Clint Black-The Newspaper Solicitor
When I was 14, I was hired for an after-school job selling subscriptions to my Hometown paper, the Houston Post. I was sent to some of the city's worst neighborhoods to solicit door-to-door. Even though I was often scrambling around after dark in bad areas searching for garage apartments, I was grateful for the work.
克林特·布莱克——报纸推销员
14岁的时候，我得到了一份放学后的零工——为我家乡的报纸《休斯顿邮报》推销订单。我被派去向城里一些最难对付的住户挨家挨户地征求订单。即使常常要在天黑之后到治安混乱的地区去寻找那些带车库的公寓，但我仍然对得到这份工作心存感激。
It was a challenge because people didn't like a stranger knocking on their door, especially a kid trying to get them to buy something. One time, a man slammed his door in my face and screamed, "I Don't want no damn paper." I forced myself to knock again and was able to tell him how great the paper was. I ended up selling him a subscription. I was soon among the top subscription sellers and, like other successful salesmen, was given responsibility for training newcomers.
这是一项挑战，因为人们不喜欢一个陌生人来敲自己的房门，尤其是一个试图让他们买东西的孩子。有一次，一个男人在我面前"砰"的一声关上了门并尖叫道:"我不想订什么该死的报纸。"我强迫自己再次敲他的门，告诉他这是一份多么精彩的报纸。最后，他签了一份订单。我很快就跻身于高销量订单推销员之列，并像其他成功的销售员一样，开始负责培训新人。
Around this time I started playing the harmonica and guitar. Before long I was playing in a band at chili cook-offs and other events. When I turned 18, I focused my attention on becoming a professional musician. I never lost sight of this dream. I'm sure my perseverance came from what I learned knocking on strangers' doors.
在此期间，我开始演奏口琴和吉他。不久之后，我就加入了一支乐队，在辣椒烹饪比赛和其他活动中表演。18岁的时候，我开始致力于成为一名职业音乐人。我从没有忘记过这个梦想。我相信，这种坚定不移的精神就是我在学会敲开陌生人的房门的过程中形成的。
That experience helped me in many ways. Early in my music career I was locked in a legal dispute with a former manager. He pressured me to back off, but I refused.
那种经历在许多方面都对我非常有益。在我音乐生涯的初期，我曾纠缠于与一位前任经纪人的法律争议之中。他强迫我离开，但我拒绝了。
Having all those doors slammed in my face as a kid gave me the strength to stand up to this intimidating figure. Except this time there was one difference: I was the one saying no. And I won.
所有那些吃闭门羹的经历给了我力量，使我能够勇敢地与这个威胁我的人对抗。只有这一次不同：我是那个说"不"的人。我赢了。
Louis Caldera-The Parking-Lot Sweeper
Both my parents came from towns in Mexico. I was born in EI Paso, Texas, and when I was four, my family moved to a housing project in East Los Angeles.
路易斯·卡尔德——停车场清洁员
我的父母都来自墨西哥的小镇。我出生在得克萨斯州的埃尔帕索市，在我4岁的时候，我们全家搬到了洛杉矶东部的一个住宅区。
Even though we struggled to make ends meet, my parents stressed to me and my four brothers and sisters how fortunate we were to live in a great country with limitless opportunities. They imbued in us the concepts of family, faith and patriotism.
尽管我们挣扎度日，勉强维持收支平衡，但我的父母仍然对我和我的4个兄弟姐妹强调我们多么幸运，能够生活在一个充满无限机遇的伟大国家里。他们向我们灌输家庭、信念和爱国精神的观念。
I got my first real job when I was ten. My dad, Benjamin, injured his back working in a cardboard-box factory and was retrained as a hairstylist. He rented space in a little strip mall and gave his shop the fancy name of Mr. Ben's Coiffure.
10岁的时候，我得到了第一份真正的工作。我的父亲本杰明在一家纸箱厂工作的时候，后背受伤了，他学习成为一名美发师。他在一条商业小街上租了一个地方，给自己的店铺起了一个奇特的名字——本先生发型店。
The owner of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent for cleaning the parking lot three nights a week, which meant getting up at 3a.m. To pick up trash, Dad used a little machine that looked like a lawn mower. Mom and I emptied garbage cans and picked up litter by hand. It took two to three hours to clean the lot. I'd sleep in the car on the way home.
商业街的业主在租金上给爸爸打了折，条件是每周3个晚上清理停车场，那就意味着要在凌晨3点起床。爸爸用一部看上去像割草机一样的机器来收垃圾;我和妈妈倾倒垃圾桶，用手来捡垃圾。清理这个停车场需要用2至3个小时。在回家的路上，我睡在车上。
I did this for two years, but the lessons I learned have lasted a lifetime. I acquired discipline and a strong work ethic, and learned at an early age the importance of balancing life's competing interests-in my case, school, Homework and a job. This really helped during my senior year of high school , when I worked 40 hours a week flipping burgers at a fast-food joint while taking a full load of college-prep courses.
这个工作我做了两年，但学到的东西却使我受益一生。我养成了自律性和坚定的工作道德，并小小年纪就懂得了在有冲突的生活利益——我自己的事情、学校、家务和工作之间掌握平衡的重要性。在我中学的最后一年期间，这真的对我有很大帮助，当时我正在学习全部大学预科课程，准备考大学，与此同时，我每周还要工作五个小时，在一家快餐连锁店做汉堡。
The hard work paid off. I attended the U.S. Military Academy and went on to receive graduate degrees in law and business from Harvard. Later, I joined a big Los Angeles law firm and was elected to the California state assembly. In these jobs and in everything else I've done, I have never forgotten those nights in the parking lot. The experience taught me that there is dignity in all work and that if people are working to provide for themselves and their families, that is something we should honor.
艰苦的努力获利了丰厚的回报。我考上了美国陆军军官学校，继而取得了哈佛大学的法律和商业硕士学位。后来，我进入了洛杉矶一家很大的法律公司，并当选为加州议员。在做这些工作以及其他任何事情的时候，我从未忘记过清理停车场的那些夜晚。那次经历使我懂得，所有的工作都有尊严，只要是自食其力、能够养家糊口的人，都应该受到我们的尊敬。
Suze Orman-The Waitress
In 1973, when I was 22, three friends and I piled into a Ford Econoline van in my Hometown of Chicago and started out across America. We ended up in Berkeley, Calif, where I got a job cutting down eucalyptus trees with a chain saw for $3.50 an hour.
苏茜·欧曼——女服务员
1973年，我22岁的时候，我和3个朋友在我的家乡芝加哥市，挤进一辆福特伊克诺莱货车里，开始了横穿美国之旅。我们的旅程是在加州的伯克利市结束的，我在那里得到了一份工作一一用链锯伐按树，报酬是每小时3.5美元。
But my first real long-term job was at a local diner called the Buttercup Bakery. I worked there for seven years and learned so many lessons, especially from a fellow waitress.
然而，我的第一份真正的长期工作，是在一家名叫金凤花面包房的餐馆里。我在那里工作了7年，学到了许多东西，尤其是从一位女服务员身上。
Helen was in her 60s and had red hair and incredible self-respect, something I was sorely lacking. I looked up to Helen because she was doing what she loved-serving people-and nobody did it better. She made everyone smiled feel good, customers and co-workers alike.
海伦已经60多岁了，她有着一头红发和令人难以置信的自尊心，而那正是我极为缺乏的。我尊敬海伦，因为她热爱她的工作——为他人服务——且没有人比她做得更好。她使每个人都笑逐颜开，感觉良好，无论对顾客还是同事，她都一视同仁。
I also learned how important it is to take pride in life's little accomplishments. When I helped out in the kitchen, nothing made me feel better than putting two eggs on the grill, flipping them over easy, and serving them just the way the customer wanted.
我也学会了以生活中微不足道的成就为傲，是一件多么重要的事。当我在厨房里帮忙的时候，没有什么能比打两个鸡蛋在煎炉上、两面翻转、按顾客的要求送上去，更令我感觉良好的了。
Being a waitress changed my life. One of my regular customers was Fred Hasbrook, an electronics salesman. He always ate a ham-and-Monterey-Jack omelet, and when I saw him walking toward the diner, I tried to have it on his table as soon as he sat down.
女服务员工作改变了我的一生。我的一个老主顾名叫弗雷德·海斯布鲁克，是一位电子器件销售员。他总是吃一种火腿夹干酪蛋卷;每当我看到他向餐馆走来的时候，我就尽量做到他刚一坐下，我就把蛋卷端到他的桌子上。
Thanks to the new found confidence I picked up from Helen, I dreamed of having my own restaurant. But when I called my parents to ask for a loan, they said, "We just don't have the money."
由于在海伦那里获得的新发现的信心，我开始梦想拥有属于自己的餐厅;但当我给父母打电话借钱时，他们却说我们没有钱。
The next day, Fred saw me and asked: "What's wrong,sunshine? You're not smiling today." I shared my dream with him and said, "Fred, I know I can do more if somebody would just have faith in me."
"第二天，弗雷德看到我，并问我怎么了，我的阳光?你今天没有笑容。"我把我的梦告诉了他，并对他说弗雷德，我知道，只要有人对我有信心，我能做更多的事。"
He walked over to some of the other diner regulars and the next day handed me checks totaling $50,000 -along with a note that I have to this day. It reads, "The only collateral on this loan is my trust in your honesty as a person. Good people with a dream should have the opportunity to make that dream come true."
弗雷德向其他一些餐馆的常客走去;第二天，他给了我几张总额5万美元的支票，以及一张我至今仍珍藏着的便笺。便笺上写着"这笔借款唯一的担保，就是我对你诚实做人的信任。有梦想的好人应该拥有美梦成真的机会。"
I took the checks to Merrill Lynch — the first time I had ever entered a brokerage house -where the money was invested for me. I continued working at the Buttercup, making plans for the restaurant I would open. My investments soured, though, and I lost the money.
我拿着这几张支票去了美林证券公司一一那是我第一次走进一家代理公司——我用那笔钱进行了投资。我一边继续在金凤花餐馆工作，一边为我将要开办的餐厅进行着计划。然而，我的投资失败了，我失去了那笔钱。
I found myself thinking about what it would be like to be a stockbroker. After great deliberation I decided to apply for a job at Merrill Lynch. Even though 1 had no experience, I was hired and ended up becoming a pretty good broker. Eventually I paid back Fred and my customers the $50,000, plus 14-percent annual interest. Five years later, I was able to open my own firm.
我开始考虑成为一名股票经纪人会怎么样。深思熟虑之后，我决定去美林证券公司求职。虽然我没有任何经验，但我还是被录用了，并最终成为了一名出色的经纪人。终于，我以 14%的年息还清了弗雷德和我那些餐馆顾客的5万美元。 5年之后，我开办了自己的公司。
I got a thank-you note from Fred, which will be imprinted on my heart forever. He had been sick and wrote that my check had helped cover his mounting medical bills. His letter reads, "That loan may have been one of the best investments that I will ever make. Who else could have invested in a counter girl with a million-dollar personality and watch that investment mature into a very successful career woman. How few 'investors' have that opportunity?"
弗雷德给我写了一封感谢信，这封信将永远烙印在我的心上。他一直都有病在身，他说我的支票帮他支付了日益增多的医药费。他在信中写道那笔借款可能是我的一次最佳的投资。没有人会给一个有着价值百万美元人品的餐馆女孩儿投资，并且能够看着这个女孩成长为一名非常成功的职业女性。有几个‘投资者'有这样的机会呢? "