In this impromptu video blog, I chat to Chris Ludwig on the seeds of his success. Prior to this video blog, I had never met Chris before or knew how amazing he is. Chris was standing next to me in a long queue and we just got chatting. Five minutes into our chat, I just knew I had to get Chris on my camera and share the seeds of his inauspicious beginning on YouTube.
For those with bad connections, we’ve written up a brief excerpt of the stories in note form below the video. However, when you have time and a stronger internet connection, we do recommend you listen to Chris Ludwig as you would get more out of his story that is not covered in our brief notes.
The brief notes from my conversation with Chris Ludwig are shared below the video.
Why cleaning toilets was the best job ever
Chris “Chin” Ludwig family business began in 1965 selling equipment needed to spray paint houses. From there, they had evolved his business to fixing spray paint hoses, and is now starting a business in the burgeoning 3D printing sector. Chris had a wonderfully supportive father who was also his coach and mentor, but admits that having a parent as a mentor was a double-edged sword.
Chris’s upbringing was as entrepreneurial as it was, and these are his words, “brutal”. At 11 years-old, Chris’s father said to him “you’re coming to work now,” naturally Chris assumed this would be in sales or marketing.
To his surprise (and horror) his father handed him a toilet brush and set him the task of cleaning; the toilets, the lights, and polishing all the floors. For Chris’ hard work, his dad paid him the princely sum of zero dollars.
What Chris’s father was teaching him was this lesson, “If you want to own the show, you’ve got to own the show”. This taught Chris that if he wanted to be successful, he had to learn everything from the ground up and to grow in your area of passion, you may have to work for nothing.
It also taught Chris that the best way to learn something is by doing, by taking action, and simply getting on with the tasks that needed to be accomplished.
Chris got fired again, and again…and again
Over the years, Chris has worn many different hats. He fondly remembers all the times his Dad fired him. Whilst hurtful at the time, Chris learned the values of building a family run business. In addition, Chris also learned through this valuable experience what he was capable of accomplishing by himself and how much more he could accomplish with a team.
The most touching and mindset affirming story Chris shared with me was that whilst business lessons are important, life lessons are more so. The story surrounded the time when his daughter was born. At the time, Chris was out of the family business and working in a grocery warehouse.
When Chris was working at a grocery warehouse his daughter was born. She spent the first four months of her life in intensive care. His greatest lesson was taught to him by the surgeon that operated on his daughter, “it [potential family trauma] does one of two things. It either destroys the relationship, or it makes it stronger.” Chris and his wife recently celebrated their 29th anniversary.
To summarise, Chris’s lessons for us:
- No matter what, you need to persevere.
- We can choose to let things destroy us and our relationships, or we can use those same things and situations to make ourselves stronger.
- Your parents may seem harsh or incapable when you are young, but as you get older you realise the value of their mentoring, coaching and parenting.
Huge thanks to Chris for sharing his insights with me. If you found Chris’s story helpful and inspiring:
- Like the video and subscribe to the channel for more property and financial insights and strategy.
- Write us a comment and share the article with your friends to help them become motivated and inspired too.
In the meantime, here are further stories on people’s property journeys:
- Property secrets of a 26 year old millionaire school dropout – Ryan Windsor
- 23 jobs to becoming a property millionaire by age 23 – Stephanie Brennan
- Money or Passion – Regan Anne Hillyer
If you are starting your own financial freedom journey, enjoy the following articles from our library which will help springboard you into a new chapter of achieving your life dreams.
- Trick yourself into becoming a money magnet
- The hidden costs of wealth creation
- Seven techniques to save more
- Five personal growth areas you must spend money on
- How to raise £250,000 in 7 days
Finally, if you are interested in the lessons from other successful people who attended the JTFoxx family reunion event check out the following articles:
- Bleeding is part of success – Paul Kanofski
- Fear induced obstacles to success – Damien Elston
- Solve this Japanese Multimillionaire’s Secret Riddle – Chris Okazaki
