Chapter 483 Made by a Master (1/2)
Chapter 483: Made by a Master
Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Daniel Marshall was a legendary designer in the cigar box industry. He was born in poverty, and his father had been a farmer as well as a logger. When he was a child they lived in a fitting room trailer.
Fitting room trailers were commonly seen in the West. People sold clothes on the move without a store. The fitting room trailer empowered sellers to take their fashion lines directly to their clients.
”You have to know: the space inside a fitting room trailer is very small,” said Sayder. ”It might be able to accommodate a fat person to turn around and try on clothes. But, converted into a room, it would be rather small.”
”There's a Chinese saying that goes like this,” Li Du, said. ”'Only by experiencing the toughest hardships can one rise above the ordinary.' Apparently, Mr. Marshall belonged to this category of person.”
”Yes, when Marshall reached his teenage years, he dreamed about building his own sailing boat and touring the world. He was still living in his fitting room trailer then.
”Later on, his girlfriend's grandfather offered him a loan of 50,000 dollars so he could realize this dream.
”Marshall wanted to give his thanks to the old man, so he used teak to create a cigar box and gave it to the old man. The old man was surprised to see that he possessed such good craftsmanship and encouraged him to sell his cigar box design and rights to Dunhill.
”Spurred by the encouragement, Marshall brought his design and sample cigar boxes and went to Dunhill's headquarters in New York. He was 19 years old then.
”After many unsuccessful phone calls to arrange a meeting, the young man went straight to the company to request a meeting.
”Regrettably, Dunhill was not initially impressed with his work. However, Marshall was a very stubborn fellow. After numerous exchanges, Dunhill placed an order worth 250,000 dollars with him.”
Sayder smiled at the two of them. ”Look, this is a very inspiring story, right?”
Li Du shrugged his shoulders and secretly thought to himself, This fella is so naggy, no wonder he's an auctioneer. What's the use in saying all this? Can't he just tell us the value and identity of the cigar boxes?
Sayder didn't notice how Li Du felt. He continued telling the story eagerly. ”In actual fact, the order was just an act. Dunhill canceled it after Marshall left.”
Hans said in an annoyed tone, ”Oh, d*mn those capitalists. They have no credibility at all.”
Sayder glanced at him. ”Actually, I can understand why Dunhill did that. I've heard that Marshall set up a tent in front of the entrance of Dunhill's warehouse and slept there in order to secure a deal. When the negotiations failed, he rolled around on the ground in a fit!”
Li Du was dumbstruck.
Marshall was indeed a resilient man. As soon as he realized he would not get anything with Dunhill, he adopted another tactic: facing the consumers directly.
He took his cigar box with him and went up to the wealthy men of New York, asking them for their opinion and advice and showing them his cigar box.
Needless to say, Marshall did have talent in this area, but he was too young and inexperienced. His cigar box was also not yet perfect; there were areas that needed improvement. Why would the wealthy men who were accustomed to luxury goods want to take a look at his cigar box?
Fortunately for Marshall, someone from the Dunhill management team noticed the energetic and motivated young man, and decided to hire him as a designer.
It was said that Dunhill had employed him out of goodwill. However, Marshall learned quickly after entering Dunhill, and over the next two years with them, that he could take charge of matters independently.