Harold J Curtis was born in Maumee, Ohio in 1905 the youngest of 9 kids. He was just young enough that he didn't get drafted into World War 1 and just old enough that he didn't get drafted into World War 2. 

He was 24 when the Great Depression began. He'd already been married 5 years, had a young daughter and the second "on the way" when the stock market crashed and millions of Americans' lost their jobs in 1929, the beginning of 10 years of worldwide economic depression.

As the economy crumbled he went from entry-level employment at Ohio Bell (the phone company of the day in Ohio), to the most dangerous, highest paying job in the phone company he could find - lineman. 

In the evenings and on weekends he was the neighborhood repair guy, often working for a half dozen eggs in return for repairing a household appliance or a car engine. That was self-taught. Harold had dropped out of High School when he was 15 to help support his parents.

He worked as a volunteer fireman and EMT, on an "on-call" basis. Again, self-taught.

Grew a great vegetable garden in the backyard too. I remember that garden when I was a kid in the '60s visiting Grandpa Harold.

In an era when 25 percent of American men and almost 100 percent of American women were unemployed and showing up at soup kitchens for meals, the Curtis family had enough to share with neighbors, owned their own home and car. 

Of 6 grandchildren, I was the only grandson. That meant I got to visit my grandpa Harold in Ohio during a couple of summers when I was young. I remember him full of that "old man wisdom" that's frequently dismissed these days.

He taught me a lot of things but one of his patent mantras has been at the top of my mind these last few weeks...

Grandpa used to say "Billy - remember - all things come to he who hustles while he waits"

I used to smile and nod but I remember him mentioning that  A LOT. It took me a decade to really process what he meant but the lesson has served me well, and maybe, especially right now it can serve you too...

We aren't quite in a great depression but we are very close to the kind of economic distress that the world experienced 90 years ago. 

While you are "waiting" for the economy to come back...

Hustle

Get yourself educated with whatever skills you need to grow, build and prosper. Education has never been cheaper or easier. 

Grab every opportunity to build your online and offline presence. Call those customers when others are watching CNN. Building those landing pages, reach out to businesses to see if you can help them market their business.

Invest some time learning the skills it takes to run a business. The financial part, the operations part, the marketing part. 

Not all at once but a little every day 6 days a week. Remember

All things come to he (or she) who hustles while they wait

Wishing you all the best because that's what I wish for me and mine

Bill Bateman (like Batman with an "E" in the middle)

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