My father was a
fighter-jet
pilot
in the british Royal Air Force and I
spent much of  my childhood in the
middle east
- a land of no golf courses, but a great place for a
young Scot to
practice his
bunker shots!
I was sent away to a rather old fashioned boarding school in
Scotland with a Star Wars connection!
I
remember the day we all went to the local cinema to see the film, and had to wait for the credits because one of the boys claimed that his uncle was an X-wing fighter pilot. We
did not believe him, but were amazed to see that his uncle's name did
appear as one of
the extras!
That boy was Ewan McGregor (who was later to star in one of the sequels!)
There
I am second from left on the front row with our fists on our knees! And
there is Ewan McGregor's father sitting next to matron. He was one of
the best housemasters ever, even though he must have slippered me a dozen
times!
Miraculously
I survived
high school and
managed
to finish
a degree in
Economics and went to work with the finest of
all the CPA firms - Arthur Andersen.
However, I soon realized that I
was not cut out for accountancy!
The whole time was spent planning my escape!
When they sent a career advisor over from Arthur Anderson's
HQ in America to our little Edinburgh office, he began by asking us to set
a long-term goal.
'What do you envision
yourself doing
in 5 years?' Some replied that they wanted to
get into the tax
department, or become
insolvency lawyers.
I declared that I wanted to get the hell out of accountancy altogether and do something more fun with my short life!
I had always loved public
speaking and had presented a course on
Presentation Skills to the Chamber of Commerce, lectured
Accountants on Stress Management and given a Time Management course to my fellow
students. I also started working
on a Scottish comedy routine to anyone who would listen!
I
honed my skill in the Edinburgh debating team and went
on to win 'The South of Scotland Speaking Competition'.
At the awards dinner I proposed a humorous toast and it was so well
received that I was invited to deliver more at other clubs. This lead to
similar after-dinner toasting gigs all over Scotland until I was
approached by a large company to tailor my routine
around their product and tour the States!
You
have seen the pictures on this website! I
have dined with Clint Eastwood and Leon Panetta. I have played golf with
Dick Marriott at Pebble Beach. I have toasted Regis Philburn, and Rudolph
Giuliani! I have bagpiped for Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts.
 I
now do around 10 evenings a month and I earn more than my
partner would have in Arthur Andersen!! I am put up in the most wonderful
hotels in order to rest well so I can go out and party with the clients
from Arizona to Brazil! Every year, I am paid to play golf at Pebble Beach. Last year I
gave my presentations on a
cruise ship to Bermuda. Do I love my job? No my job loves me!
But
that is only part of my work. I also host kilted gold tournaments, saber
champagne, tell stories, sing songs ...
... it all beats
accountancy!
How
would you like to leave that shackled desk and the predictable life and
swan around the country making money from your passions? No don't answer that - of
course you would. Let me try to inspire you into making your dream into a
reality in the next few pages!
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©2000-2005 JB
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