Hi, this is Jem and Em from In Our Own World Podcast. My Cultura Podcast Network and Coca-Cola celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with empowering voices like Rosalind Sanchez. My childhood was in Puerto Rico.
I moved to the States when I was almost 22 years old. I have so many dreams. I have so many ambitions. And I've been so blessed to be able to come to this country and little by little with hard work and discipline. Check that list. I have many things that I want to continue doing and accomplish, but I was just a girl with dreams from a little island in the Caribbean. Listen to He Said, Ea Dijo Podcast hosted by Rosalind Sanchez and Eric Winter on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Coca-Cola, proud sponsor of the My Cultura Podcast Network.
Hispanic heritage is magic, baby. So you're in the garage working on your car and you need the valves you bought last week. You look in the cabinets and on the shelves. But the parts are never in the right place. eBay Motors has the car parts you need. Over 122 million of them all in one place and all at the right prices.
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If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage. It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Visit UHCMedicareHealthPlans.com to learn more. UnitedHealthcare, helping people live healthier lives. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories. And we tell stories about everything here on this show from the arts to sports and from business to history and everything in between, including your story.
Send them to OurAmericanStories.com. They're some of our favorites. And we've heard from Fawn Weaver on our show before. She told us her story of growing up the daughter of Motown Royalty, realizing that she didn't fit in wherever she was and then realizing that wasn't such a bad thing. You've also heard the story of Uncle Nearest's Whiskey, the Tennessee whiskey brand Fawn founded, named after the African-American man who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey.
And now we're about to tell you the story of how Fawn came upon Nearest's story. And it all began with some trouble she was having with a business she'd invested in. After a frustrating, a frustrating time with the founders that I was backing, really, really, really frustrating.
We could not see eye to eye on how business should be done and how people should be treated. And after a really frustrating time, I decided I was going to do something that I almost never did, which is I went on vacation. And my husband is executive vice president, one of the executive vice presidents at Sony Pictures.
And he also sits on the board for the Motion Picture Association of America. They're Asian. I think it was their Asian council was having a meeting in Singapore. And at the very last minute, I said, you know what, babe, I'm going to come with you on that trip.
I know it's a work trip for you, but I just want to get away from what is going on. And we got to the hotel in the morning. We were in the hotel lounge and I opened up the New York Times International Edition.
And on the cover of the New York Times International Edition was the headline. Jack Daniel embraces a secret ingredient, help from a slave. And beneath that was a picture of Jack Daniel and his entire crew. And right next to him, to his right, was an African-American man. And the thing that a lot of people miss with that photo, but it's what drew me into that photo, is Jack Daniel was the big guy in the photo. It was his company. This was his crew. But he ceded the center position of the photo to an African-American man.
And at the time, no one knew who that African-American man was. And so I, you know, having five days with nothing to do, I decided to start diving in and digging in. And it's something this actually isn't something that's new for me. I've never taken it this far where I dove into the rabbit hole and never came back out. But it's something that I enjoy doing on the Sabbath. So my husband and I observe the Sabbath 24 hours a week.
We do nothing work related. And so what I like to do on my Sabbath and I have for decades is I go into my research rabbit hole. I'll find a topic. It could be something that pops up in my news feed.
It could be something that I heard about earlier in the week while I was working and just didn't pause to dig into it. And I'll go back to it on the Sabbath. And so I had literally five days to do nothing but to research this story of this African-American man. And so and so I start digging in to this story. And the thing that was ironic is, is we read the story that morning.
We were both absolutely blown away that there was this thought. That there was an African-American man that may have been at the beginning, at the start, at the founding of this iconic American brand. If you go around the world, there are very few brands that would be considered iconic American. I mean, even if you go with Jim Beam, for instance, who dates back to a similar date. But the company is now owned by Japanese.
And so when you're talking about iconic American brands, there's there's few things that say that quite like Jack Daniels. And so to see this African-American, the picture that the center position being ceded to this man and nobody knew who he was. They it was said that they believed it was a man named near screen, but they didn't know. And then I went and I googled the name near screen, which they had misspelled at the time, which we have now done the research and and the the spelling was definitely incorrect at that time.
But we googled near screen and nothing came up except for this New York Times piece and then a regurgitation of the piece, which is to say that every newspaper around the world was reprinting some of them not giving credit, some of them giving credit. But it was the exact same story over and over and over and over again. And and so I thought, this is insane.
How do you have this African-American man at the center of this iconic American brand and nobody has any information on him? And so I did try to do digging, but literally nothing came up. And then I went back maybe about four hours later and to see did I miss something the first time around? And then a Wikipedia page popped up. Now, the Wikipedia page didn't exist before. There wasn't a whole lot on it that wasn't a part of the New York Times piece, but it did reference a book called Jack Daniel's Legacy. So I ordered Jack Daniel's Legacy and had it sent to my home.
I ordered it on Amazon, had it sent to my home, and I did whatever research I could do from the hotel room. But it really only lasted about a day or so because after that there there was nothing. It was the Wikipedia page. It was the New York Times piece.
And that was it. So I figured, well, when I get home, I'll read the book. It will probably not reference him by name. It'll probably refer to a colored man or a enslaved man or a slave or a Negro. That was my thought process of how it would be spoken about in the book, because that's what is common. And so my thought was they're probably just putting two and two together that this African-American man is the same person that was in Jack Daniel's Legacy, even though he's not mentioned by name.
So that was my thought process. So I ordered the book, but I certainly wasn't expecting much from the book itself. And when we come back, we'll hear more from Fawn Weaver, the story of Uncle Nearest after these messages. This is Our American Stories. Here at Our American Stories, we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that need to be told.
But we can't do it without you. Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not free to make. If you love our stories in America like we do, please go to OurAmericanStories.com and click the donate button. Give a little.
Give a lot. Help us keep the great American stories coming. That's OurAmericanStories.com. And we're back with Our American Stories and the story of how Fawn Weaver discovered the story of the African-American man who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. Nathan Uncle Nearest Green. While in Singapore, Fawn read a New York Times article that talked about Uncle Nearest, but didn't say much about who he was. When we last left off, she had had the biography of Jack Daniel sent to her home in the States while she was halfway around the world.
Let's return to Fawn's story. And then a few days later, we finished in Singapore and we went on what was meant to be a two day, just kind of an add on vacation to I believe it was Kuala Lumpur. And we went there. We checked into the hotel. We had a beautiful day. And then the next day we went to a spa and we're not big spa people. It's not really what we do. But every now and again, we'll go on vacation.
And so Keith wasn't participating. I went into the spa and did a massage and I think a facial or something. And and when I come out, I'm expecting to go back to go just pay for it and then charge it to the room and then go back to the room. But I come out and Keith is in the lobby and to know my husband is to know he loves me so much, but he would not be sitting in the lobby of a spa unless there was something that was needed. And so he looks at me and I walk over to him and I could see concern in his eye. And so I walk over and and he takes my hand and he says, babe, we need to pray. Come come sit with me. And so we sit. And I said, what are we praying about?
And he said, Brittany has been in a motorcycle accident and it doesn't look good. Now, Brittany is my niece, who is as much a daughter as she was my niece. We don't have any children.
We've not been able to have children. And we've been now we're moving into our 17th year of marriage. And so she is very much so that baby girl.
I was there from the very beginning. I was telling someone the other day that she was so funny as a little girl, because any time I would go to the restroom, she'd follow me into the restroom. And I don't know what the fact and go, Brittany, can I just go to the bathroom? And she said, sure, but she'd never leave. I don't know if it was me going into another room and she not being able to see me. I don't know what it was, but but she is just my baby girl. And so when he said it, I immediately began to cry.
And we tried to pray for about a second. And I said, I can't I can't give me give me your phone. And I looked at the text that my sister sent and I responded to the text. And I said, tell Brittany that she cannot leave me. Whisper in her ear that I am on my way. She cannot leave me.
I will be right there. She has to hang on. And my sister texted me back within 30 seconds and said, I'm sorry, sis, she's gone.
A driver hit her head on and they they were turning and the sun was blocking, was glaring on the glass, and the driver never saw my niece and floored it while making a left. So she had she had not a chance. And my world absolutely shattered. And so we both cried quite a bit to a place where the people in the spa, the managers of the spa came over because obviously we were disturbing what is otherwise a very peaceful experience for people.
And we recognize that. So we went outside and just I mean, we could not get ourselves together. And finally, we were able to pull it together enough to be able to walk back into our hotel room and got to our hotel room. And again, just absolutely lost it. And I probably say, I don't know, you know, how you cry until there's literally no more tears left.
You see this in kids, in kids where they'll just pour down tears and tears and then they're still yelling, but there's no tears coming down because they've literally cried all the tears out. And that that happened to Keith and I. And Keith, he turns to me and he says, what would Brittany have us do in this moment? And Britt had just been at our house a couple weeks before.
She had just celebrated her birthday and she was at our home. And it I don't believe in regrets. I do believe in lessons. And it was a huge lesson for me, because as she sat in the kitchen with my husband for hours talking about me and and I listened to her say, Fawn has always been a mom to me and to tell him different stories of different things and ways I've impacted her life.
And meanwhile, I'm responding to emails and and doing what, you know, is important, if you will. And she left that night on her motorcycle. But earlier in the afternoon, we had been all been hanging out and having Don Julio 1942. And so he turns to me and he said, what would Brittany have us do? And I said she'd have us go raise a glass of 1942.
And so we left out of the room to go to the hotel bar to try to find 1942. And on our way out, we were passing through the outside area where there's a pool. And I remember Keith walking on a step before me and I being on the step right above. And we had to pause momentarily because hundreds of white butterflies began circling the lower portion of our legs. We literally could not move because they were just circling. I've never seen that before.
I've never seen it since. And they circled us for a couple of minutes and then took off. And we looked at each other and said, Brittany has just ascended. And we went to the hotel bar. We had our 1942. We cried some more and we got on a plane five o'clock the next morning for the first plane that was out going out.
And we arrived back. And as soon as I get back to Los Angeles, I go into full party planning mode. I knew Brittany would not want a funeral. She would want for people to feel as though her homegoing ceremony was the best time that they've had. She would want people to enjoy it.
It was what Brittany would have loved. And so for two weeks straight, I poured myself into planning every piece of this this party with with her mom and her dad and my siblings. And after it was over, we go back home. And now I have to actually deal with the fact that she was gone for two weeks. I didn't have to deal with it because I was in party planning mode. And we get back home and I pick up a package that is on my desk and it's an Amazon package. Now, Keith will tell you there were 20 Amazon packages in my on my desk, but the package I'm referring to was Jack Daniel's legacy. And I open it up and I go to the living room.
I sit on the living room and at the time our living room, like it does here in Tennessee, it had floor to ceiling windows. And I remember starting to read this book and expecting not much. I mean, again, maybe for it to mention a Negro or a black person or a slave or but never for it to actually say nearest green. And very early on in the pages, Jack Daniel, as a young boy, is introduced to what the book refers to as a coal black Negro. And he's introduced to him by a person that they are both working for. Near screen was a rented slave on this man's property. And Jack Daniel had come to work as a chore boy. And you're listening to Fawn Weaver and the connections in her life, the loss of her beloved Brittany and how that served as a pivot point in her life. She's drawing down on this book.
She's been waiting to read when we come back more of this remarkable story, Fawn Weaver's story, Discovering Uncle Nearest here on Our American Stories. Soon millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year, and UnitedHealthcare can help you feel confident about your choices. For those eligible, Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th. If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage.
It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Visit UHCmedicarehealthplans.com to learn more. UnitedHealthcare, helping people live healthier lives. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop, but for small business insurance, I need my State Farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot and I stay cool and confident. See, they're small business owners too, so they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. Doing household chores can already be time consuming and tedious, and there's nothing more daunting than facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done. I mean, that can be overwhelming for anyone. So, if you want to get those larger laundry loads done right and get back to your life, try All-Free Clear Mega Packs. All-Free Clear Mega Packs are bigger packs with two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack so that you can tackle any laundry load without the worry. All-Free Clear Mega Packs are also 100% free of perfumes and dyes and they're gentle on skin, which is great for any family's sensitive skin needs. My family, we definitely have sensitive skin. So, the next time the whole family gets home from long vacation or you get the kids back from summer camp or whatever the situation is that's caused this big pile of dirty clothes, just know that All-Free Clear Mega Packs, they have your back.
Purchase All-Free Clear Mega Packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types. And we're back with our American stories and the conclusion of Fawn Weaver's story on how she discovered Nathan Nearest Green's story, the African-American man who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. After losing her niece, Fawn needed to decompress and decided to do so with Jack Daniel's biography. So, Jack is, for those who do not know, Jack was the 10th child and his mother died when he was four months old. So, he was wet nursed by the neighbor. He was a little kid, a runt, if you will.
He never grew to be more than five foot two, even as an adult. And so, if you think about him as a kid, he's not a great farm hand. He moved to that property when he was somewhere between seven and eight years old and eight years old as a chore boy.
And that means anything from going to get water from the well for the family, milking cows, feeding the hogs, you know, whatever you had to do, dealing with the slop. It was not glamorous in the least bit, but the book says that he was fascinated by whatever was going on on this property where you had the mules and wagons shuffling in and out of there. But no one would ever take him to go see what was happening on the other side of the property. And the reason is the person who they were both working for, both Nearest Green and Jack Daniel, was a preacher and a distiller. And he married a teetotaler and he had a church on his property. So 338 acres on one end of the property was his home. On another end of the property was his church. And on another end of the property, if you're looking at it as a triangle, was his distillery. So he kept his three worlds separate, his family, his distillery and his church.
And his family and his church basically issued an ultimatum. And so Dan Call decided that he was going to leave the distillery business, but the distillery never stopped operating on his property and it never stopped operating under a man by the name of Nearest Green. So in the book, Jack Daniel is introduced to this coal black Negro by the preacher saying he is the best whiskey maker I know of.
Now in this book, the reason why that's important is he says verbatim, this is Uncle Nearest. He is the best whiskey maker I know of. It's important because there were 16 other distilleries in a four mile radius.
So the question became, why was he the best? And why did the preacher want for him to teach Jack everything he knew about his way of making whiskey? And it was because the way that Nearest Green made whiskey was what we now know as Tennessee whiskey.
But I'm sitting in my home in Los Angeles reading this. And from the very early portion of the book, you see over and over again, Nearest Green, Uncle Nearest, Eli Green, which was his son, George Green, which was another son. You see them mentioned over and over and over and over again in a biography that is not that big. And Nearest and his boys are mentioned more times than Jack's own family. So I'm reading this and I am falling in love with two characters, which was completely unexpected for me. I'm falling in love with the Uncle Nearest character, but also the Jack Daniel character and who they both were and what they represented in this remarkable time.
So I'm sitting on my couch and just completely engrossed in this story. And you've got to remember that not only have I just lost my niece in and just my world is wrecked, but this is now happening in July of 2016. So if you remember what was happening at that time, our country was being divided by race.
We had a political both sides of the aisle, both Republicans and Democrats were using race as a wedge. And not very many people had hope at that moment. And I was looking for hope in terms of trying to escape what I was dealing with and grieving for my niece.
But in this book, I'm finding a different kind of hope because of the situation we're in in America at that time. So I'm reading this and I remember telling my husband when he walked in, I said, babe, I really like this guy. And he's like, who?
And I said, Jack Daniel. And he was so confused because he didn't know what I was reading. And so I start telling him about the book and and and and the fact that Nearest has mentioned over and over and over and over again. And I remember when I looked up from the book at that moment, I remember right in front of me where the window was seeing a white butterfly, a single white butterfly, just kind of fluttering back and forth, back and forth. And it took me back to those white butterflies that circled our legs. And I and I remember looking at that and saying, hey, Brit, but not thinking very much of it again.
This is I think when you lose someone, you begin looking for hope in any and every thing. And I remember looking and saying, hey, Brit, and going back to reading and just loving the story. And I got so engrossed in the book and it's not that long of a book, but I got so engrossed in the book.
And because I think still trying to escape, trying to look for hope. And I remember taking the book with me in the kitchen and still kind of reading while I was I don't know what I was doing, maybe making tea or something. But I'm still reading and doing something else. And I look up and in the window is a single white butterfly going back and forth, back and forth.
And I go into my office a little later in the day. I pick the book back up. I start reading it some more.
And here comes that white butterfly again. And I began to associate the white butterfly with my niece and I began to associate the niece with this book. And and my love for this book and this story became interwoven with my love for my niece. And I can't explain it other than to say I had to tell the story of near screen and Jack Daniel in a way that I believed the story was lived.
And I believed my niece was directing it from heaven. It's the only way that I can explain it. And as crazy as it sounds, because if we go backwards, we're talking about a brand, right, that normally when you're talking about a whiskey brand, you're not talking about butterflies in heaven.
And but that is what that is. What was the origin of my interest? I can tell you that I had absolutely no plans to go in the whiskey business. I am a child of two tea totalers.
The last place I would have been putting my money was whiskey. And yet I began looking at the story and diving into the story and wanting to know more and more and more and more. And the more I learned, the more I wanted to know. And it became very clear to me that the only way I was going to really learn as much about the story as I felt like my heart was being pulled to learn was to actually travel to Lynchburg, Tennessee, to interview the descendant. The only descendant that that New York Times article had referenced a man by the name of Claudia at the time was 91 years old. And so I set my heart on going to interview him and had decided what I wanted to do for my 40th birthday was to research the story of near screen on the outside looking in.
It would make no sense to me whatsoever being in it. It made all the sense in the world because that book and that story was providing me hope that I needed in that moment and I didn't want it to stop. And that hope, well, it led Fawn Weaver down a wild path from buying the house at the Dan Call farm to meeting with her descendants who told her that the best way to honor Nearest's memory was a bottle with Nearest's name on it. And by the way, that bottle has been the most awarded new American whiskey in American history. Fawn Weaver's story, Uncle Nearest's story, and the Jack Daniel's story here on Our American Stories. If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage.
It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Visit UHCmedicarehealthplans.com to learn more. UnitedHealthcare, helping people live healthier lives. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop, but for small business insurance, I need my State Farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot and I stay cool and confident. See, they're small business owners, too, so they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. Doing household chores can already be time consuming and tedious, and there's nothing more daunting than facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done. I mean, that can be overwhelming for anyone. So, if you want to get those larger laundry loads done right and get back to your life, try All-Free Clear Mega Packs. All-Free Clear Mega Packs are bigger packs with two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack so that you can tackle any laundry load without the worry. All-Free Clear Mega Packs are also 100% free of perfumes and dyes and they're gentle on skin, which is great for any family's sensitive skin needs. My family, we definitely have sensitive skin. So, the next time the whole family gets home from long vacation or you get the kids back from summer camp or whatever the situation is that's caused this big pile of dirty clothes, just know that All-Free Clear Mega Packs, they have your back.
Purchase All-Free Clear Mega Packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types. And we continue with our American stories and with the story of an American classic. Stephen Ross is the largest real estate developer in America, the owner of the Miami Dolphins, and he shared his life story with our own Alex Cortez. Stephen Ross is a Detroiter, born and bred, until his parents dragged him against his will midway through his freshman year of high school to Miami Beach, Florida. I hated it down there, actually, and I kind of rebelled against my parents and I got into a little trouble. I mean, I suppose studying, you know, playing the game a little bit, you know, I mean, I had a, you know, everything but study, even though my parents really tried to be strict. You know, my father lectured all the time, as opposed, because he was working and then he'd lecture me. I guess it didn't do any good, you know, but ultimately I guess it sunk in.
I mean, I don't know. I wanted to get out of there. I went to my parents and said, well, if you're going to leave, you don't want to go to school here, you have to go to military school. So I spent about four days of military school and said, I'll go back to school, you know. And I mean, I talked to most of my friends. I mean, probably my background was probably different than most because I'd never excelled early in life.
And I was, you know, I got into college because they had to accept me because I had a standardized test that I scored well enough that the school had to take you and they flunked out two thirds of the freshman class. They'd tell you, look on your left and look on your right, the person sitting next to you won't be here next year. And so, you know, it's a wake up call. But I also knew if I wanted something, I wasn't going to get anything from my parents.
I mean, I wasn't left anything and they had nothing to give me, you know. So I knew what it was, you know, was either sink or swim. And then when I got to college, that's when I really kind of started to being able to do well at the University of Florida and then so I could transfer to Michigan and then law school. And then I got my master's in tax law, which I excelled in. And it was probably the best year of school I ever had that I really found something I enjoyed. I'd always get good marks if I liked it.
You know, I didn't like the subject. I didn't do very well. The confidence, I mean, you know, you have to first find your confidence that you can succeed and do something well and excel to continue on. I mean, as they say, success breeds success. I mean, my teachers told my parents they were wasting time sending me to college, which is really kind of funny, right, when I look back at it now. So, I mean, I look at myself, I was a late starter in life because I probably was probably the least likely to succeed in my high school class. You know, so you tell me how much teachers know. So the environment in which you're brought up, I mean, even with your parents, as much as my parents emphasized that and I could see things, it was really later that I really saw things a lot more clearly, you know. After getting his master's degree at NYU, Stephen went back to his hometown to work at an accounting firm as a tax attorney. I was doing very well practicing law and, you know, certain life is really kind of funny.
It's kind of impulsive. I'm in my office one day. In fact, I remembered, I can still picture it.
It was June, I think it was June 7th or June 9th in 1968, the night before Bobby Kennedy was assassinated. And I'd watch that at night. And that next day, you're wondering in your life, hey, you never know when it's over and thinking about that, you know.
And he was a relatively young guy. And the partner walks in my office and asks me if I want to go to a seminar in New York. I said, you know what?
And I hadn't even ever thought about it. I said, I want to go. I think I want to go to New York for good. As a matter of fact, I'm quitting.
I'm moving to New York. Never entered my mind. It never went from my mind to, you know, I'm going to think about leaving. And I hadn't even thought about leaving. And it just came up. I mean, life is so impulsive.
Sometimes we don't even know ourselves, you know, what's really, what's going on. So he then brought in the senior partner and they, you know, Steve's quit. He's leaving.
He was going to New York, you know. And the guy said, what? I mean, Steve, you're doing great here. You're going to be a partner here and blah, blah, blah. But I got bored and I could see how I was tailing off in my mind and I was just ready for something and that sparked it without me even thinking about it, you know. So a lot of things, you know, in life we think we're in control of, we're not necessarily in control of, but we really don't know.
It takes something, takes a spark for something to happen. I've told my mother, you don't know anybody in New York. I said, hey, you know, I went there, I loved it. And, you know, the story is if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere, blah, blah, blah.
And off I went, you know. When I went to New York then, the firm called and made several appointments for me to help me, you know, Lazard Freire, Goldman Sachs and what have you. And I went and I interviewed and then I saw a paper, this little article about Laird, which was a new firm startup, young guys. It was backed by the Duponts. It was very waspy.
There was no Jews in the whole firm. They were doing a lot of really creative things. And, you know, the head of the firm was like 37 and 34 and 31.
And everybody said, you know, how can you consider it? You got a job at Lazard. That's the best deal house there is. And I took the job at Laird. You know, I'm sitting around the table when I went there and they said to me, why did you come here? I said, well, I really narrowed it down between Lazard and Laird. And everybody told me to go to Lazard. So I figured I had to come to Laird.
You know, you got to. And I was there for about a year and a half. They didn't have any money. And there was I was doing things a little different and they didn't quite understand what I was doing. And they suggested maybe I wouldn't be good there. And then two weeks after I left, nothing to do with my having left.
They had a coup and the firm kind of fell apart. And a friend of mine got me a job who was working at Bear Stearns. Got me an interview and I was working on creative deals. But I had the guy I was the wrong guy I was working for. So I had put together this deal when I was at Laird, putting together a company that they were taking public. It was my idea to put several things that he was doing into one company and take it public. I'd been at Bear Stearns about two or three weeks.
And that's when they had the coup. And the guy called me and said, hey, I'd love to have Bear Stearns do this deal. I have other firms. There are smaller firms than Bear Stearns. But would Bear Stearns be interested? Met with his partner.
Guys, it's great. They were located in California. The partner said, I'll be in California next week. You know, I'll meet you and go through the stuff. Made an appointment.
Doesn't show up. Guy calls me. I go into my I got caught up in this other deal. I was out there. I'll be there. They made an appointment.
Doesn't show up. Called me again. I told the guy, he said, you know, arrange a time and I'll call.
So twice that happened. He never called. So a guy calls me. I said, hey, I would take it public.
You got these other firms. I wouldn't wait. I haven't been here long enough. You know, I've been here now, what, two months.
And I can't tell you what to do. You know, but if it were me, I'd go get the deal done, not wait for this guy to come out. He goes public. It's on the front page of the Wall Street Journal on the right column. So it's the lead article and blah, blah, blah.
And it went from six to 19 in the opening. And that day, the partner all of a sudden walks into my office for the first time. Hey, whatever happened to that company, blah, blah, you know, environmental systems was called. I said, he's waiting for your phone call. And he didn't take that, obviously. And then after that, he would not be in meetings.
I mean, he's always putting me down and, you know, and all that. And I was doing a deal. And when he approved a deal that I had brought in and worked on. And then someone asked him, well, who's going to work on it for us? When the senior guy said, well, Steve is.
He put it together and he knows it. I said, why don't you copy Steve? And I said, well, I got no copies of you. Next morning, I got a phone call. You know, I was fired. Did I quit or was I fired? Story's better to say that I got fired.
Right. But I knew that that night I knew I couldn't work here anymore before I had the meeting to get this deal approved. I mean, I said, if it gets approved, I'm thinking I was ready to quit.
I knew even I got approved. I had to get out of there with this guy. I mean, here I'd left two jobs in a really six month period of time. So with that kind of resume, who's going to hire me?
And that's it. I started my company and I had no money and I wanted to stay in New York. My mother lent me ten thousand dollars to live on and then bootstrapped the company and never had an investor.
So for about the next 30 years, every penny I ever earned, I put back in the company and just grew the company. And then all of a sudden, you know, it's worth a lot of money. But, you know, I mean, it's a it's a it's a nice story that's true. And I really believe that, you know, when you're doing something and you're successful, you should believe in yourself.
Who else can you trust more than yourself? And a great job by Robbie producing the piece and a special thanks to Alex for finding this story. And it's a beauty.
The story of Steve Ross, the owner of the Miami Dolphins, here on Our American Stories. I want it now. 360 support that's customized for your success. That's unconventional thinking from T-Mobile for Business. Soon millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year. And UnitedHealthcare can help you feel confident about your choices. For those eligible, Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th. If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage.
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It's Dramos. You may know me from the recap on L.A. TV. Now I've got my own podcast, Life as a Gringo, coming to you every Tuesday and Thursday. We'll be talking real and unapologetic about all things life, Latin culture, and everything in between from someone who's never quite fit in. Listen to Life as a Gringo on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by State Farm. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-02-15 11:59:09 / 2023-02-15 12:15:49 / 17
