By Jeffrey Freedman
Article appeared in The Buffalo News on January 22, 2025
The people closest to me tell me I have no patience − a trait inherited from my father and grandfather.
When I graduated from university, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, other than I knew I wanted a profession or to own a business. I was fortunate my family had a bakery, which provided me with employment from the time I was 12 years old. I knew, however, I didn’t want to stay in the family business, because so many of my uncles, cousins and my dad were working there. I wanted to be my own person and start something new, where I had 100% control. And − due to that streak of impatience − I wanted to get away from the bakery off to that fresh start as quickly as possible.
My first detour was the year I took off between university and law school, so I ended up back at the bakery. Truthfully, it was there where I gained my work ethic, getting up at 4 a.m. to make deliveries when I started, and during that year off, moving up to sales. As part of that shift in responsibilities, sales, my manager sent me to Dale Carnegie Training.
I attribute the fact I got into law school to my Dale Carnegie training sessions. The program taught me to be motivated, enthusiastic and tenacious. At Dale Carnegie, I made lifelong friends, learned to speak in public and to never give up. When I was wait-listed for the Western New England School of Law, I jumped in my car and went to meet the admissions people. I was so enthusiastic they accepted me on the spot.
When I graduated from law school I took what I saw as another detour − I worked at the Democratic headquarters as an intern, writing press releases and speeches to help elect the late President Jimmy Carter. After he was elected, Carter signed one of the most important pieces of legislation for personal bankruptcy which, combined with my law degree, started my career helping people through financial crises.
The Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, which went into effect the following year, improved the lives of individuals who had fallen on hard times or been the victims of predatory lenders. As a trustee at the Bankruptcy Court I gained the expertise I needed to start my law firm. Since many bankruptcies occurred due to medical debt, I branched out to helping clients apply for Social Security Disability Insurance, which provides a basic income and health care coverage. My time interning for Carter’s election was far from wasted.
As an added benefit, working for Carter’s campaign earned me an invitation to his inauguration and one of the balls. I can’t say I became an excellent dancer − but it was good life experience. To this day, I’m not convinced I could have learned as much or gained as many social skills if I had been limited to online learning, as many students are now.
The law firm I founded in 1980 is still going strong − and if it hadn’t have been for Dale Carnegie and Jimmy Carter it might never have existed. My advice to the young is, don’t rush, look at those detours as valuable experiences, and you’ll end up where you want to be.