A Detour Through a Beer Distributorship

One of the greatest benefits of the American Dream is the opportunity to hit a roadblock in our lives, and, instead of that being the end of the road, it is just a detour in a new direction. In 1992, shortly before Kimberley and I were married, we came to a roadblock. I lost my job of 6 years and saw myself heading to the unemployment office, but I received a phone call from my brother’s boss at a beer distributorship; that man is now one of the owners of that distributorship. He practically begged me to come to work for him and to never draw unemployment. After one trip to the unemployment office, I agreed with him and took him up on his offer; the roadblock became a detour. I spent the next 4 years of my life working there. I drove an 18 wheeler to the brewery and back and also went to college full-time pursuing an accounting degree. After getting my degree, I went to work for a big six accounting firm, making the same amount of money as I did driving a truck

What does any of that have to do with the American Dream? My detour was possible because a young couple in 1959 invested in a Budweiser distributorship. I know we hear the Budweiser name today and think that had to have been an easy investment for them to make, but in 1959 it was a very risky decision. This couple started with a small warehouse and one truck and sold one thing, Budweiser. That is called putting all your eggs in one basket. Over the years that little distributorship has grown, the number of trucks have grown, a new beautiful large warehouse has been built, hundreds of different products are sold, and, over the years, has employed probably thousands of people; some of those employees stayed for a very long time while others didn’t last a full day. Ask anybody that has walked behind a dolly load of beer and they will tell you the beer business is a hard business. The result of that business for the young couple was the accomplishment of the American Dream, and, among other things, financial prosperity. Their accomplishments didn’t end with them, but the two owners that came after them, one being their daughter, pursued their own American Dream, and, among other things, increased their wealth. By the way, the ownership was not handed down or inherited, it was purchased. Again, if we look at the company’s success since then we would all say that had to be an easy decision, but at the time there was risk in that decision and the purchase did not come with a guarantee of success and wealth.

What is the lesson to be learned from this story? When a politician says that the young couple and the next owners did not make that business on their own, I, along with those owners, would agree. They know the community, along with hard work, is the reason for their success and that is why over the years the owners have given millions of dollars to their community to help make it grow, supported local law enforcement and first responders, supported many charities, hired local people of every race, gender, and age, and, over and over again, have taken a risk on people to help turn their roadblocks into detours. Just like me, there have been many people who have worked for this company with one intention, and that was to get to their next job; whether that happened through getting a college education or not doesn’t matter. Interestingly, when they have hired these short timers like me, it was no secret the only reason the person needed the job was to give them time to figure out in which direction the detour sign was pointing, and they have always been good with serving that purpose. The greatest reward for the success that comes from pursuing the American Dream is to give others the opportunity to pursue their own American Dream as well; that opportunity does not come with guarantees. Unfortunately, the American Dream is attacked, and at risk, because politicians and activists demand those “rich” people start paying their fair share and want to penalize their success through burdensome taxes, without ever recognizing the fact they have given way more than the government can ever take from them. Guaranteeing wealth equity does not create the desire to take on ridiculous risks in pursuit of the American Dream, which in turn takes away opportunities for others to turn their roadblocks into detours.

My roadblock turned into a detour because there was a young couple, in 1959, who were willing to take a risk in pursuit of their American Dream, their names were M.L. “Wimpy” and Gloria Wismer, and Jim Ferris and Ann Wismer have continued the legacy of turning people’s roadblocks into detours. Would I have been offered that detour by somebody else had that couple not taken the risk? Who knows, but I do know that detour happened and I will be forever grateful. There are untold numbers of people who have similar stories as mine. We need to remember detours created by politicians always end up at the next roadblock. Detours created by those with an entrepreneurial spirit always point to the American Dream.