One of my all-time favorite entrepreneurs and salesman is my younger brother, Chris. I remember the conversations that we would have when he was in high school and I was in the Air Force. He was often extremely fired up and passionate about owning his own business and working for himself. He never once had a second of hesitancy around being in “sales” and he was very certain that sales is a noble profession. Working in the bag room at Walden Lake Country Club and seeing many of the members that he knew entertaining clients AND getting to play golf, certainly played a part in that belief. A bigger part of instilling the right attitude and mindset came from our mom and dad. When Chris and I were growing up, they always insisted that “you can do anything that you want to in life”. And “whatever you choose to do, be the very best at it”.

As many of us do, I will sometimes dig back in the grey matter for moments and memories that make me smile and give me inspiration. I recall being very young in elementary school and seeing my father, who I revered as the greatest salesman that ever walked, sell school raffle tickets to 100% of the parents he spoke with. He embodied the attitude of “when your customer says no, that’s when the selling begins!” The parents had no idea what they were buying, but they knew they were helping the school. Or when my dad would load up a truck full of little leaguers, dressed up in our uniforms, going door to door selling mid-season barbeque dinner tickets. My dad knew the majority of them would never show up to that dinner, but they were
helping our little league team…and they wanted help.

My dad most likely did not realize that he was teaching Chris and I to be sales people, but he was. He taught us how to be more than a sales person. He taught us how to be anglers as well. His passion for fishing always ran deep and he instilled in us a love and respect for the water. Living on Lake Rosalie as a very young child were some of my earliest memories of fishing with my dad. My very favorite fishing trip of all time with my dad, however, was a few years ago sight fishing tarpon off St. Pete Beach. I tried to keep my dad and uncle David’s expectations low, and insist how difficult catching a Tarpon really is, but they were having none of it. Their excitement and positive attitude was infectious. Watching my father battle his first Tarpon was a memory I will always hold
dear. I think about it often.

I am often perplexed at the people I meet in life that do not think they are a “sales person”. I usually ask them “have you ever interviewed for a job?” “Have you ever sold anything with a sign that read “For Sale by Owner”” “Have you ever had a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife?” This line of questioning could go on forever. You see, we are ALL Sales People in some way, shape or form. And we are ALWAYS selling. We are constantly in motion selling our personal brand, our company, our service or our product. Having the self-awareness of that fact and embracing it, enables you to do YOU!