Jim Figueira:  

So what is my story? Well, it's a long and winding road. I was taught my business life by a couple of Italians and a Portagee. One was Dominic Cutrone. He owned a small hardware business and he taught me how to handle people. It was all based on personality. The other was a guy named Joe Lattuga. He was the Sales Manager/VP/Exec for a company called Republic Distributors. He taught me what selling was all about. But most importantly, my Dad taught me common sense.He also taught me that we are the sum total of all the people we ever meet. Good, bad or indifferent, one always walks away with some little bit of influence from that person. Armed with the knowledge from these three mentors, I set out into the big bad business world. I never thought myself as a salesman, but I have always referred to my business as sales. Even though I have a title of VP, I do not use it on my business cards. Titles are battle grounds in the corporate world. I have had the pleasure to do business with many National Corporations, and believe me, there are serious turf wars over a business card title. I guess people are really zoned into the money thing. While money is wonderful to have, if you really look around, the most paranoid, depressed, stupid, and sad people are those who have too much of the stuff. With all their money they did not see their child play a volleyball game, or take their daughter to singing practice every week, or see a high school play, or attend a good high school football game. Life is a journey not a race. I've been af...Expand for more