Peter: Alan this is Jack Campbell, the one i was telling you about
Alan: Oh, of course Jack, Hi
Jack: Mr Vance
Alan: Oh, Just call me Alan we like to cultivate a very casual atmosphere around here
Jack: I can see that Alan
A: Yes what can I tell you, do you have kids?
J: Actually, Yes. Two of them, good ones
A: Great, great. Why don’t you have a seat? Peter mentioned to me that you’re an avid CNBC watcher but he didn’t say whether you had some actual Wall Street Experience
J: Erm. I was a sales associate at EFOA: A broker, really? And now you’re in the tyre business
J: That’s right. And auto supply
A: In the retail end I understand
J: We get about 60% of our business from automotive service
A: And do you mind me asking what kind of sales you did in the last year, just erm, ballpark
J: We did 1.7 total revenue
A: One point seven...that’s great, and what do you project for this year?
J: I think we’re gonna have a better year, sales are up almost twenty per cent in the first quarter, and we just landed a major trucking company account
A: Oh you did? That’s terrific so that puts you just a tad over two million?
J: That’s right, and that would make us number one in our market. Excuse me, I’m gonna get a glass of water ... Look, I know our paltry little 2 million on sales is about what you spend in a year on office supplies, and some regional trucking company is nothing compared to a multibillion dollar merger
A: No no no, I’m not trying to mock the tyre business
J: It’s okay Alan, I get it. I’m in your shoes I’m thinking exactly the same thing but here’s the deal, business is business; Wall Street, Main Street it’s all just a bunch of people getting up in the morning trying to figure out how they’re gonna send their kids to college, it’s just people. And I know people
A: Oh, I’m sure you do
J: Take you for instance, Alan. You have certain energy about you, it’s an active kind of energy. I wouldn’t be surprised if you drank about sixteen diet cokes a day. You’re an excellent father, but you feel guilty about the time you spend away from home. You drink Bourbon, but you offer your clients scotch, and your wife decorated this office.
P: Haha, certainly seems to have your number
J: You’re a little tougher Peter. For one thing, you like expensive things
Peter: That’s easy, you’ve seen my car
J: You smoke Hoyo de Monterrey’s. You’re a scotch man, single malt. Not because its trendy but because you’ve been doing it the last four years and you like to stay with what works. You have two great loves in your life; your horses and this company. And you’re a man who prides himself in finding talent in unusual places
P: How would you know that?
J: Because I’m here, and I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to get this job. I’ll start wherever I have to start, I’ll park cars if I have to, the biggest part of judging character is knowing yourself and I know this: I can do this Job, I can. Give me a chance Peter, I won’t let you down
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