My Greatest Mentors ...

If you look up the definition of Mentor you're likely to find the following:

1. a wise and trusted guide and advisor.

2. Person who shares experience, knowledge and wisdom about a particular occupation, their occupation or about the workplace in general.

3. A friend, wise advisor and teacher.

... But if you're really lucky, you find them both in your own life, in your mother and father.

There are any number of ways you might hear the term mentor defined. Just as there are many points in our lives where we find that trusted advisor.

In my life I've been fortunate to have had many wise and wonderful people who have played a large part in helping me to become the person that I am today.

Of all the incredible people I have been blessed to have in my life without fail I would rank my father and mother at the top of the list.

My mother, because as early as I can remember she was the one who would tell me that I had special GOD given gifts and talents and that it was my job to develop them to the best of my ability. Looking back now, this one bit of constant encouragement has served me well, and helped me to become the person that I am today.

I realize that not everyone is so lucky to have such an important influence in their lives at such a young an impressionable age as I did so I feel compelled to honor her by giving her my sincere gratitude here. Truly, any positive influence I've ever been in the lives of anyone through my writing, or speaking I must share credit with her. My mom.

Equally as important in my life, though in different ways, and at different points in my life's development is my father, Stephen C. Hinds.

The photograph you see above on this page was taken of my dad, at the time he was only about 23 or 24 years old. In case you're wondering, that is an actual advertisement that appeared in Life magazine.

You see, my father began selling life Insurance for NationWide at an early age and was quite successful. Not just from the material point of view, but also from the point that he never forgot his roots. If you were a friend, you were always a friend, and one would be hard pressed to find another person who would do as much for you. He honored you as a friend and expected the same in return.

Perhaps one of the funniest things about the picture you see is that in the actual advertisement that this picture appeared in, virtually everyone else was at least in their late 30's. These were people who in many cases had spent years building up their businesses, yet my father was able to join their ranks at such a young age.

Once I asked him how he did it and he humbly replied, "I just gave it my all and truly cared for the people I worked with and called on."

There is an old saying that goes, "the only constant in life is change", and so it was that several years later NationWide Insurance company at the time decided to lower the commissions they paid to their agents.

It was at this point that my father became one of the first independent insurance agents in our area. He went on to successfully build another agency of his own, called Global Life.

Years later my dad decided to sell out and pursue other business ventures. Incidentally to give you an idea of what he had achieved to that point, when he sold his agency it was actually split up and sold to two different companies.

Looking back I realize that my father was an entrepreneur in the truest sense of the word -- it wasn't so much the particular business he was involved in as it was the process that was involved in starting something and seeing it's eventual achievement. So it was that he became involved in real-estate development.

My dad had a number of successful developments, and was one of the first people in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to build condominiums. I can still recall his grin as he retold the story to me of how others said that, "no one would want to buy a condominium in Tuscaloosa, they're only for the beach."

Going against the grain of the so-called wisdom he held true to his dream, and proved them wrong.

After completing a number of successful ventures he decided to develop a project here in Tuscaloosa, AL. called SandalWood Condominiums. The basic idea was that he would renovate some apartments and turn them into condominiums.

The idea was a success, he had pre sold most of them before the project was even completed. Unfortunately there was only one problem. You see, my father was like most business men of that era. He believed wholeheartedly that a man's word was his bond. So needless to say when he offered to let some personal friends handle the financing of the project for him, he thought for sure they could be trusted.

Disaster Strikes in Tuscaloosa ...

Unfortunately the bank (at the time it was a Savings & Loan that still operates in our area of Tuscaloosa, Alabama) which was controlled by my fathers so called "friends" decided to pull out financing.

Since there was no official contract (remember my father believed a mans word was his bond) they had my father stuck with nothing he could do. Sure my father could have opted to simply not pay all the sub contractors who had worked for him and very likely have come through ok, but he just wasn't built that way!

Rather than let the bank reap the rewards of the SandalWood project, my father sold the project to some friends -- and ended up paying out of his own pocket all the money that was owed to the sub contractors.

Time to mount a comeback ...

My father had to start over at 40 years old with nothing. Let me tell you, as someone that was there along for the ride first hand this was no easy feat to endure. I sincerely hope that no one reading this has to go through it themselves.

To most people this would seem an enormous undertaking. Interestingly enough when my dad went searching for his next venture with which he would make his comeback he decided to pursue mortgage banking. Imagine that, he would be competing with the very people who had taken all he had earned to this point in his life.

Persistence pays off ...

I tell you with all the pride I can muster that over several years he built his new business back up and I am happy to report he did in fact make his comeback.

Incidentally if you read my profile page you know that this is the very business that I started working in at 15.

While my father passed away much to young I take great pride in knowing that he accomplished much more than most people have the opportunity to in far longer lived lives -- and he taught me many life lessons that continue to serve me well to this day.

So once again, I give thanks to my two greatest mentors -- I love you mom and dad.

-- Truly, Josh Hinds