A Tortuous (Sometimes Torturous)
Background
It's imperative that I tell you of my once deep suspicions about selling, and how I ultimately came
to embrace the sales and marketing professions.
Graduating from high school, I was voted "Most Likely To Succeed" (whatever that means) and was accepted
by every Ivy League college to which I applied. Unfortunately, I missed attending by one test question the
college of my real passion, West Point Military Academy. So, I attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. As might
be suspected from the intro, I didn't bloom as a pre-med/economics student in a "liberal" arts school.
Graduated, engaged, and jobless, I reluctantly accepted a sales position. But having been raised
in an environment of professionals, who had professionals as friends, I hated every minute of selling.
Though I did well, I frankly found selling below the dignity of man, or woman... and clearly never
expected my success to come from it.
But, as I sold and studied the art over the years, I came to understand and appreciate the opposite:
Selling is the very dignity of men and women, for in a free society, mental persuasion is a
quality unique to humans. Affecting the perceptions of another's mind and persuading that person to act in a manner
prescribed by you is the most powerful capacity that a person can develop. Except for the uncontrollable events of nature, nothing in this world ever happens until someone has been sold... even if it is a person selling
him or herself on an idea!
Out of this tortuous (sometimes torturous) background, and honed by rugged years in sales and
marketing, I continually look for new and challenging ways to expand my craft.
