You never know who you will meet...

​A couple of months ago I was sitting in a room waiting for a meeting to start. The meeting was going to start in 10 minutes.  People were slowly coming into the meeting.  A younger guy came in and he asked if this was the marketing meeting. We said yes and he sat down next to me. I asked him what he did for a living and he said he was a coach. 
 
I replied “a coach of what, what do you coach”
 
He said “I am a business coach”
 
I replied “Ok, that’s still pretty vague, do you coach finance, marketing, sales?”
 
He replied “I am an entrepreneurial coach for online businesses.”
 
I have hear that term a lot over the years. Personally I have found that most coaches haven’t succeeded personally as an entrepreneur themselves, so how do you coach someone when you haven’t done it either.
 
I then asked him “Have you ran a business yourself.”
 
He replied “yes, I ran an online parts store for bicycles.  My Dad and I ran it and sold it a couple of years ago.”
 
Immediately I was thinking “that’s your story.”  I asked him if he had any employees with the company.  He replied “Yes, we had over 50.”
 
I then asked him “you must have made some money in the sale. Are you set for life?”
 
He replied “We did good on the sale.  I have four children and we spent two months in Europe riding bikes.  My son was averaging 50 miles a day.”
 
I asked him “How old is your son.”
 
He replied “he is seven, so 50 miles a day is pretty good for him.”
 
I was thinking “I rode 50 miles once a couple of years ago and it completely wore me out.”
 
I then asked him if he enjoyed living in Europe with his family.
 
He replied “We did, it was fun.  But what we realized is the sure we like to travel. But we also like being home, having a routine and living life here.”
 
I have learned that everyone has a story.  Everyone has a compelling story. When you ask questions and are interested you will meet someone fascinating wherever you go.
 
Cheers,
Justin