My name is not Rockefeller, or Buffett, nor Jack Welch, all famous business people, who you have most likely heard of at some point in your life. My story is different; I never ran a large company, I am an immigrant from the "Old World", from the Netherlands, from a Jewish family, who lived through the horrors of World War 2, who had to hide, and who lost many in Hitler's camps. Born 12 years after that horrible war, I chose my own path, not joining the family enterprise, and spent over 20 years in the hospitality field in the United States, all by chance. The adventure started in 1982, when times were tough in Europe, and work was very hard to come by. My story is that of an immigrant, who moved up the ladder in corporate America through hard work, and sweat, driven to succeed. Ultimately you, the reader, will be the judge, and decide if my story has any merit: it attempts to give you an overview of the combination of European values, in American business, as it deals with various ways of doing business, ranging from "quality first" to money hungry Wall Street big wigs. You may draw conclusions, what is best, making money over all other things, or trying to be ethical in every way, while making "a buck" along the way. In addition, I attempt to make somewhat of a comparison between, what I grew up with in the Netherlands, and the United States of America. It is my sincere hope, that you decide how to do business in America in the best possible way and it is my hope to motivate those, who are excited about business, whether in hospitality or elsewhere.
