Gumballs have always been a big part of my life. Not because I love to chew gum, but because my Dad was in the gumball machine business.  Being in the gumball business was more than just the way my Dad brought home the bacon, it was also his passion. Sure, my Dad could have just bought stock gumball machines from a vending company, but what fun was that. Instead, my Dad designed his own custom wooden gumball machines that truly were one of a kind. While the gumball business never became my passion, it taught me quite a lot, almost as much as my Dad did.

I will never forget the day that I got into the family business. I was 15 and a half years old and getting very close to getting my ticket to freedom – my drivers license. But, there was a catch, a big catch. I didn’t have a job and no job meant no wheels.  Like other teenagers, I had my eye on a beautiful used Toyota truck that I was willing to do almost anything to get.

That morning, my Dad, Mom, and I had just finished having breakfast when my parents proposed a very novel idea. Instead of me going out and getting an hourly job like most teenagers, they would give me eight gumball machines and my Dad would teach me how to locate and operate my own route.  The upside was I once I got the machines located I could make money without having to punch a clock. The downside – I had no idea how to sell! Let alone how to convince a business owner on letting me put a gumball machine in their store for a small percentage of the revenue! I told my Mom and Dad that I was in, as long as my Father would teach me how to be a real salesman.

Over the next few weekends, we went out early in the morning to locate my eight gumball machines and didn’t come back until late in the evening. It took over a month to find all of my gumball machines a home and at first it wasn’t easy. But every time we went out to locate the machines, I learned a little more about the business and even more about life from my Dad.

As we were driving around looking for the final home for my eighth and final gumball machine, I asked my Dad how would I ever be able to make enough money to get the Toyota truck that I so desperately wanted. He smiled at me and said, “JP, don’t worry you will make the money for the truck.” “But, how?,” I insisted. My Dad’s smile seemed even wider this time as he seemed to be pleased with my impatience. He looked at me squarely in the eyes and said, ”JP, you will earn the money for your truck like everyone in our family, one gumball at a time.”

For my Dad, “one gumball at a time” wasn’t just an empty quote to motivate an impatient teenager, it truly the way he lived his life – both professionally and personally. He was rarely in a bad mood, he woke up with a view point that today was going to better than yesterday and he was usually right. It wouldn’t be until I was 23 years old that I first began to understand the wisdom of “one gumball at a time.” It was my second semester in graduate school and I was having serious second thoughts! Did I make the right choice? Should I have gone for my MBA, not my PhD? I was for sure in what Seth Godin calls the Dip.

I remember calling my Dad to tell him that I was thinking of quitting graduate school. He let me speak first and I went on and on for about 15 minutes about how hard it was, how it didn’t feel right, etc . He listened intently and then suddenly stopped me dead in my tracks.  “JP, do you remember that conversation we had when we were locating gumball machines when you were 15 years old?” Probably being too honest and knowing exactly what he was going to say, I said, ”I think so?” He said, ”Well, let me remind you…one gumball at a time, do you remember that?” He went on to talk about why nothing worth doing in life is easy, there are no shortcuts to your accomplishing goals whether it was saving for a truck or going for your PhD.

That talk with my Dad was a turning point for me. I not only stayed in graduate school, but was lucky enough to have my Mom and Dad watch me graduate a few years later. Unfortunately, my Dad passed away shortly after that, but not before I came to understand the true meaning of  ”one gumball at a time.”

This post is dedicated to the world’s greatest Dad on what would have been his 73rd birthday – Love you, Dad!

Photo Credit: Olivander