He is a true entrepreneur but selective in what he chooses to do. His father was entrepreneurial, and he followed in his father’s footsteps. Being your own boss is often what being “an entrepreneur” is all about, and knowing him as I did, I realized he had to be his own boss, which he always was.
He came to me as a young boy, and I allowed him into the Youth Hotel. His father ran the beauty salon in the International Hotel, so it seemed okay to let him join the kids from around the world. Generally, local children were not allowed in our facility. He was a good participant and assisted in helping guests from foreign countries feel at home.
When he grew into a young man, he decided to open his own art gallery and asked me to help him with his staff. I saw him as a soft, sensitive leader, and he proved this by hiring a young, brilliant young lady to manage his staff and gallery for him. He searched for and developed relationships with artists and worked with his management as an inner circle ought to work; he and they succeeded. He began to open galleries elsewhere, in San Francisco, Hawaii, and more places.
His success was not accidental but resulted from his way with management, staff, and artists. And he wanted me to be each gallery’s primary resource when it came to relationship-building and communication. We worked well together until he decided to sell and become a gentleman farmer with his son, a horticulturist.
From early on, I remember him as being open and a risk-taker. He never lost his voice nor restricted the voice of others.
Art, in one’s own eyes—He saw this and met that need—He contributed
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