the great performance of the product that I was demonstrating.

I worked there all day, although my demonstration quickly proved that I had the solution. I had coffee breaks and lunch with the men. I became one of them, and that recognition was as important as the fact that I had made their working lives easier on a daily basis from then on.

After that I rarely had to go through that process. My wife would have killed me if I had ruined a good shirt every time I made a sale, but I desperately needed that first sale.

Hello Fastlane

With surprising speed I found myself without debt, two European cars in the garage, and work that I enjoyed, including plenty of travel.

Industrial Experience

Over the 20 years of operating that business, I visited thousands of factories spanning an enormous range of industries. I taught myself a working knowledge of chemistry – at least enough to know how to avoid blowing myself up.

I acquired knowledge of industrial processes that I could use in problem solving in other industries and built a reputation that led to requests for help coming in from other countries. This led to me exporting my products to Fiji, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, the Philippines, USA, Norway, Taiwan, and other countries.

On one occasion, a US customer forgot to order in time. They phoned in desperation and I air freighted at their cost two 44 gallon drums so their factory could continue running, while the rest went by sea.

Asian Experience

I traveled extensively and as my sons reached about 14 years of age I periodically took one with me. They opened many doors because Asian society values family life. My sons learned a lot more than they missed during their absences from school.

I appointed an agent in Taiwan, who sold huge quantities. Currency restrictions made it difficult for Taiwanese importers at that time. I visited them after each order and collected in cash and travelers’ checks the balance owing. I returned home carrying the maximum allowable legal tender.

In Taiwan I visited countless factories with my very enthusiastic agent. By then there were frequent complaints about mainland Chinese businesses price cutting and taking away business from Taiwan, and many were already making a move to mainland China. That was when I decided to follow them, and since then I have lost count of the number of times I have visited China.

Exporter Becomes Importer

I sold my chemical business for 4 times net profit. Prior to that, in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China, my network was building. I had met countless “cousins” of people I had dealt with, all of whom wanted me to import their products. When I made my choice I didn’t imagine it would grow as fast as it did. This was before the advent of the internet; everything was done by fax or telephone.

Marketing via direct mail, print Yellow Pages, and direct sales visits to prospects resulted in massive rapid growth, despite selling on quality and service at prices substantially higher than my competitors.

With all willing and available family members employed in the rapidly expanding business I chose expansion via selling franchises, and ultimately sold franchises in four countries.

After Retirement

Bypass surgery complicated by my other health problems dictated retirement, but as you might guess, I am a workaholic and retirement drove me crazy.

The result is two books so far: Proven China Sourcing, the latest revision of which is to be released within a few weeks. The second has the cumbersome title: “Create And Source Power Labels For Private Labeling Profits.”

What a mouthful, but I had to distinguish it from the ubiquitous PLR business model. It deals with how to create labels and packaging with selling power and use them to create a great brand. Covering 26 ways to brand and label your product, it leans heavily towards the use of marketing psychology. You can find it here: Power Labels – for Private Labeling Profits

FASTLANE FORUM

There is nothing to compare. I enjoy my time on the forum, and it’s great to see so many genuine people of great ability willing to help others.

All power to MJ for this great creation of his. May it long remain free from spammers and takers.



ALL REP $ FROM THIS POST WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO WALTER.
 
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MoneyDoc

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The amount of FREE content @Walter Hay provides on this forum is unbelievable. Certain import/export "gurus" would charge thousands for the free information he's provided. Very happy that he's a member of this forum. His book was of tremendous value to my businesses.

And I almost forgot... what a story.
 
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MitchM

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I have Walter's Book Import Direct from China and I have been frequently using it as a reference. It was really interesting and inspiring to read his story!
 
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AgainstAllOdds

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I love these Featured User threads.

Marketing via direct mail, print Yellow Pages, and direct sales visits to prospects resulted in massive rapid growth, despite selling on quality and service at prices substantially higher than my competitors.

@Walter Hay would you mind sharing more about your most effective sales tactics?
 
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MJ DeMarco

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His book was of tremendous value to my businesses.

Always nice to see other forum users supporting other forum user's work.

Thank you -- I hope others forum peeps who are interested in the import/export arena also pick up his book, as a thank you for what he's contributed here.
 

samuraijack

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@Walter Hay Just bought the power label book. I have a relatively young brand, and looking to add my 2nd product to my line. Branding is so huge in my industry (skin care) so I'm always looking for an edge. My product has been selling extremely well, way beyond my expectations. But one thing in the back of my mind is always branding, branding, branding. Will report back with my review when done reading :).
 
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I would like to second the value of 'Proven China Sourcing' by @Walter Hay

It was one of my first purchases after joining the Forum and I can testify that it can take you from complete beginner to having a comprehensive working knowledge of the terms and processes needed to successfully and profitably import your first products from China. The email scripts and frameworks given in the book are worth the price alone. As mentioned in the book, if you can secure quality products direct from the manufacturer at the right price you are well on your way to a profitable business.

Would highly recommend to anyone looking to venture into Amazon selling or ecommerce. Can't wait for the next edition to be released!
 
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Wow, inspirational story. Who would you have play you in the film Walter :)

I loved reading that and have seen many of your responses on here, offering assistance beyond the forum too without being asked. I'm almost through your AMA and will be purchasing your book when/if I start importing products to the UK.

Thankyou for sharing your story
 

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This - Is - Remarkable!

I enjoyed reading this story in all its length.

Also, this story, as well as the many stories within the forum keeps teaching the important factors of hitting the piñatas until they explode and the importance of ensuring the core of our business is Value-Packed.

Thanks much for this.
 
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samuraijack

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UPDATE: Read the Power Label book. Did not find it very useful at all. All the info could have been done in a google search in less than 30 minutes. Maybe I was expecting something different, but a big chunk of the book was like an encyclopedia of different type of labels which like i said previously you could just google. Other similar things like colors and the pyschology behind them (very brief), again you could just google this and get better info. Would not recommend.
 
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Walter Hay

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I love these Featured User threads.



@Walter Hay would you mind sharing more about your most effective sales tactics?
In selling B2B the most effective by far was what I call "Warm Calling".

It involves acting like a messenger boy, delivering sample, brochure, price list, and business card to the receptionist at any business that might use the product. I would walk in and ask the receptionist to kindly pass my package on to the person responsible for ordering such products. After thanking her (occasionally him), without engaging in any conversation unless she began one, I would turn and walk out.

It was quite common to receive a call on my cell phone within minutes. When I returned at the invitation of the caller, that was no longer a cold call when I sat down with the decision maker. I only call it a warm call, but it rarely failed to gain a new customer.

I used this technique to demonstrate to new franchisees the saleability of the product. It was an eye-opener for them. It was tedious, but a day as a messenger boy could produce several new customers.

Success to some extent depended on having an eye catching sample that was inexpensive, but the principle could be made to work without samples, even for a service business, if the advertising package was well thought out. As always, the headline does most of the initial selling.

The real value for the effort expended was that the business had a high level of repeat orders, so time, effort and cost were more profitable than just the initial order.

Walter
 
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Walter Hay

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UPDATE: Read the Power Label book. Did not find it very useful at all. All the info could have been done in a google search in less than 30 minutes. Maybe I was expecting something different, but a big chunk of the book was like an encyclopedia of different type of labels which like i said previously you could just google. Other similar things like colors and the pyschology behind them (very brief), again you could just google this and get better info. Would not recommend.
Thanks for your candid comments.

Many people would not be aware of the 26 different labeling options that I deal with, so they wouldn't do Google searches for them. Even if they did know about the one that I describe as hard to beat for impressive labeling, they would be most likely to search in the wrong place for suppliers. I know, because I sold hundreds of thousands of that type of product.

The testimonials that appear on the website are from Fastlane members. I will arrange for a refund to be sent to you.

Walter
 
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Walter Hay

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Thanks for your candid comments.

Many people would not be aware of the 26 different labeling options that I deal with, so they wouldn't do Google searches for them. Even if they did know about the one that I describe as hard to beat for impressive labeling, they would be most likely to search in the wrong place for suppliers. I know, because I sold hundreds of thousands of that type of product.

The testimonials that appear on the website are from Fastlane members. I will arrange for a refund to be sent to you.

Walter
I would like to explain that the 26 labeling and branding options don't apply to every product type. For example clothing labels, of which there are a number of variations possible, can't usually be used on other products, but in some cases they can!

Who would have thought that it is possible to attach an adhesive label to silicone products? Silicone is widely used industrially as a non-stick surface, but a recent development has made it possible to make a label that will stick to that non-stick surface. This may well be far more cost effective than embossing or debossing a brand or logo in the silicone product by way of an expensive mold.

What I have set out to do in my labeling book is to open up the possibilities by looking at some options at least that most will never have thought of, but more importantly, to show that slapping a label on a product does not make a brand.

Walter
 

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I have no experience or knowledge in product sourcing, but you have an amazing story.
 

Walter Hay

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I just now finished watching the Art Vandelay video. Great!

If any Fastlane member needs to do some name dropping, feel free to tell people you know Walter Hay.

Walter
 
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Amazing. Can't tell you enough how much your thread is helped me in my very beginning journey of importing.

I just added your books to my Amazon Cart and will order them in the next week with some office supplies.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Bump.
 

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There are very few people who I yield to. @Walter Hay is one of the few.

I have never seen anything he has posted about business that I have deemed questionable, because everything he writes about he knows from first hand experience.
 
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Note from MJ:
Our next FEATURED USER is another forum regular who has provided tremendous value to the forum in the the realm of import/export.
Wow, what a fascinating story! Thank you both for sharing.

I've been amazed and grateful for all the help I've seen come from Walter via the forum as well as his customer service after I purchased a book. I have to admit I've grinned a few times at his ability to answer some bizarre forum questions with great simplicity, directness, and absolutely zero drama. And his customer service has been absolutely stellar. I already had great respect for him because of those two things - hearing his story only adds to that respect. Thank you, Walter, for all you do!
 

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@Walter Hay
Walter is absolutely a rare person. I would like to thank you personally as you are the best source for hope and knowledge for my business. Your story touched me and inspired me to keep going even if things look like a mess now.
I bought his two books and read it over and over; it is a must have.
 
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Walter Hay

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I appreciate the kind comments and the reps received here. I have also found in recent times that it is unusual for help I give privately to remain unacknowledged, whereas that was often the case previously.

I think the forum is maturing and more are coming to understand the mutuality of our membership.

Walter
 

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I've read both Walter's books and they are a constant reference. The new Labeling book had terms and methods that were very helpful that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

His thread and expertise has been of great help
 

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Walter just picked up your book (physical copy) on Amazon and then looked at your website and realized there is a ebook edition that you update (reminder check my parachute before I jump!) Is the physical book very far off of reality currently?
 

Walter Hay

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Walter just picked up your book (physical copy) on Amazon and then looked at your website and realized there is a ebook edition that you update (reminder check my parachute before I jump!) Is the physical book very far off of reality currently?
My 2017 eBook revision is currently being formatted by Jim Cockrum's PAC support team and should be released soon. I will post on my AMA when it is available for free download by all who have purchased a previous edition. If you don't get an automatic notification of the availability by then, please let me know.

Walter
 

Walter Hay

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It seems to me that difficulties in the early years help forge motivations.

Great story @Walter Hay !

Early difficulties can bring on rapid maturity or total rejection of responsibility. I omitted a lot of the difficulties from my early years because I didn’t want to appear to be plucking at my readers’ heart strings. Your comments have alerted me to the fact that to tell more of the story could prove motivational for some, so here is the….

Second Installment: I will start at the age of 5, when, after my older sisters had all married young, I was left to be mother and father to my baby sister. This was due to the long hours my mother worked.

Most children started school at the age of 5 but my entry was delayed for a year. My little sister was only 18 months old and because of the messed up family life she had not been toilet trained well enough to be reliable when sleeping.

My mother persuaded the kindergarten manager to break the rules and allow me to take my infant sister to Kinder with me, and promised that she would be “invisible”. I was completely responsible for her, starting with taking her on the tram the couple of miles to the kindergarten, and getting safely across one of the busiest city roads, with no pedestrian crossing or traffic lights.

I carried a diaper bag and after lunch, when all the children rolled out a coir mat on which to have a sleep, I rolled out two. I then put a diaper on her, not a disposable which didn’t exist then, but one of the big cloth ones secured with giant safety pins.

After patting her off to sleep I lay down for a sleep too.

When Kindergarten closed for the day, I took her home and kept her amused until it was time to start cooking the food prepared by my mother before she left much earlier in the morning. Mother arrived home not long after that time and after a couple of hours at home left for her night-time job washing dishes.

That job explained why she so frequently said, when there was obviously not enough food for the three of us, that she was not hungry. I discovered later that she had warded off hunger by eating the scraps at the restaurant.

I cared for my sister until she was old enough to look after herself. After all these years we still have a close bond.

Educated in Hospital. My chronic illness saw me spend endless times in hospital without visitors except on Sundays when my mother and sister would visit. Being an avid reader I requested books to read, and the nurses soon discovered that the children’s books didn’t interest me.

One kind nurse brought me the first volume of the Encyclopaedia Britannica from the teaching hospital’s library because it had lots of nice pictures. Forget the pictures – I wanted the facts and I devoured the whole volume and was soon reading volume 2.

During several prolonged stays in the hospital I read the entire encyclopaedia from beginning to end.

Thus I got an education that more than made up for the months that I missed going to school. That has kept me in good stead all of my life. It’s why the gang (see below) called me “The Professor.”

Gang Leader at Age 12. I suppose I left this part out partly due to shame, but I include it now to show that no matter where you have been in life you can break free and make something of yourself.

The defeat of the local bully as described in the first part of the thread led to me becoming the smallest ever street gang leader. It was not a violent gang. Petty crime was the specialty, with the big enterprise being the lightening of the loads on trucks labouring their way up an extremely steep hill.

They were a disorganised rabble, and the raids on the trucks were likely to result in police suddenly appearing, so I fixed that problem. I arranged for lookouts at the top and bottom of the hill. This was only possible because I got them all to agree to equal shares of the spoil.

We would lie in ambush behind parked cars, and pounce as the truck began the steep ascent in low gear. As I was so light weight, two would throw me up on to the truck and I then quickly opened boxes and threw the contents down to the gang.

I jumped down as we approached the top, and we melted into the surroundings – laneways, burnt out buildings etc. Once the coast was clear we would gather in a prearranged spot to divide the spoils as equally as possible. I had also persuaded them that for us the most valuable commodity was food, so our targets mostly became trucks carrying fruit and vegetables to the local markets.

Resentment From The Oldest Boy. Although he was always more or less an outsider, one boy who was really a young adult, moved with envy decided to take over, but he was not brave enough to fight someone half his size. I was about 15 at the time.

One night I crossed the street to the street lamp where we met every night and strangely, nobody else turned up. I waited for a while, but soon decided to go home and do some homework for once. As I took a step off the very narrow sidewalk a shot rang out and I heard the bullet whizz past my ear before digging a hole in the concrete wall behind my head.

I knew he had the only firearm in the area; a single shot .22 rifle. I had a lot of hunting experience with single shot rifles and knew how long it took to reload and aim accurately so I made the decision to walk back across the street rather than run.

I looked cool, calm and collected, but inside I was scared. The walk was just for show, but it had the desired effect. The spectators peering through their windows couldn’t see my knees knocking together. He had warned them off and demanded their silence on pain of death.

The outcome was that I was a hero and my enemy was a failure. He was effectively banished and left the district.

Continued Hustling. I tried everything I could find to make some money. The most successful was competing for prizes on teenage radio shows; mostly reading advertisements. I won cash, and sometimes goods that were quite valuable.

The best prize was a casual job as a disk jockey on Sunday, where I was paid more money than I had seen in my whole life to that point.

Summary. My motto in life has always been “Never Give Up.” I worked hard from an early age mainly because I had to, but I was always looking for opportunities.

I don’t know who first said it, but “Problems are opportunities looking for a solution.” By finding those problems and solving them I changed from the sidewalk to the Fastlane.

Probably the best advice I can offer anyone is to see problems in that light. Problems can give you the opportunity to fill a NEED. Learn to find problems outside your own little world.

Walter
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amp0193

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My mother persuaded the kindergarten manager to break the rules and allow me to take my infant sister to Kinder with me, and promised that she would be “invisible”. I was completely responsible for her, starting with taking her on the tram the couple of miles to the kindergarten, and getting safely across one of the busiest city roads, with no pedestrian crossing or traffic lights.

I carried a diaper bag and after lunch, when all the children rolled out a coir mat on which to have a sleep, I rolled out two. I then put a diaper on her, not a disposable which didn’t exist then, but one of the big cloth ones secured with a giant safety pin.

After patting her off to sleep I lay down for a sleep too.

When Kindergarten closed for the day, I took her home and kept her amused until it was time to start cooking the food prepared by my mother before she left much earlier in the morning. Mother arrived home not long after that time and after a couple of hours at home left for her night-time job washing dishes.

I just can't even picture this situation. I am shocked beyond belief.

Thanks for the powerful addition to your story in this post.
 

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
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Bump. Rep+ transferred to Walter.
 

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