"DISNEY"
My first large order for Blackbourn was with Ashton Tate, a software company in Los Angeles. But just after that I received a call from my VP of Sales in Minneapolis — they were looking to hire a new salesman in the San Francisco area who had a contact at Disney, but since this was my territory, the lead was mine if I wanted it.
I was about as nervous as a salesperson could be. I worked up my courage, not wanting to screw up the call, and met with Adrian Gonzales the buyer. We hit it off from the start, but what I didn't know was that their primary supplier, Small World Greeting, had cut them off because their own product line had grown too large.
This was my first huge break with Blackbourn, and it set me up for two $100,000 commission years in a row, 1985 and 1986, and a Salesman of the Year award just a year into my time with the company.
This was my first order, and it was such a big deal for me — a 100% positive turning point in my career!
DISNEY handed me an order for $560,000!!!
After Disney converted to using an album where they could slide their printed sleeves into, we promised to install a new machine in Pomona to manufacture their albums. I negotiated an advance payment of $400,000 just for us to be their exclusive vendor.
That was insane at the time!
It ended up that the machine did not perform as advertised, and once we'd fulfilled the $400,000 obligation, I had to go back to Disney and get released from the agreement.
