You Stick Your Hand in Shit...

Mr. Cohen was at his summer job, waiting for his delivery truck to be loaded up for the day.

“Yeah college is fun,” he told a mechanic while the two waited, “but I’m dropping out.”

“Why?” the mechanic inquired.

“Well, I don’t like it,” said Cohen.

“Ahh, you stick your hand in shit you wash it off,” offered the mechanic.

Mr. Cohen created one of the greatest brands in the United States. You know it. You’ve probably bought it. We’ll get to that in a moment.

Cohen didn’t immediately apply the mechanic’s advice. He quit college. He mopped floors for a bit, but quit. He worked as an ER clerk, but left. He drove a taxi for a while.

It wasn’t until Cohen had a partner and a plan that he persevered.

The duo’s first store was an abandoned gas station. They slept there. They couldn’t pay their contractors cash, so they paid-in-kind. They couldn’t afford equipment. Instead, they reached out to their friends and family asking them to check the classified sections for going-out-of-business sales.

They faced obstacles and found solutions.

They persevered.

They opened Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream in Burlington, Vermont.

You stick your hand in shit you wash it off.

You get knocked down, you get back up.

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