How Purple Changed My Life

By joseph perrone

Ever wonder about what it might be like to take a job on a whim and find out it changed your life in so many ways? An Absolutely Positively incredible story. Joe Perrone is married, father of 2 boys and lives on Long Island. He has served on the Board of Education in his local community for 9 years. He wa

• Language: English
• Publisher: Book Writing Founders
• Release date: Apr 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088119563

Book preview

How Purple Changed My Life

Stories of a 40-Year Incredible Journey From 1979-2019

By

Joe Perrone

Copyright © 2023 by joseph perrone

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written per-mission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

Published by: Book Writing Founders

www.bookwritingfounders.com

Table of Contents

Chapter One Federal What...?

Chapter Two Welcome to New York City

Chapter Three Hit the Road

Chapter Four Opportunity Knocks

Chapter Five Growth and Expansion

Chapter Six Take a Chance

Chapter Seven The Big Change

Chapter Eight Creativity

Chapter Nine The Challenge

Chapter Ten The Big Decision

Chapter Eleven Back in the Saddle

Chapter Twelve Fun and Recognition

Lucky Thirteen What a Finish

Chapter One

Federal What...?

I

was going to hire a ghostwriter to help tell my story. That in itself is a task. I found many options, some appeared to be scams and others were expensive. The main thing that made me decide to attempt this on my own was the fact that everything I wanted to share was in my head.  Those that I did speak with said that it’s best to start with an outline or at least write down key points on what you want to share. I spoke with a successful author once who said, No one can tell your story better than you. I would never have even thought of writing a book, but every time I would share my history and stories from work, I would always hear from people oh, you should write a book. So here it goes. This is my attempt at writing my own story.

When I was younger, even before I had a driver’s license, I used to ride my bicycle to JFK airport. I was obsessed with airplanes. JFK was awesome. I was somehow able to get close to the runways back then and watch planes take off and land. I used to think how great it would be to work for an airline. Little did I know after a few years, I would actually be working for one of the world’s largest airlines. I graduated from Valley Stream South High School in 1974 with no real future plans other than being glad to be out. I wasn’t at the top of the class or even near the top. In fact, I am not even sure where I ranked.

All I know is that I was having fun, had some really good friends around me and was enjoying myself. I joined the local volunteer Fire Department, which kept me busy and gave me a place to hang out with some friends. I figured I would go to Nassau Community College for Retail Business Manage-ment and work part-time. To tell you the truth, I had in my mind this thought that if I could make 15-$20,000 a year, then it would mean that I was actually doing good in life.   I didn’t find College to be all that exciting or rewarding and felt I could get more experience working in the field I was studying in and continue making money on the side. So around 1976, I switched from Full Time College to Full-time work. I was making more money, gaining experience and even meeting the demand to opt for college in the future.

Sept 1979

I was engaged to be married and worked as a manager in a local department store (Alexander’s) for about 7 years. I had started there part-time while I was still in high school. The plan was to eventually graduate and move up the ranks to buyer, merchandise manager, maybe store manager or Director. I actually liked working there. Great people, it was fun and I was gaining good experience. In fact, it was there that I met my first wife and made some really good friends. The compensation and schedule weren’t good. I didn’t enjoy the occasional nights or weekend shifts, not to mention various holidays. It was retail and it was just part of the industry and you had to deal with it. The other thing that was a hassle was doing inventory twice a year. I was the manager of Linens and Domestics, which was one of the toughest departments to manage and one of the most difficult to inventory. After a couple of inventories, I got it down pat and actually broke the record for accuracy and timeliness to complete.

My sister, who worked at the HQ of a home healthcare company, said, You can’t support a family and live on a department store salary. You should check out Federal Express. She went on to say that the driver that delivers to her office says the company is great and they make really good money. She then shared with me that this guy makes upwards of $25,000 for delivering packages. Remember in 1979 this was good