My Father Was An Entrepreneur

Eight decades of stories…

I encouraged my dad to talk about his youth the other night – when he was over to celebrate his birthday.

Normally he doesn’t go on too much about that part of his life, and I think it was quite difficult for him.  With age, he’s got more of the memories of making it through, and probably less of the pain of the hard times on his mind.  I’ve heard some of his stories from youth, but it’s always fascinating to hear them again, and hear different aspects.

I have great deal of respect for the man for having lived during difficult times, but I never knew him as an entrepreneur – until just the other night.

His niche – milking cows.

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Not a good time…

He was born in the countryside of Western New York in the late 1920’s – and was just a toddler as the Great Depression started.

He learned to drive a tractor at the age of nine – so that he could help the neighbors store hay in their barn.

By the age of fifteen he was spending summers working 100 hour weeks in a canning factory – right in the middle of World War II.

Some time for sleep

When school was in session he spent days in class, afternoons with the Soccer, Basketball and Track teams, and nights back at the canning plant from 6 till 6.

It sounds like he could catch naps during the overnight, but it doesn’t look like he had much time otherwise.

Even with this “full” schedule, he was able to start the family pole vault tradition – and did it with straight aluminum poles and just a pile of sawdust to land in – none of these fancy fiberglass poles or soft mats ;-)

An entrepreneur?

And as I watched the reactions of my children to the life of their grandfather, my mom chipped in “tell them about renting the cows!”

And there’s not much more to the story than that – at one point in his teens, my dad rented milking cows, the use of a barn and a pasture.

He’d taken full responsibility of the animals and milked them twice a day – earning the milk.

All of the risk

He didn’t get into the details of the business, but it’s clear.

He turned his knowledge of the dairy business into a profit by taking responsibility for the situation.

The farmer earned a small amount by owning the cows and the land, but my father was taking on the work of caring for the cows (and milking them) and the business of selling the milk.

My dad could have just offered to “work” for the farmer, but then the farmer would have the risk – and the extra reward of the business.

It’s funny to think that a while back I wrote about the exact reverse of this in All of the Rewards… None of the Risks.

Safety in numbers

My dad eventually began working for the NYS highway department, earned his Engineering degree, and worked to build the roads that I use today – but had his own business way back.

I’ve had different opportunities to learn some rather amazing things about his life, and the more I learn, the more I learn not to be shocked – and this is just another piece in that interesting tapestry.

My professional career mirrors his (and just like an image in a mirror, mine is reversed from his) – I happened to have started with a paycheck from the state (the SUNY Research Foundation), and advanced to where I’m now an entrepreneur on my own.

And I think we’re both happy with how things have worked out.