Years ago, when I worked at WM my unit had a collector to collect on the smaller accounts that had past due amounts. We were the Hazardous waste unit, so our services were highly specialized, not to mention expensive and we dealt with small clients on one-off projects.
Wally was our collector, he didn’t work for me, he worked for both Hazmat units. So, we both reported report to the same person. But I occasionally had to report to corporate and was put close to Wally. He was there to make calls and bring in the money, not wanting to deal with anyone in the office. He just wanted to get his job done.
But I was able to get past that a bit and got to know him somewhat. He informed me, that I had no idea who I was or what made me tick. He was right for the most part. I took a step back and thought about what he said. It took some time to internalize it, I started to make some changes eventually starting my own business. Others encouraged me to do the same thing as well.
Wally wanted to run his own business and make his fortune. In his mind he was behind in his timeline and was frustrated by it. His plans were to buy debts, with or without recourse and then bring in the money for himself. He was working for WM because his finance guy failed him on the $1,000,000 package they were to buy, for something like $400,000 or so. He was working at Waste to seed his company.
Wally expected to be worth $1mm personally by 40 and he was in his late 30’s at this point, so time was running out in his mind. He was able to laser focus himself. He had everything planned and outlined, including work-life balance. Work time was for work and kid time was all for the kids.
He explained a world I was aware existed, but he showed me a vision of it that surprised me. There is money to be made in collecting on debts that are for sale. I knew companies bought and sold debts regularly, granted not the ones I worked for, but I was aware that others did this. Apparently very good money can be made, if you are good at your job and buy the correct assets.
When WM imploded, being a $7B operation being taken over by a $2B operation, I lost contact with Wally. But I know he hit his goal. I have never seen another person so focused on his tasks and goals. With that kind of dedication, he could do nothing but succeed, even if he had to purchase, smaller parcels of debt from iffier clients. He was going to succeed in meeting his goals.
I wish I had half of his drive. But he pointed out that relationships were important to me and helping people was my real goal. So, I am working off of Wally’s plan for me.