My Dad, the entrepreneur

I’ve never looked at my Dad under the light of an entrepreneur, but he really was. From a very young age, growing up in Montriond, a remote village in the French Alps, he once was attracted, as a little boy, by a shiny object on the ground, sparkling in the sun as if it were a providential treasure. As he almost reached out for it, the treasure turned into a viper that escaped his fingers…

Later on, my Dad went to Chamonix to learn woodworking, but didn’t carry on and instead of laboring for others, decided instead to by his own boss and started his own cheese making business. This was tough, unsatisfying and didn’t make him rich, but kept him going, trading, purchasing and selling.

Of course, he built himself the family home that would welcome my parents as newlyweds and in which they’d spend the rest of their lives.

During World War II and the German occupation of France, no one wanted to be the mayor of his small town, and guess who ended up with the job? My Dad, again. Everyday he has to hide stuff from the Germans, forge false papers and guide escaping Jews through the mountains into the nearby safety of Switzerland.

Later on, in 1956, while he was still pursuing his pastoral cheese making business activity, he saw the first tourists come up on a newly paved road to the alpine hamlet where he worked during the summers months.

A neighbor had just began selling refreshments to the passers-by and my Dad was mesmerized by the small, colorful soft-drink bottles that were being delivered on a regular basis, so he decided to do the same and undertook to build the first phase of what would become our very successful family restaurant.

He remained a builder and developer till his late 60’s when he opened up a family small hostel for young skiers to better occupy the winter season.

No, my Dad was not warm and fuzzy with his wife and his family, but very few entrepreneurs are. He was all work and all development, and I can only respect his tumultuous life path and be immensely thankful for it, because without him, I wouldn’t be around.