Harley Finkelstein

And I was enamored by DJs.

I thought these DJs at these bar mitzvahs were like magicians.

And I really thought these were the coolest people I'd ever seen.

And although my dad didn't have a lot of money, the one thing he did do, and he's done this my whole life, was any time I had an idea and I shared it with my father, he would say, great idea.

Actually, there would be a physical manifestation of that, which was that he would make me these business cards.

And tonight you and I are having dinner at my home.

We'll go to my home office and I will show you those early business cards, but I still have them lined up in my office.

Every time I had a silly idea about a business,

My father would come home with a business card that said my name and the business name.

And it was this very simple physical device that was the equivalent of him saying, you absolutely can do this.

You have the capacity.

You have the willpower.

You have the entitlement.

You can do this.

You have the permission to go do this.

And I ended up DJing 500 bar mitzvahs after that.

Started my own DJ company.

Hired myself.

And that was sort of my relationship, I think, with my dad over my life, which is that I don't think I fully understood the baggage he was carrying with him his whole life.

but he was unequivocally supportive and loving of me.