Brian Smith

But I didn't really push to get my stock right away because a weird thing had happened.

The second month I was out on the road after we made this change, Neil handed me a check for $10,000.

And the next month, another $10,000.

This is your commission.

In commissions.

And I'm realizing, oh, my God, I don't have to do any ordering.

I don't have to do any accounting.

I don't have to do any warehousing and shipping.

I just am doing the marketing and I'm on the road selling.

And it wasn't even selling anymore.

It was hanging out with all my buddies who owned the surf shops and the ski shops.

And, you know, we'd go fishing in Idaho.

We'd go golfing in Nevada.

You know, it was just a great, great lifestyle.

And I...

This was a classic case of nearly always your most disappointing disappointments will become your greatest blessings, which is one of my favorite sayings.

And here I was like destitute with didn't own the company anymore.

But suddenly I'm traveling the America and making more money than I could have ever imagined at that time.

And that literally went on for the next three years.

I was very, very close because in that three-year period I was just talking about, Neil had bought Joe and Paul out.