We caught up with the brilliant and insightful John Pfister a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have John with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Even as a child, I always wanted to make my own money. My family did not have much and I knew I could not ask my father for money. I learned very quickly that I could sell Kool-Aid or mow yards for money. As I got older, I started painting houses for cash. As an older teen, I went to work for my father who had his own business. He taught me the benefit of working as much as I could at a young age in order to get ahead.
I worked as much as I could during the Summer when most other kids were out playing. I enjoyed making money and having it saved for the upcoming school year so I could go to movies or on dates.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
As I have semi-retired from the Pier & Beam Foundation business, I have developed my own, local news service. I started off just attending local events and taking photos to post on social media for the benefit of sharing my experiences with other people who may not have known about the event or possibly could not attend.
As i expanded my service on Facebook, Instagram and my website, I reached a larger audience and it has slowly built up a good following.
I am now working on the development of a YouTube channel for video news reports.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Perseverance is probably the main ingredient to success. Keeping your expectation realistic is important as well. Finally, keeping away from negative people with negative spirits. You need positive energy to succeed. There will always be some people who will want to hold you back or pull you down. You must keep going and not look back. You cannot second guess your decisions of be noncommittal with your plans.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
My maternal Grandfather was actually the one person who influenced me the most about long-term goals and stable lifestyles. He worked hard and raised his family of five through the great depression of the 1930’s. After the stock market crashed, he was wise enough to only invest in penny stocks. The one he invested the most money in was a new company called “American Telephone and Telegraph”. This is now what we have come to know as “AT&T”. His investments paid off significantly over the years, even after his death, my Grandmother was able to live out a long and full life without ever having to worry about money.
Contact Info:
- Website: Action5NewsHouston.com
- Instagram: Action5NewsHouston
- Facebook: Action 5 News / Houston
- Youtube: Action 5 News Houston
Image Credits
Heather Leigh Jackson Paul Michaels
