Have You Ever Heard of the Park Avenue Potato Peeler?

Have you ever heard of the Park Avenue Potato Peeler? 

His name was Joe Ades.  He died in 2009 but his story is inspiring.

Joe stood on a New York City street corner in a $1,000 suit and was often observed absorbed in the joy of selling $5 potato peelers. People bought peelers as fast as the old man could pull them out of the box. 

Why did they do this? What was the pull of a $5 potato peeler?

Turns out, it had little to do with the potato peeler and everything to do with Joe. 

Joe put on a daily show with his potato peeling demonstration. People bought his potato peelers because they liked his energy and by purchasing a peeler, they usually felt like they were gaining a bit of that magnetic energy for themselves. They walked away empowered by that sense of passion and excitement. 

I read his story, and others like it, when I want to be inspired.

I read it not because I long to be a potato peeler salesman or think I have to peddle potato peelers to be successful. I read it because it says to me that anything is possible with a little inspiration.  Potato peelers aren’t sexy. They aren’t even that useful. So if that worked for Joe, I could possibly make my passion work for me.

You can sell yourself better when you are passionate about something and excited about it. Finding comprehensive sites like this one, reading stories of inspirational people, possibly working with a mentor or a coach, and doing things like networking, can often help you with that inspiration and confidence you need to effectively sell yourself into the job/career you want. You might even talk someone into creating that job for you or helping you out along the way. 

So I challenge you: If a $5 potato peeler salesman can do it, why can’t you?