(Part 11) Workplace Dreams: Winning Big in Business One Success At a Time!

 Just say, Cheese! It’s how you smile all the way to the bank. Well, that’s a stretch but Kraft Foods knows something about cheese. J.L. Kraft started the company by selling cheese as a middleman to local grocers. Mr. Kraft turned cheese into a mass-produced commodity that became All-American.

Maybe that’s why the company became so interested in the Ted Williams story. Williams was discovered at a traffic intersection by a local newspaper reporter. He was unemployed and recorded his “sales pitch” looking for work. The video went viral and major media outlets picked-up on his story.

Sex, controversy and celebrity sell! Just ask Donald Trump. But so does cheese along with an All-American story. Kraft foods identified with Williams because theirs is an All-American story too. Williams’ “golden voice” created a sudden rise to celebrity status. His was sort of like the “rags to riches” effect.

He was looking scruffy when discovered. We learned he was homeless. For some, becoming a household name has meant going from homeless to a living witness. These stories create an emotional connect to success. This may explain Kraft’s success in having an emotional bond with consumers.

After a few mergers and acquisitions, Kraft Foods is now traded on the Stock Exchange. It has seen quite a rise to becoming “big cheese.” Williams is not there yet. Even-though he was chosen to do voiceover on commercials. Here’s hoping that he’ll prove Kraft and others right as the newest “comeback kid.”       

Tip: Getting ready for success means doing the ground work before opportunity knocks.

Talkback: Ted Williams or Charlie Sheen, who has a better chance of having the “All-American, Comeback Kid story?”

Coming Soon: “Reinvent Your Game, Future-Proof Your Dreams: How Celebs and Pros Go From Played-out to Poppin’ Again!”