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  I had a lemonade stand and also baby-sat for awhile. I rode horses competitively as a child all the way through college and started teaching riding lessons when I was 16.  While my peers were hanging out on the weekends, I was riding four to five horses a day and teaching lessons in the [...]

In 1958 I was in the 2nd grade in Anderson, Indiana. My brother, who is seven years older, had a newspaper route delivering the Anderson Bulletin,
 an afternoon paper. He gave me a 50-cent piece each week to help him 
deliver over 100 papers every weekday to the households in our 
neighborhood. I don’t suppose [...]

When I was at North Central High School, junior year meant one thing. Junior Spectacular. Junior Spec (for short) is a collection of one-act plays written, directed, acted and choreographed entirely by members of the junior class.  Four friends and I wrote and entered the one-act talent show. We lovingly created the standard characters; the [...]

At a very early age, I recognized people’s talents. I remember as a kid seeing what people were really good at, a particular skill or a talent they had, and suggesting what they should do with their lives. I  would say “do you know what you should do?”  I would give them ideas on how [...]

I ran the gamut of businesses from babysitting, to lemonade stands, to even employing my two sisters in the 3rd grade to sell “cinnamon toothpicks” at school for a dime each.  This business failed quickly, as I forgot to let the toothpicks air dry from soaking them in cinnamon oil and wrapping them in tinfoil.  [...]

Few people know that one of my first entrepreneurial ventures as a kid in 7th grade was selling an “adult” magazine to kids for $20 a pop. I signed up for a publisher’s clearinghouse subscription. I’d get off the bus before my parents would get home so I could get them out of the mailbox [...]

I am an internationally known Image Coach and Reputation Management Guru.  It was at age ten that I first became aware of the power of IMAGE MANAGEMENT. I was at a dress rehearsal for our annual dance recital.  When it was time for my mother’s class to rehearse, my father and I sat in the [...]

I worked in my dad’s plumbing shop when I was a kid. I would assemble the 
bolts that secured a toilet to the floor, and I would receive a nickel per
 finished product. I started doing that when I was six years old. I loved
 the feeling of working to earn money. I did odd [...]

When I was growing up, I always wanted to do everything by myself.  My parents worked very hard and at times had more than one job while trying to take care of me and my brother, and sister. I learned early on that I could not sit and wait to get what I wanted and [...]

“I’m going to teach you a lesson” were the first words out of my dad’s mouth when I pleaded my case to borrow $250 for a pair of Air Jordan sneakers. This wasn’t just any pair of Air Jordan sneakers; this pair was not set to release to the public for another year. I didn’t [...]