How To Find A Mentor That Can Change Your Life
In 1905, Edwin C Barnes was broke, unskilled and uneducated. But he had an ambitious dream: to be business partners with the greatest inventor of his time, Thomas Edison. There were only two issues with this plan. First, he did not know Edison. Second, he didn’t have enough money to get to Edison’s lab in Orange, New Jersey.
Enchanted with this goal, Barnes decided to jump on a freight train and showed up at Edison’s laboratory unannounced, describing his lofty goal to the inventor. Edison, noticing the determination in Barnes’ eyes, decided to give him a shot. Not as a business partner, but as a floor sweeper.
Barnes saw that his foot was in the door and made the most of the opportunity. Not ashamed to be sweeping floors, he used this occasion as mentorship from Edison. Barnes gained Edison’s trust, worked hard and learned from his established colleagues while he waited for his moment to strike.
After two years of menial tasks, Barnes saw his chance. Edison had just perfected his dictating machine, later called the Ediphone. His salesmen were reluctant about the new invention and sales were lower than Edison had anticipated. Barnes, using what he’d learned the past two years, quickly developed a marketing and sales plan for the new device and was given the opportunity.
