ENTREPRENEURIAL DNA

In the first installment, I write the story of Martin, a being of light who influenced who I am.

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In 1922, Martin was only 4 years old and already knew how to make a few pennies selling oranges on the football field during the weekends or when he waited a long time in the July cold sitting to open the doors of the cars to their owners.

Two years ago, he had lost her father in a stagecoach accident and his mother was a 17-year-old teenager who had arrived by vessel from Zaragoza, Spain, to Rosario, Argentina.

They both lived with their mother's siblings.

Martin's uncles owned a butcher shop, there since he was a child he learned the trade where he could see the whole process from when they received the beef until they transformed it into different cuts that were sold at the counter to the direct customer.

He was twenty years old and he already had his own butcher shop in which he worked from Monday to Monday as he used to tell his grandchildren in family talks.

Martin loved playing soccer with his neighborhood friends.

His other passion was music, especially tango, he played the bandoneon and together with his cousins and other friends they serenaded the bride and groom on behalf of the bride and groom in love.

Soon he met a 13-year-old teenage girl whom he saw every other day when he went to buy from his business. It was love at first sight.

Determined as he was, he did not hesitate to talk to the mother of that girl to request permission and be able to see her on Sundays after Mass. At first it was not easy, but then her parents accepted the formal courtship and a year later they joined in marriage.

Martin with only 25 years and Hilda of 14 had formed a family and together they began their different business and family ventures.

To the butcher's shop, they added a groceries pantry. The family was growing and they had two children who were raised within the family business.

A few years later it was transformed into a mini market.

Hilda accompanied in the attention of the clients and in the control of the merchandise′s stocks.

The business continued to grow and they had to hire employees.

Martin also added a beverage delivery to families and small businesses.

To his commercial passion, it had to be added that he loved to build designing house and commercial premises for later rental.

He loved to draw and make plans in scale, although he had not finished his primary studies, Martín transmitted his ideas and projects to the architect who would later translate it into a real estate project.

After 25 years of working in the supermarket, he decided to sell it and change his business, Martín knew that he had to move to a quieter stage that would allow him to rest a little more.

There begins a new commercial stage with an industrial hardware store to which he adds some construction materials.?

Martín and Hilda, already consolidated merchants and with adult children, begin to travel and enjoy their years of work without rest.

Both bought a house in their "place in the world", in the high peaks of Córdoba, in which they spent happy summer and winter vacations.

One weekend in November going to rest at the Cordoban farm, they arrived at the house and Martin did not feel well, his heart was giving notice that something was happening. Entering the house he tells Hilda: "Let′s lock everything"...

He only vanished into his bed never to wake up again.

Hilda and her children bore the hardest part, returning with Martin's body to her native Rosario and thinking that her unexpected end had changed everything.??

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?If you liked this true story and have one to tell and inspire, send me your comments so I can put it into words and help others become part of the entrepreneurial family.