Rags to Riches

I stared at the crowd and told the biggest lie of my life.

“I was actually in jail at one point in my life”. That got everyone’s attention. Those on their phones looked up, the murmuring among others stopped. I had them. “I wasn’t always successful”. Sure, I am founder, owner and CEO of Sterling Enterprises now, but my life is very much a rags to riches story. I grew up in Redfern Towers in inner Sydney, not too far away from where we are sitting right now. The biggest eyesore of public housing you’d ever see.

I never met my father. My mother had a string of boyfriends. Her longest relationship was with a guy called Trev, who had a full-time job as a window cleaner. I liked Trev, he was funny and seemed to like me. He was nice to my mum too, which is more than I can say for all of the others. For some reason mum and Trev broke up, which was sad. He was the closest I got to a father.

Mum worked early mornings and late afternoons as a cleaner in the local high school, so that left me to my own devices much of the time. I’d hang around the streets, the skatepark and my friends houses after school. Before I knew it, we were all smoking pot. I had a big group of mates, who all had older brothers and sisters with a lot of connections. Sourcing pot was no problem, nor was the booze that became a feature of our Friday and Saturday nights. Between everyone’s combined efforts and commitment to getting wasted, we were sweet.

I bet you’re thinking….where is he going with this? Or maybe you just want to know why I ended up in jail? What can this loser teach me?

Bear with me.

I never had a steady male role model, apart from Trev. I didn’t relate to any of the teachers at school, and no male relatives to speak of. So I looked to the older boys in our neighbourhood. The ones who rocked up in their hotted up cars, with pretty girls, oozing confidence. Shane was one of these guys. The older brother of my mate Sean. He was eighteen and seemed to have it all. He was one year into his tiling apprenticeship. Shane was built like a brick shithouse and was what the girls called ‘a massive spunk’. He drove a red XY GT Falcon with black stripes. I wanted a car like that. Maybe a yellow one though.

I overheard Craig one day asking Sean if his brother was dealing drugs. Pretty sure 1st year apprentice wages ain’t gonna get you a shit hot car like that, he said. Sean basically told Craig to get fucked, but the look on his face was a dead giveaway. Sean was sus on his brother too.

I wanted a car like Shane’s, and I made up my mind, in that moment, that I was going to get it.

I was losing interest in school. I had two more years, and no plan for my future. Except the car. I wanted to get close to Shane, be like Shane. One day I got up the nerve to ask him if he knew of any way I could make some money. I told him about my car ambition, raved on about his Falcon. Told him about my job at Subway, $18.50 per hour. Most weekends. He didn’t say much, never did in fact, but said maybe his boss might have something for me.

A few weeks later, I saw Shane at Craig’s house, after a lazy Sunday afternoon of smoking bongs and playing GTA. I will definitely ask my boss for you man, he said, you deserve a fucking ride like mine! After which time he started pashing his latest girlfriend, a drop-dead gorgeous exchange student, Svetlana, from Slovakia.

Shane passed on Rex’s number, via Sean. “My bro said to call him, for some extra work ya know”. I had nothing to lose, everything to gain. It was a Saturday. Rex sounded a little pissed, and slightly annoyed at the interruption. “So my mate’s brother Shane…” and on I went to explain. Rex was curt. “Yeah I’ll call ya back soon.”

I waited for two weeks for Rex to call me back. In the meantime I went to school, smoked bongs with the boys after school and worked at Subway on the weekends.

Rex offered me a trial as a trades assistant, starting tomorrow. Start at 7am, knock off 1pm. I’ll pay you cash, $40 an hour. See how we go. It didn’t take me long to do the maths. More than double my wages at Subway. “Where do you live, he said, I’ll pick you up”.

I didn’t know it at the time, but this was the beginning of the end.

The first few months were good, great even. One of the apprentices would pick me up in the morning, the smell of bacon and egg rolls and stale beer welcoming me into the cabin. I liked the work. Cleaning up all the shit from the strip out, the dust, the tip run. Working on a building site was worlds away from the classroom. The boys burped and farted as a form of communication. Swearing was not only accepted but encouraged. I felt very at ease, For the first time in my life, I felt a sense of belonging. My bank balance was growing and that Ford wasn’t too far away. I’d picked up a few afternoons when school let out early and sport days. I was working three shifts a week now.

Rex asked me if I was happy. Shit yeah was my response. Who wouldn’t be? Not only was I getting paid great coin, I was getting stronger, and I’d be lying if I didn’t notice that I was filling out. My scrawny chest was a thing of the past. I was lugging around twenty kilo bags of sand and cement, and it was showing.

Rex then asked me if I was interested in an opportunity. An opportunity to make a lot of money. To get that car even quicker than I’d hoped. You have to be discreet. Keep your mouth shut. You’ll be paid well.

This sounded a lot like drug dealing. I went to ask but he cut me off. “Don’t even bother” he said. “You in, or what?”.

“I’m in”.

I thought about Shane. Hadn’t seen him in a while. The last I heard he’d gone on a trip to Bali.

Rex explained what the opportunity was. A ‘courier’ was the word that struck mostly in my mind. It’s easy money mate. I’ll give you different cars, different phones. All you have to do is deliver. The less questions you ask, the better. Think of the Falcon mate, it’s yours for the taking. If you want the job that is. I have another kid who’s interested if you’re not.

So what did I do? I took the job, of course. It was easy. Always a small parcel. Deliver to an address, leave it on the front door. Or a discreet meeting in a carpark or a café. On these occasions I had to wear a black Metallica T-shirt, blue jeans, a fawn LA Lakers Cap, embossed with the red logo. Unmissable. Sometimes all I had to do was go to the Post Office and send a parcel. I made a lot of money in a short space of time and I had the money to buy the car I wanted.

Rex called me on the way to inspect the car I had my eye on for a while. I have another opportunity for you. If you’re keen, he said. It does involve some overseas travel to Thailand. High risk, high reward. You get it? All expenses paid. Just deliver a parcel and then the time’s your own. 5 Star hotel, all expenses paid. Keen?

I don’t need to tell you all the rest, because you know what happened don’t you? I smuggled drugs and went to prison. Thank God they got me in Sydney and not Bangkok. Seven years. The first spent in a juvee until I was deemed an adult. Six years in Long Bay. Spent my 18th and 21st birthday locked up there. Meanwhile, all my mates were living it up, share houses, parties every weekend, festivals, you name it.

I cottoned on pretty quick that I had two choices. Learn from the tough guys inside, become one of them, or find my own way. Make something of myself, get a proper job, get that car. Study, start my own business. Make enough money so I never had to eat 2-minute noodles again.

Fast forward twenty years, and here I am. I owe my success to nothing but hard work and determination. No-one held my hand, gave me a leg up. I set myself a goal, and not only did I achieve it, I’ve surpassed it. But I’m sure you know how successful Stirling Enterprises is. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be sitting here right? You can achieve it too. If I can, you can. I’ve got a stand in the foyer, come and drop by. Our consultancy services are waiting for you. It could be the best decision you’ll ever make.

The crowd loved it, and I Ieft the stage to great applause. We got a lot of business from my little appearance that day. I don’t know why I lied about the jail bit, but it was far more interesting than my actual life story. With no social media back then to fact check me, I was going to get away with it.