CHAPTER SIX
THE RETURN
“God doesn’t require us to succeed;
he only requires that you try”
Mother Teresa
September, 1987. Tony returned to Brazil and found his father in financial trouble again, this time about to lose his property, the farm land which he had inherited from his father.
Since Tony needed some time off to go on with his life, he did not hesitate and went to help his father. The first thing he was able to acquire was a new farm property in the city of Tangara da Serra, MT, in western Brazil, 1,100 miles from Sao Paulo . Somehow he was able to purchase the property by himself and exchange his father’s property, taking the risk out of losing it. He was motivated by his father, who had always wanted to get property in this growing area of Brazil.
He made a new project for growing crops with artificial irrigation systems; he worked like crazy day and night, and got all the available financing at banks, and purchased all the necessary equipment while his father stayed back in Jaguariuna trying to negotiate with banks and loan sharks to whom he owed money.
Mr. Ulysses Lima: To understand Tony’s father better we have to go back in time. Mr. Lima was the oldest son of six, from a very traditional family inland of the city of Guaira, SP, 300 miles from Sao Paulo. His father, Antonio Lima, a man with a controlling personality, never gave Ulysses the chance to think independently; he always decided what the best was for him. And Ulysses conveniently accepted and so everything that went wrong with his life was blamed on his father. After his father’s death Mrs. Lima took on the same role as his father, and later Tony did the same thing for him again, and life goes on…
So Tony now lived in Tangara da Serra in his own place; he was a farmer now, with high-status for his experience of living in the USA, and he made lot of friends, including the mayor of the city. As a Don Juan no words need to be said about his many girlfriends.
This is another interesting and funny moment for Tony. One day his father came to visit him in Tangara da Serra, and Tony wanted to show his father how well-known he is in the city so he took him to visit the mayor’s office. The mayor welcomed them in his impressive air-conditioned office. As they were leaving the office his father and the mayor kept extending the conversation. Tony wanted to leave because he had eaten too much the day before, and he was having some major gas problems but the conversation kept going. He could not resist anymore, so slowly he started to blow a fart, thinking that may be OK, but things went wrong and it happened to be the worst stinking fart he ever blew. So he walked away and waited for his father about 50 yards away. The scene got very funny, his father thinking that the mayor was the one with flatulence and consequently the mayor thinking that his father was. So when his father got into the car he said, “This mayor has no manners!” And Tony could not resist and started to laugh his head off. And his father continued, “And you left me there alone.” That was when Tony told him that he did it. Boy, his father wanted to spank him.
A few months went by and one day Tony was at a rodeo festival in Tangara da Serra with a friend. And when he saw a beautiful girl as one of the jury for the festival, he asked his friends who she was, and they told him, “This one is not for you; she is engaged to get married!”
Tony’s mind was programmed; if someone said to him, “You can’t get it,” he challenges that! It was not different this time, and a few weeks later he was dating Sophia.
Sophia Nardi was Brazilian born of Italian descent, 23 years old, brunette, brown eyes, very good looking, extremely outgoing personality, hard worker and a dedicated person.
So in few weeks Sofia decided to call the wedding off and to date Tony. She lived with her sister in town, and when she revealed the news to the sister, her sister got really mad. “How could you do that? Everything is set, how can you call it off? Who is this new guy? What do you know?” And Sofia’s sister demanded that she move out of her house. Well, Tony felt guilty about it and since he was living by himself he offered her to move in with him temporarily. At this point Tony was not ready for another steady relationship, but when he least expected it he was back in another relationship.
Tony’s father was not able to manage some of his debts, and since the property was titled under his name, one of the banks secured a lien on the property, making it impossible to get any future financing for the farm.
August, 1988. Tony returned to the USA. Even having all kinds of disagreements with Sophia he decided to bring her with him back to the USA. Later they married and they applied for her legal residence.
This time Tony decided to do what he really liked. To sell cars! He had met a Porsche dealer manager some time ago. So he visited him and explained his intentions. The manager told him if he is going to work as a car salesperson he should try a Ford dealer, because he could make mistakes, and still make the sale. At that time Ford was the number one in sales in the USA. He followed his advice and looked for the best Ford dealer around and went there to get a job. And got it.
It was how he started working at Manhattan Ford in Manhattan Beach, California. Finally he was able to sell in the US. He was one happy guy. He was hired as greeter, the salesperson you first see at the dealership; he was the salesperson of the month for several months, and then he was promoted to closer, the man who negotiates the deal and later as a Fleet and Sales Manager. He always had one of the highest pay-checks of the dealership. Most paydays he got the check from the general manager, who could not believe his achievement.
Some of the experiences he has at the Ford dealer:
On his fifth month working at the dealership, he broke the record and sold more cars than anyone else had done at that dealership and made about US $7,000.00 that month. The average was less than $1,200.00 per month. However the following month he only sold three cars and got the very minimum wage. What a disaster! This is what happens when success comes so quickly and you are not prepared for it. A great challenge for a lot of companies is that they do not provide proper training for the salespeople when they over produce.
Another time he was trying to sell a car to a young lady and her father at the dealership, and it was late at night (10:00PM) Even though the daughter loved the car, her father could not make a decision to purchase the automobile. Tony had tried everything, and nothing seemed to work. No way would he make the decision now. Tony felt he was doing the right thing and as the couple was leaving the dealership Tony got on his knees and said, “I beg you, for God’s sake please buy this car!” Instantly the father changed his mind and agreed to get it, and the daughter was so happy.
The most difficult part for the finance manager at the dealership was after adding everything to the sale of the car the payments were still lower than what Tony had closed before with the client. When people buy cars they have two things on their minds, how much do they have to put for down payment, and how much are the monthly payments. Tony knew that very well and his persuasion capacity was incredible. Many times he has got complaints to close the sale with lower payments.
In a very short time Tony was promoted to a fleet manager, and if you wanted to buy a car and talked to Tony, you for sure would be driving the new car home. No matter what kind of car you wish, he was able to outsell the 14 other dealers (different brands) of the group he worked for. He was the only one to earn it.
Some of his best clients were the employees from Varig Brazilian Airlines. Varig had set their base in Los Angeles, for the continuous flights to Asia, and they would bring their staff from Brazil. When they first arrived they had no credit, but they would receive, as an addition to their salaries in Brazil, an additional allowance of over forty thousand dollars a year. So one day Tony went to the office of Ford Motor Credit, explained the situation, and got an exception rule, that all employees of Varig will get instant approved credit. So the news went around and everyone from Varig would receive an internal memo, saying that to purchase a car look for Tony Lima, he got credit approved for you. Of course it did not take many months until the competitors found out and got the same benefit.
He also managed to work his own hours, although he always was there, but he got the right to do whatever he wished. That was Tony Lima.
Tony tried to visit his first son Arthur, and every time he visited him, he had an argument with Christine, so to avoid this he stayed away from Arthur. I believe he uses this as an excuse, as he was not ready to be a father.
He also applied for his US citizenship. He was so proud to be an American Citizen by now. He finds the US to be the place where all your dreams come true. The Land of Opportunity! The country where the laws work and your rights are protected, where people have opportunity to do whatever they wish, the country that does not overcharge you with all kinds of taxes. The country where you are free.