I was the eldest son in a family with 14 children. By the age of 3, I was going to school with my older sisters, and by 4, I was on the streets with my mother, selling everything from fruit to handmade Christmas decorations. My father, Billy, was a laborer on the docks. As I grew, I attended school only two or three days a week, spending the rest of the time working beside “the Ma” to help feed the family. That is where I had the advantage over my siblings. From 4 to 14, I spent so much time with her, not just as mom, but as business partner. I learned the basics of buying and selling, wheeling and dealing from her and my grandmother, who also was a street vendor. My mother—who never went to school—taught me these simple lessons before I was 10 years old: “You work harder, quicker and smarter than the other guys. Believe you’ll never meet a man better than yourself because you are terrific. And you always help those who are less fortunate than yourself. That’s what life is all about, son!”

Despite the economic resurgence in Ireland, there are those who are left behind. The foundation has so far awarded $35 million for youth projects throughout the country.

Budding Businessman
I had a mind for business, and my mother encouraged me. When I was 8, I convinced her to buy surplus dolls from a merchant. I asked my sisters to make dresses and bows for the dolls, and I sold them as “Judy Garland” dolls at a substantial profit. At 12 I persuaded an uncle to raise pigs with me, but a flood drowned the hogs and wiped us out financially, just before they would have gone to market. I was bankrupt before I was a teenager. When another idea, paper flowers, didn’t sell the way I expected, I realized I needed to bring my wares to the place potential buyers would want them—just outside a hospital—and soon my family had a virtual assembly line in the home for flower-making. Location, location, location.

Leaders are not born. They’re made. You have to have a confident belief in yourself. You have to have a positive attitude. Inspiration that leads to leadership can come from many sources. An American president, the great-grandson of an Irish immigrant, inspired me to aim for the stars. John Fitzgerald Kennedy visited Ireland in June 1963, when I was 21. I climbed on a statue to watch his motorcade pass. The cavalcade stopped right at that very spot. He waved to me. He looked me in the eye, and he waved to me. The speech he gave that day praised Ireland and the Irish. He gave us a great feeling of pride. That November, I was working, attending college, and playing some professional soccer, and when I heard of Ken-nedy’s assassination, my life changed in a moment. Ireland’s greatest son was dead. But I thought, if the great-grandson of an Irish immigrant could become the most powerful man in the world, there’s no limit to what I can do.

If we earn a reputation for excellence, we will become a major player in our industry and make a lot of money, too. That allows me to be generous to my employees and to devote time and money to philanthropy.

That’s when I wrote my first three-year plan. It had 16 objectives, ranging from being general manager of the Ford dealership where I worked to getting married to visiting the White House. And you know, pro football player wasn’t on it. College wasn’t either; I dropped out. I had to put my time into what I wanted to achieve. Within six months I pushed my way to promotion as general manager. I did achieve all of my original 16 objectives, and I continue to plan my life through three-year plans, broken down into yearly, monthly, weekly and daily steps in the various business and personal areas of my life. The plan is reviewed daily and weekly—and constantly updated. I have learned that when I commit a project/objective to paper, it is a sure way to make it happen. Since the original list, I have added: own a mansion, drive a Bentley Continental GT, get my own helicopter, have dinner in Buckingham Palace with royalty, and visit Tony Blair in Downing Street. And they have all happened.

BILL CULLEN is CEO of Glencullen Motor Group, the Renault distributorship for Ireland, a $400-million annual revenue firm based in Dublin. He also is founder of the Irish Youth Foundation, a children’s issues philanthropy. His memoir of his youth and business success, It’s a Long Way from Penny Apples, was released in paperback in the United States in February (a Tor/Forge, Tom Doherty Associates book). Penny Apples is an international best seller, spending 17 weeks on the London Times top 10 best sellers list.

I had several car dealerships over the years, and the Renault opportunity presented itself in 1986. Turning Renault around was a matter of common sense. I reduced costs by 40 percent. That meant having the skill to coalesce the workforce—to call the employees together and say, “This company is hemorrhaging” and reducing the salaries. I told them I’m going to have a salary of $25,000 and no one is getting paid more than me. Some disgruntled executives walked out, but everyone then put his shoulder to the wheel and we came through!

Today I do have money, but wealth in the form of profits is not what gives meaning to my life. The last thing I look at is whether I made money. If we earn a reputation for excellence, we will become a major player in our industry and make a lot of money, too. That allows me to be generous to my employees and to devote time and money to philanthropy.

At my company, now called Glencullen Motor Group, we budget $1,500 each month for an employee event that varies from an outing at a pub to going to a show. I send handwritten notes to those whom I want to thank for their good work. Saying thanks to people is one of the things that has helped me so much. People like to know they are appreciated, and if they feel good, they do a better job and do it with a smile.

Prospects and Progress
Disadvantaged kids are where I focus all my giving. We founded the Irish Youth Foundation in 1985. Despite the economic resurgence in Ireland, there are those who are left behind. The foundation has so far awarded $35 million for youth projects throughout the country. I personally give up to a half million dollars a year to the organization, and my company gives a quarter million. All of the royalties from Penny Apples go to the foundation, and we have guaranteed a million dollars.

The Irish Youth Foundation provides opportunities, because there is no advancement without opportunity. As a teenager, I received a break in the form of a mailing address. I sent out 730 job applications without getting a response. A friend pointed out that it was probably because my return address was a tenement. He let me use his address, and I got an interview. I got the job, and eight years later I was general manager—at 22 years of age!

One of the foundation’s fruits I’m most proud of: A band of 100 youngsters from Ireland traveled to New York for five days and took part in the St. Patrick’s Day parade this year. The band started in 1991 with only eight kids. We targeted kids who were joy riding and getting into trouble during that 3 pm to 6 pm time period between the end of school and when their parents arrived home from work. We now have 250 musicians, and the band has won European championships. A small group of volunteers manage the band and become role models. It is giving the kids a caring adult in their lives. It is also giving them a marketable skill. If you go to any city in the world, you can make $100 a day if you play a musical instrument. You might not make money as a concert artist, but you can always get a job playing at local venues, and those kids had the trip of a lifetime in the Big Apple. 

An independent committee of the foundation determines how money will be allocated. I might give input, but the decision of whom to support is strictly up to the panel, which uses a template of 17 criteria honed by experience. However, I am the main fund-raiser. My company provides the office space and supplies, and I use my connections to pull in more donors. They know if I ask, I am not asking them to do something I haven’t done. I also solicit sponsors to underwrite the costs of fund-raising events, so that every penny we raise goes to the children’s programs.

We are now looking into an affiliation with Girls and Boys Town in the United States. Boys Town was started by Father Edward Flanagan from County Roscommon in Ireland. We expect to have the connections in place in the next year or two. The Girls and Boys Town organization, started in 1917, has spread to 14 states, and a national hot line offers help to troubled children and parents. Having Father Flanagan’s successful creation come back to his homeland would be wonderful.

It is the sharing that makes life worthwhile. My mother always shared, like the time I won a Christmas hamper filled with goodies. The Ma took out the turkey—it was the first time we ever had turkey—and invited the neighbors to help themselves to everything else. When any mothers in the neighborhood went into the maternity hospital, one of the other ladies always moved into her house and looked after the household until the mother came home. Caring and sharing. I like to think I still have that today, because I’ve learned that the more you give, the more comes back to you. 

Photo courtesy of Andy Murray, Renault