Several years after meeting Zev Braun in Chicago he had settled into his new movie making career in Hollywood, California. He came to NYC to meet with several investors about backing him on a new movie staring Mohammed Ali. Zev also met with Martin Tauger who was the chief officer of the W Braun Co. east coast operation. After his meeting with my boss they both sat me down and said that the company is going to pay all expenses to send me to a Dale Carnegie motivational course for six months durning the evening from 6 to 10pm three times a week. Zev Braun could see that I had no idea what they were talking about. So he set me aside and said, "Frank, I attended this course at Dale Carnegie many years ago. It's designed will give you the basic fundamental understanding for a young person, like yourself, starting a business career. I was so happy that my mentor, Mr Tauger backed up Zev Braun's suggestion to send me for bussiness career training.
I made arrangements to attend Dale Carnegie the following week. When I got there I was one of forty students and the four instructors were very welcoming. I received a of material. which consisted of Pencils, Pads, Brochures information about the course which included a copy of Norman Vincent Peale book "The Power of Positive Thinking". The instructors got right into the program by quoting Norman Vincent Peale's Ten most important quotes which starts off with the most important one.....
"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy." At this point I realized that I have a lot of work to do. and doubt set in, as to whether or not I have the ability to overcome this feeling of being overwhelmed. But if my mentors said that I need this training I'll continue to do the best I can to not let them down. So here we go. Number two, "Christmas waves a magic wand over this world and behold, everything softer and more beautiful." Number three, "Change your thoughts and you change your world." Number four, "The trouble with most of us is that the world we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism." Number five, "Every problem has in it the seeds of its . If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds." Number six, "Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven't the strength you think they have." Number seven, "Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that." Number eight, "Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow.But any action is better than no action at all." Number Nine, "Watch your manner of speech if you wish to develop a peaceful state of mind. Start each day by affirming , contented and happy attitudes and your day will tent be pleasant and successful." Number ten, "It's always too early to quit.
I found when we put these rules to practice our class of fifty percent women and men would help each other find the solution to the exercise presented by the instructors. It seemed like part of the solution was to develop "Team work" to find the answer to the problem. Another thing I found was that "Failure" was an important part of the solution. As the weeks went by it started to come together. I started to learn many of the techniques presented by the Dale Carnegie course, which included, effective public speaking and improving your memory like the name of the people you meet at a meeting for the first time and many more topics of interest.
As my time passed learning everything that Dale Carnegie had to offer, I thought back to how it was happenstance and luck when I first met Zev Braun in Chicago and he took an interested in me and my career goals. after publishing my book aplacecalledbrooklyn.com I found that "those of us who expect nothing, are never disappointed." therefore, my new blog, happenstance-n-luck.com has currently posted 39 stories for everyone to enjoy. My hope is to publish a new book with 60 short stories sometime next year. Thank you for your interest. Remember, it all starts here....
Testimonial from Susan Cox on facebook
Hi, Frank! I haven’t said hello in quite awhile but I couldn’t let this pic of Mr. Tauger go past me without saying something. I was 17 when I began my stint at Braun (as Susan Pace) and I cannot thank you and Mr. Tauger and Barbara Bryant enough for teaching me how to be an ‘office girl.’ That was 50 years ago and it paved the way for me….I’ve been the office manager at the same place now for 25+ years and I often think of my Braun family and how it shaped that part of my life. And how many times did I stand in the same spot he’s standing in that picture, talking to him…..LOTS! My first real job, and it all started when my sister in law got me a part time job after my morning college classes! Talk about happenstance
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