From a Lemonade Stand to My Feet in the Sand
douglas hauptman • April 26, 2023
Determination will take you anywhere, if you let it.
How I Freed My Spirit and Lifted My Feet from the Ground
You can do anything if you work hard enough.
At the start of this endeavor, our goal was to simply satisfy my father. However, as the money came in so did my determination to make more. My mom and dad were never rich but they always gave us money for lunch and anything school related. Anything else we wanted had to come from our weekly allowance and my allowance barely touched my fascination with pin ball machines! Across the street from our lemonade stand was a hamburger place with my favorite machine, Kings and Queens. You can imagine my eyes lighting up when I had a jar full of quarters to spend! If I could go back and tell that little boy a word of advice, it would be to save. I never saved a penny, but perhaps that is what gave me to momentum to earn even more.
My parents were constantly separating and dating in between. They eventually divorced. We spent a lot of time raising ourselves and staying busy with our own adventures. We moved from Oakland to San Diego, California. We made our new home in the apartments and my dad made deliveries for UPS to pay the bills. He was later fired for drinking on the job and found a new position delivering prescription drugs. My dad would steal some of the pills and leave them organized on the counter before passing out for the night.
My best friend happened to live in the very same apartments, his name was Dwayne. Dwayne and I had already been dabbling in drugs and decided to start skimping some from my dad’s stash. We would wake up early while my dad was still asleep and carefully take some of the really good stuff without making a sound. We added these pills to our inventory and proceeded to invest in marijuana and other drugs. As young boys, we were rewarded with popularity at school and, of course, the girls were crazy for us! This is the time in my life that I learned to be street smart and also how to be direct in collecting money. These skills carried on into my future but I also went down a difficult road of drug dependence before utilizing them to my advantage.
I moved to San Diego and dived deep into growing marijuana. I grew a ginormous plant and had endless money flowing in. Eventually, I found myself in a bad crowd doing meth, heroin, and other harder drugs. I was still just a teenager at this time.
When I tuned 16, my great uncle had died unexpectedly in a car accident. I dropped everything and went with my family to Hena, California for the funeral. I remember looking down at Dick and getting the surreal feeling that he was speaking right to me. Afterwards, the family gathered at my grandma Bernise’s house for the eulogy. My aunt Teddy gave a speech that gave me an epiphany to change the direction of my life. She said, “God does certain things at certain times to get our attention. If you aren’t doing right by our family, and you’re sitting out there, then get it together”. It was at this time, that I also started feeling withdrawals from the drugs. I went back to San Diego with a mindset that changed my future for the better.
I was sick for about 6 months with the most agonizing withdrawals, but it did pass, just as all things in life do. I got my health back but I also was kicked out of my house and ended up quitting school. Instead of selling drugs, this time I worked 2 jobs, paid for an apartment, and began attending college with my GED. I was forced to get it together following Grandpa Dick’s death and that might have in return, saved my life.
At 18 years old, I had endured most things that people experience as young adults, not as a child. I decided I was done with dish washing and fast food jobs. I wanted more. I landed a job as a salesman and thrived at it because I loved to talk! I had a great persona and understating of communication. I learned this skill long before the sale position, I learned it as a survival skill. I realized that I would always have the skill of talking to others and being persuasive, but it’s where I applied these skills that would determine my future success, and drugs were no longer the reward. My self-worth was the new reward. The next 3 years were challenging and testing of my determination, but like everything in life, something bigger was to come.
At 21 I was selling semiconductors and computer electronics, making 20k in just one month. I quit college and went head first into sales and commissions. The road ahead proved to be full of opportunity and I didn’t let even one pass me by. Today, I am a successful entrepreneur and in return helping others, like my young self, succeed in their goals and aspirations.
I wanted to share this story because it’s proof that anyone can come up no matter how low they are. My bottom was drug dealing in Oakland California, sleeping in a van, and down on my luck as a 16 year old boy, yet here I am high as ever on determination and motivation. The secret to my success was simply change and action. The only thing ever holding you back from reaching your goals is your own decision to take action and make these changes where necessary. No one can do that for you but your own self.
I went through a lot of hardship that no young child should ever endure but the mentality of achieving anything I dream of was gifted to me at my youngest of phases. When I was 6 or 7, I vividly remember my dad inviting me for a walk along the railroad tracks. I was skipping stones and being the usual curious boy. My father stopped and asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told him I wanted to be the President. He asked what kind of president I had in mind and I told him, “the President of the United States daddy”. He replied, “Well son, you can do anything if you work hard enough”.
Those words never left my side to this day and throughout my journey as a young man with big dreams. My life is a testimony to his words and I try to pass that on to my employees, children, and anyone I come into contact with. You can read my other blog posting, “Life and Death Legacy”, to see my perspective on legacy and why it is important to leave one behind for others after you.
My message to you is that everyone should leave a life that is noteworthy. You don’t have to have children to pass on your influence, you can influence many people in life through community service, mentoring, or simply helping someone in need of support. If you can make a difference in at least one person’s life before you die, well then you have made this world a better place.
Today, I am a life coach aside from my other business ventures because I want to give back to my community and help others overcome hurdles that show up along the way. I am grateful to put my feet in the sand with my family in complete peace, but I will never forget the boy at the apartments, the boy in the van, and the boy who made his first big sale. I want to help others identify the strengths in their biggest doubts, and use that validation to get off their feet and soar to anywhere they wish.
Coach Doug's Blog
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