The Chicken Story That Sold Bathrooms

I loved butchering chickens.

My mother hated it.

And believe it or not, that story helped me sell more than one bathroom.

During my years in bathroom-remodeling sales, I learned that the best way to stop being strangers wasn’t a clever sales pitch. It was to listen.

A question about someone’s house could lead to a story about where they grew up. Their memory would make room for one of mine. By the time we sat down to discuss the bathroom, we weren’t merely a salesman and a customer anymore.

This week, a passage from *How to Win Friends and Influence People* reminded me that the people who give us their time make our work possible and they deserve the very best we can give them.

In this episode of 'Along the Way', I consider what those sales appointments taught me about storytelling, gratitude, and the childhood memories that can open our hearts to people we have only just met.

What story from your childhood do you tell when you want somebody to understand where you came from?

Tell me down in the comments.

I promise I’ll listen.

'Along the Way' is my Sunday journal about building 'Five Minutes in America' and becoming the storyteller the work requires.

Get your free pocket Constitution at

I’m Tony Michaels. Stay free and I’ll see you along the way.