the Berean Christian Store in North Canton. Paul unequivocally endorsed Russ.


With a handshake, Russ went to work selling our products through thirteen states all over the mid-west. Over the next fifteen years Russ single handedly opened over one thousand accounts for us. A couple of times a week we would receive a bulging envelope from Russ with his handwriting on the outside and a bundle of hand written orders on the inside. This was long before the days of personal computers. Russ asked us to supply him three part order forms. Each time he wrote an order he gave a copy to the customer, kept one for himself, and mailed one to us.


I’ll never forget the day I came home from building silos and LeAnna informed me, rather hesitantly, that we had received an order from five Moody Bookstores in the mail totaling over $4,000.


and go into business full time. She was not as keen on the idea as I was. We did have job security with Mast Lepley, and we both knew the risks we were taking going off on our own starting a business with little, if any capital, a rented home, and a one year old daughter. However, we took the plunge, after which there was no looking back!


That first trade show that I attended in St. Louis was a real shot in the arm for us. By this time my 1964 Dodge had been totaled in a snow storm and replaced with a 1972 Ford woody station-wagon. That Ford was loaded with the best samples I could muster for the show. I was staying in a Travel Lodge in St. Louis and checked in the day before the show. I recall my room was on the second floor. There was no elevator. There was no way I was going to leave all of my trade show samples out in that station wagon all night and risk the chance of a burglary and be left empty handed for the show. I trundled everything up to my room that night, and hauled it back down the next morning.


I shared a ten foot booth with Donald Wildman and Perry Tanksley. The three of us were squeezed into this ten foot by ten foot space for four days. Donald was attending the show to promote Decency in America. Perry was a poet, and selling his poetry in the form of cards and wall décor. We split up the ten feet of space for our product equally.


At the end of the show I was holding orders for over $5,000 dollars! I was stunned! was beyond my wildest expectations.


It It was


a euphoric drive home as, with both hands, I clutched that batch of orders over the top of the steering wheel for the ten hour drive.


One of our unanswered questions was how to capitalize a business? We were both fresh out


254 pgrahamdunn.com CAROL CURIE AND ROBERT SHETLER It didn’t take me long to inform LeAnna that I was going to quite my day job


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