Tag Archives: go for it

The Green Run

“Fortune favors the brave.”

—Terence, Phormio 161 B.C.


The following story was contributed by Kelly Simmons.

go for it

Kelly and her dad

I was six years old.

I stood atop the mountain, looking down at the treacherous descent that lay before me. I wasn’t ready for this. Why had I agreed to such a perilous fate?

It was Dad’s fault. He was to blame! I was perfectly content inching my way down the bunny hill at snail speed.

But now, I stared down the barrel of a green run. Terror took hold as I watched my older sister, Kristen, zip down the slope.

“C’mon Kelly,” Dad urged, coaxing me out of my momentary paralysis.
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“Do Better,” Said Dad

Business was dismal. Competition tough. Orders slowed. References led to dead ends.



Today’s story is from Annette Barnard.

I considered my assets. It wasn’t my product — I offered the best. But my marketing department… well, it needed some help.

do-better

Annette and her father, Walter A. Williamson

1962. My name is Annette. I was 12. My enterprise? Baby-sitting. Determined to rise to the top, I needed an edge.

I went to my father. I had a thought. “Dad, can I use your typewriter?” I asked. “Go for it,” he said. “But make it great.”

I typed away. A draft emerged. Not my best, but it would do. An advertisement of sorts; I’d plaster the neighborhood. “Dad, can I use your mimeograph machine?” I asked (this was before the days of printers). Again, my Dad complied. “Just make it shine,” he said. READ MORE