Early on in my journey from mediocre to great, I opened a flooring store in a New York suburb with a partner. For many reasons, we struggled to make a profit, which led me to buying him out and left me in a big hole. One Friday morning it took me 20 minutes to get on the main road from my house. At that moment I decided this life wasn’t for me.
As a New Englander, I always yearned to move back to New Hampshire. That night I told my wife that that’s exactly what we were going to do, and although it was a very stormy night, I drove to Hampton Beach, N.H. The next morning, I went to breakfast and saw a station wagon loaded with samples in the parking lot. Now, I can smell someone in the flooring business, so I quickly located that person inside the restaurant and asked him where he worked. He told me, but said since it was Saturday, few people would be at work. Elliot Stores was a chain of 28 stores that sold furniture, shades blinds, flooring and notions. Clerks took leads for the outside salespeople to sell carpet.