Interview With My Grandpa
Q: Where and when were you born?
A: I was born in Porto, Portugal, in 1950. I lived there until I was about ten years old before I was packed off to boarding school in England. I came back to Portugal for the holidays.
Q: Where did you go to school?
A: I had several schools. I went to the Porto British School in Porto until I was 10, then I went to a prep school in the New Forest in England. This was a boarding school, I was all by myself and it wasn't great. A few years later I moved to my second boarding school, Millfield. This was a definite improvement. I don't know what they call that in the states, but that was from when I was 13 to 18. After that, I studied engineering at The University of Exeter in Devon.
Q: What's your earliest childhood memory?
A: We used to live near the airport in Porto, it was a great place. I just remember snippets of being out in the garden and being able to ride my bike around the area, even on the runways. I remember it being a very happy time.
Q: Who inspired you growing up?
A: Oh must have been a race car driver. Yes, Stirling Moss was always my Hero. I always wanted to be a race car driver, but never quite managed to be one myself. I still ended up with plenty of cars to play with in my garage and I did race my Aston Martin in a vintage car hill climb race.
Q: What was your first job?
A: My first job whilst I was deciding what I really wanted to do was as a tour guide in Porto. I'd take a bus full of thirty or forty tourists around Porto and look after them. It was actually quite fun. After that, I worked for Crofts, a port wine company doing the engineering side of the business. I was there for about 2.5-3 years. Eventually I started my own company.
Q: How did you decide to settle in England?
A: It all happened by accident, really. We had sold everything because we were planning to move to Australia. Portugal had gone through a revolution and with many political changes we thought it was a good time to leave. Unfortunately the immigration laws to Australia became too complicated, so we never made it there. We ended up living in England instead. We both found jobs, one thing led to another. And well, there's no point looking back and wondering what would have happened if we'd gone somewhere else, we made a life there and we were happy with it.
Q: What's your favorite place you've traveled to?
A: Probably the Cayman Islands. We spent a lot of holidays diving there, and your mom was my diving buddy every time. I wouldn't live there all the time but It was nice to visit. It definitely had its time and those holidays are some of my happiest memories.
Q: How has technology changed your life?
A: When I was growing up, we had radios, that was about the extent of technology. There weren't many televisions, and no calculators, computers, or mobile phones. Everything was mechanical. Being dyslexic, modern technology probably would have helped me with writing and spelling, but other than that, I never felt like I missed anything because we never had it to begin with. My first mobile phone was about the size of a briefcase and hung over the back seat of my car with a cord attached to it.
Q: Describe one of the best days you remember.
A: It's hard to pick just one day because the best day depends on where you are in life. When I was little, getting my pedal car for Christmas was the greatest thing I'd ever seen. Years later, landing my first major contract for the company and finally seeing the business I had started succeed was just as exciting. They're completely different memories, but both were special at the time.
Q: Tell me more about the company you started.
A: We made the small condiment packets you get in restaurants like ketchup, sugar, mayonnaise, and other sauces. We didn't invent them, but nobody was really doing much with them at the time. We started printing hotels' and restaurants' names directly onto the packets, which made us different from anyone else. We eventually expanded into America, opened a factory in Orlando, and supplied businesses all across the United States. Looking back now, it's funny to think that people still use products that came from the business we started.
Q: Is your life what you imagined it would be?
A: Not exactly, but life never really turns out the way you'd expect it. When I was younger, I had two goals: never be out of work and to retire by the time I was fifty. I more or less managed both. You have to make the most of what you've got and enjoy where life takes you.
Q: What has been your greatest achievement?
A: Apart from raising my family, starting our own business was probably my greatest achievement. It was a huge risk because everything could have gone wrong and we could have lost everything we'd worked for. But you've got to believe in yourself. Hard work is important, but you also need a little bit of luck and the right people around you to succeed.
Q: What's the best piece of advice you would give to me?
A: Don't look back and mope about what could have been, there is no point complaining. Nobody's going to do anything about that for you. Make the most of what there is and keep moving forward all the time.