June 10, 2024 • 28 mins
In today's episode, I spoke with a businessperson from the region who had a lot of success in the heavy truck and automobile mechanics field. However, in 2012, with the Portuguese public debt crisis, he had to close and file for bankruptcy. As he told me during our conversation, "I went from being great, to being despised in the blink of an eye." Today, I will talk about the anguish he suffered during this period, the personal and family consequences, and finally the health problems that ensued. He managed to overcome all of this with true mastery, becoming a phoenix reborn. Not only did he overcome it, but he is now better off than he was before. As with the other episodes, I hope you love it and feel motivated by getting to know António's story.
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Porto Moniz and Madeira island - https://visitmadeira.com/en/where-to-go/madeira/north-coast/porto-moniz/
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/david-goliath--6134668/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:13):
This week, I learned something Ididn't know. Yes, if I discovered,
of course I didn't know it.I apologize from this somewhat rambling start,
But as I said earlier, I'vediscovered something interesting and I don't know
if it is done here in Europe, well at least here on my island.
(00:35):
They don't do it in the NBA. When a business persons want to
give wants to invest in a newteam in the league and choose a specific
city to do so, this investorreceived the highest honors from that city and
state. I went on Google tosee how many cities there are in the
United States and the answer was theUnited States currently has about thirty thousand cities.
(01:03):
So if a businessman choose a specificcity out of thirty thousand to found
their basketball team, that city isthrilled. But why, it's just another
basketball team that will play in themain North American league. No, it's
more than that the team will createnew jobs boostic on me in that chosen
(01:26):
city, and not to mention thatit will promote the city across the entire
country. Adding to all this,the people of that city will wear the
team's jersey and for the most fanaticalgive their lives for it. For many
cities, it's a true blessing.What I want to convey with this is
(01:49):
that a businessman is not a savorof the homeland, but a person who
helps many people, including the States, through the payment of taxes, and
of course benefits themselves as well.There are no free lanches here in this
world, and here how is abusiness person viewed well? Here? The
(02:10):
government already see them as people willhelp the city or local area, and
if they are very successful, willbring votes to the politicians. I'm talking
about the equivalent of a franchise openinghere in my country, similar to what
happens in the United States, maybe on a smaller scale. As for
(02:30):
the general population here on the island, the business person is still scenes as
someone who wants to get rich,focused solely on profits, not all interest
in well being of the people,and willing to engage in fraud if they
can without a second thought. It'sas if the businessman made a secret pact
(02:53):
with the devil. You ruin theirlives and in return, I will give
wealth and fortunes. How wrong theyare if they are seen as lucifer when
things are going well, when thingsgo wrong, the businessman is seen as
the very devil. The only thingthey deserve is the flames of hell or
(03:16):
something more earthly, the flames ofthe Spanish Inquisition. In today's episode,
I spoke with the businessman from theregion who had a lot of success in
the heavy truck and automobile mechanics field. However, in twenty twelve, with
the Portuguese public death crisis, hehad to close and file for bankruptcy.
(03:39):
As he told me during our conversation, I went from being great to being
despised in the blink of an eye. Today I will talk about the anguish
he suffered during this period, thepersonal and family consequences, and finally the
health problems that ensued. He managedto overcome all this with the true mastery,
(04:00):
becoming a phoenix reborn. Not onlydid he have a comet, but
he is now better off than hewas before. As with you, as
with the other episodes, I hopeyou love it and feel motivated by getting
to know Antonio's story. This isthe David and Goliath podcast, and I
(04:23):
will tell you real stories from normalpeople who had great, mighty wars and
defeated their giants. Antony munish sharesthe same surname as the place where he
was born fifty eight years ago,Porto Munish, to be more precise,
in the parish of Santa ask youthat you go to Google, type in
(04:47):
Porto Munich and see how beautiful itis. The name of this locality is
mentioned below in the descriptions for youto see. His father was a farmer
and his mother a homemaker. Iwas typical at that time here in the
island, throughout Portugal, and likealmost everyone back then, he completed his
(05:11):
fourth grade exams, left school andimmediately afterward and start working. In the
meantime, he witnessed the twenty fifthof April, the revolution I told you
about one month ago, but hemanaged to finish his studies. Initially,
he helped his father with the farming. He said. I helped him for
(05:35):
about five years, but it wassomething I didn't like doing. I had
to wake up at dawn, feedthe cattle in the mountains in the cold
and rain, and then spend theday bent over. I didn't like it
at all, but I really likedworkers working on engines, getting dirty with
(05:57):
all of that oil. I feltdrawn to do it, as attraction is
something hard to resist. He madea decision, stopping his father's helper and
went to Funchal, the capital city, looking for work as a mechanic.
Off he went, embarking on hisnew challenges. He said, I always
(06:19):
loved challenges since I was a kid. I love them. Even my mother
said, I was found trouble toget into. What can I do?
It's part of me. So Iarrived in Funchale and went to see a
cousin who had been living in thecapital for some time. He worked in
construction and by merchants or not,he knew with the workshop handle truck repairs,
(06:46):
and Tony recalls the next morning therehe was at a workshop asking for
a job, and I started thatevery very same day. I began as
an assistant to do the head mechanicthere at the workshop, the number two,
because the number one was the boss. My master, as he called
(07:08):
the mechanic, was a tough guyto work with. He always made me
carry the tools and the parts fromthe smallest and lightest to the biggie and
heavy ones. He recalls, SinceI liked it mechanics, I always wanted
to learn what all those things inthe engine were and what they were for
(07:30):
I always wanted to know the causeof particle malfunction and how to fix it.
You can probably guess that what thisman did. He looked at me
as if triggered my imagination. Exactlywhat you are thinking. He thinks,
he hi thinks, and didn't saynothing that annoyed me. I was so
(07:56):
curious guy, but I couldn't keepasking questions all the time. So the
boss had a book on mechanics withmany images and drawings, yes, because
I couldn't read very well, whichI asked to borrow. He looked at
me sideways, gazed by my request, but lent it to me. Anyway.
(08:18):
At night, I would look atthe drawings and try to recall what
I had seen during the day.I tried to remember what my master did
and why he did it. Thatday I decided to stick close to the
master in the workshop, so offhe went. He mentioned that his master
found out it odd that he waseven more attentive than usual. Get away
(08:45):
from me. I can't work withoffering over me. Antony says nothing as
he is remembered the shouts his mastergave him that day. He was cuning
and stute two. He soon realizedI wanted to know more. But back
then everything was a secret, thetricks of detecting malfunction and fixing it because
(09:07):
they thought they might lose their jobsor something similar. My master would hide
things from me when they were moredelicate, let's say, whenever he needed
space, meaning whenever he needed tohide something from me. He would send
me to the fetch of a toolfrom the other side of the workshop.
(09:28):
Many times that tool wasn't there wherehe said it, or he would say
that he had had it after all. This trick gave him time to hide
whatever he needed to be hiding fromme. But this didn't stop me.
Quite the opposite. He spurred himof even more. At the end of
(09:52):
the day, when everyone everyone wenthome, I would stay in the workshop
with the boss. He was thefirst to open the door and the last
to leave. I would be therelooking at the engines, relating everything to
what I had read and seen.I tried to understand the role of each
part. I was very curious.An Tonia says, the Bolls found it
(10:16):
strange because it wasn't usual at thattime, especially for a fourteen year old
boy. He came over me andI told him that I love all of
it. Everything about mechanics delighted me. I wanted to learn everything he told
me. So the boss turned tome and said, okay, now I
(10:37):
understand everything. You are going tobe my assistant. The kid who works
with me will be replaced by you. Antonio was over the moon. The
next day I started. I wasan insistant for six years. I learned
everything about mechanics, from regular carto trucks. At the end of the
(11:00):
time, I gained enough confidence tobecome a master, a first class mechanic,
as they said back then, andToni remained head mechanic for another five
years. During this period, hesaved a lot of money. I paid
for the room where I lived,and my expenses besides the room were food,
(11:22):
and at the time I was alreadyearning well, so I could save
a lot of money, he says. One day, a friend of mine,
who was a heavy truck driver,had a problem with this struck.
He asked me to help me.It was a simple thing and ought to
burst and leaked all everywhere. Ifixed it, and my friend paid for
my services. It was anything special, but he was so grateful that it
(11:48):
paid me well. That's when Irealized that I could have something of my
own two and that I could makemoney. It was the year of nineteen
ninety two and Madeira Island was startinglarge construction projects. This meant more trucks
and heavy mechanical equipment to maintain andrepair. Antonio went home and began to
(12:13):
see how much money he had.He found he had enough to buy a
good set of tools to start.I just needed to find a space and
start. I was sure that theclients would come naturally. That wasn't my
concern, he told me. Thenext day, he went to work with
the thought of his own business buzzingin his mind. A few days later,
(12:37):
he found the space, settled therent, and was ready. The
place was ideal on the outskirts ofFunchale. This way I could work an
all types of cars and trucks withoutdisturbing anyone. At that time, the
Funchale City Council already wanted workshops andfactories outside of the city center. I
(13:01):
had already spoken to some people wholiked my work and wanted to continue with
me, so everything was prepared tostart this new stage of my life.
I just had to tell the boss, and that made me uncomfortable, Antonio
said, and he continues, Iwas so nervous for days about how I
(13:24):
was going to approach the subject withhim, until one day, at the
end of the door of the work, I went to him and told him
I was preparing my own business.Antonio fondly remembers what the boss said to
him. I've been expecting this fora long time. I was even surprised
(13:45):
you didn't do it sooner. Itwas to be expected. You love this,
so it was natural, the bosssaid to Antonio. Antonio concludes,
you know, at that time,it wasn't usual to hear from someone old
enough to be my father. Ifelt so relieved. I agree with him
that I would stay until I finishedpending work, and then I would leave.
(14:11):
And that's what happened. After aweek, I began my new adventure,
my business. In the first fewdays, I didn't actually work on
any cars. I bought the toolsand everything necessary to get started. Then,
(14:31):
out of the blue, after thosefirst few days, two trucks suddenly
showed up. They were already inmy clients from other workshops. I hadn't
seen them in a while, Antoniosays, and he continues, I made
a repair budget, told them theprice, and to my surprise, they
(14:52):
accepted. I thought maybe I waspushing it, but no. I went
to buy the parts from the dealershipand start the repairs. The problem was
that I wasn't expecting two trucks justlike that. But I did it,
the repairs and deliver a long time. He turns to me and says,
with the straight face, you know, it's very important to stick to what
(15:16):
we promised to the clients. Ifyou say tomorrow, you have to do
everything to deliver by tomorrow. AnTONI couldn't have hoped for a better start.
It took part of that money andreinvested in the workshop, buying the
necessary tools to achieve the desired success. And he said, well, from
(15:39):
that point on, I can tellyou I never stopped after those first two
trucks. The work never slowed down. I kept coming in waves, he
recalls, as the Thrush project wereincreased by year. With the airport construction,
the expressway and the tunnels. Thework was coming from everywhere, increasing
(16:02):
each year. I noticed that mostof these drugs didn't have representation here in
Madeira, so I went to Lisbon, the capitol of Portugal, to main
brands to arrange training with them sothey could give me the exclusiitivity on the
island, and that's what happened.I went from working alone to having ten
(16:25):
employees after five years of work,he said. During this period, Antonio
met his wife. With the moneythe business was generating, he built his
house in Funchal. He got marriedat thirty and in nineteen ninety eight,
at the age of thirty two,he became the father of a little girl
(16:45):
named Leonore. Everything was going wonderfully. It was more than he had every
imagine for his life. Money wasnot a problem, thank god. I
had clients ranging from small to largecompanies, and all of them were paying
at that time. The biggest onespaid after one month and then it become
(17:07):
two months, but they always alwayspaid. I always liked mechanics, so
I ended over management to a nephewwho had just graduate from college. He
only told me what I had topay, what I would receive, and
the list of companies or people whowere overdue. With us, I spent
(17:29):
time repairing cars, helping others withtheir repairs, and even teaching the youngest
ones, just as they had donewith the same thing to me. Some
time ago, and like my oldboss Boss, I was the first to
arrive at the company and the lastto leave, said Antonio. In two
thousand, he became a father forthe second time to a boy, and
(17:53):
more cars and trucks entered his workshop. By the end of two thousand and
one, there were twenty of usfrom mechanics to assistance. Ku said,
around two thousand and three or twothousand and four, I can't remember exactly,
I went to the bank to borrowmoney with intention of expanding the workshop
(18:14):
space. At that time, therewas so much money circulating that my request
was accepted, and better yet,I could pay over ten years with very
low interest rates. I started theconstruction that same year, and by the
end of two thousand and five hehad the capacity to have more vehicles being
repaired or on our premises. Betweentwo thousand and five and early two thousand
(18:41):
and nine, there were always trucksand cars to repair, until at the
beginning of two thousand and nine,my nephew warned me very seriously that there
was a lot of money still tobe received. I asked if it was
a lot. He replied that eightypercent of the clients were failing to meet
(19:03):
the promise states or simply not paying. I thought to myself, how it
is possible. We are full ofwork, there was so much construction going
on. How can there not bemoney to pay us. What is certain
is that until twenty eleven things onlygot worse. I had to start layings
(19:26):
of staff in twenty ten because Icouldn't afford to pay everyone salaries. I
started requiring clients to pay upfront,and with this more than half of them
disappeared. I started not having enoughmoney to meet my obligations. I couldn't
imagine that what was coming, butI was at the gates of hell with
(19:56):
all these economic problems. Banks startfor closing supplies, cut off the supply
of materials and services, and hecouldn't finish the work, and finally he
couldn't pay salaries. In twenty twelve, Antoni couldn't take it any more and
had to close the company, throwingI don't know how many people into an
(20:18):
unemployment with u unpaid wages, hesaid. Many of these people start taking
legal actions against me for lack ofsalary payment. People I helped in the
past were now against me. Outof nowhere. My then wife started receiving
(20:40):
wages. Garnishments on our house wasbeing saized. The situation was becoming unsustainable.
In that same year of twenty twelve, she asked for divorce. She
left home, taking my children,leaving me with no one. And Tonia
(21:03):
didn't want to go back to PortMunich because his mother wouldn't be able to
bear the pain since his father wasno longer alive at that time. He
said, if it wasn't for afriend lend me an apartment in Nazare,
I would have slept under a bridge, he told me, And he continued,
(21:23):
I still have some difficulty remembering fromthose times when I my children stopped
talking to me and apparently was addingtowards the nervous brecton burnout. I spent
days in bed, not wanting toget up, just crying. I felt
immense shame, so I didn't wantto be around anyone. I even thought
(21:48):
about killing myself because the pain wasso great and avy that I couldn't bear
it. But what is certain isthat he didn't do it. Lost with
a sense of direction, not knowingwhat to do with his life. An
angel came knocking at his door.He said it was someone from outside Portugal,
(22:11):
whom I had helped with the cara few years ago and who had
greatly appreciated my work at that time, He had another car with a similar
problem and needed my help. Ididn't have the strength to get out of
bed, let alone repair cars,he recalls, but somehow I said yes
(22:33):
that I would help him. Ichecked the problem with the car I immediately.
I didn't fight the cause, butI told him I didn't have money
for tools of materials. I thinkat that time I only had money for
a few more weeks. He turnedto me and said it wasn't a problem,
that he would pay for everything rightaway. So we went to buy
(22:56):
what we needed, then headed tohis garage. When I started working,
the smell of the engine the oilseemed to be a bomb from me to
start cheering up with my life again. After two days of intensive work,
I solved the problem and their carwas okay. I later found out that
(23:18):
he was to sell the car andalso for him to see if I was
fit for mechanics. Had money,I had some more money for a few
more weeks, so I returned homefeeling more a pit. A few days
later, the frongine knocked on mydoor again. I thought the car had
broken down again, but it hadn't. He wanted to open the mechanic company
(23:44):
with me supervising. What it isusually here in Portugal to say that God
writes traits on creeked lines. Againof this podcast, I told you about
a fellow Maderia who succeed in Angolaand Madeira and then lost everything. I
(24:10):
told you about my MVP who trainedso hard to be chosen for the Madeira
regional basketball team, even training withblisters on her feet. The case of
Victor whose mother killed herself with therat poison because she couldn't bear her pain,
and with this Victor became an alcoholclick years later. Or me like
(24:34):
Antonio, this Antonio who went tohell and back. Well, I'm coming
out right now as if I've toldyou in the previous episodes. So the
question is why do this goliaths appearin our lives think they have the right
to knock us down? And Antoniotold me that in his case, Goliaves
(24:59):
appeared because he wasn't paying attention tothe good things in life, where those
things were children, his wife,the joy in mechanics that he loved so
much. Everything was lived in anunconscious way, without any purpose. I
also know what it's like when peoplewant to burn us alive. I know
(25:22):
very well people passing by us andlooking at us as if we were criminals.
And TONI closed the company and hadno money, left with nothing,
nothing, just some clothes, somemoney on his wallet and nothing else.
How many people did help and inthe end they still tried to crush him
(25:47):
even more. How much money diddegenerate to create wealth for the community where
he lives. Yes, he mademistakes, just like me, but it
didn't Still why this treatment or becausethings didn't go well burning alive? Will
the people who were arm be reimbursedfor the outstanding amounts? Will they?
(26:17):
Antonia went to work with his Swedishfriends. There, they opened the company
for five years. They were sosuccessful that they managed to sell it.
They made so much money that Antoniowas able to pay off what he owed
to everyone. Suddenly people stopped havinghatred, as if money had the magic
(26:41):
to erase those grievances. Meanwhile,Antonia met a new woman, his current
partner, who went through hell also, As he often says, I met
her when I was coming out ofhell. He has long left mechanics behind,
now focusing on sports, where hehas a company connected to the trail
(27:04):
and water supports sorry water sports peopleand athletes who want to improve their performances.
The company is his and his wife's. He also has business with the
Swedish Friend and lives in peace ina house outside from Shechelle. As you
(27:25):
always dreamed, the children came backand made peace and life goes on.
Dreams for the future, he answeredme. I want to run the mute
of one hundred and fifteen kilometers.I want to do an iron man in
a y. I want to writemy memoirs. I want to be a
(27:45):
beacon for my children. I wantto deepen in this relationship with my wife
and always want to create meaningful relationshipsand work because that's what we take from
here and what better way to beaccompanied by this beautiful human being who is
my wife. Our conversation ended withthem sharing a big kiss. I'll leave
(28:12):
you with this coat from Soren kicka guard. I hope, I said
right. Life can only be understoodbackward, but it must be lived forward.
This week, I learned something Ididn't know. Yes, if I discovered,
of course I didn't know it.I apologize from this somewhat rambling start,
But as I said earlier, I'vediscovered something interesting and I don't know
if it is done here in Europe, well at least here on my island.
(00:35):
They don't do it in the NBA. When a business persons want to
give wants to invest in a newteam in the league and choose a specific
city to do so, this investorreceived the highest honors from that city and
state. I went on Google tosee how many cities there are in the
United States and the answer was theUnited States currently has about thirty thousand cities.
(01:03):
So if a businessman choose a specificcity out of thirty thousand to found
their basketball team, that city isthrilled. But why, it's just another
basketball team that will play in themain North American league. No, it's
more than that the team will createnew jobs boostic on me in that chosen
(01:26):
city, and not to mention thatit will promote the city across the entire
country. Adding to all this,the people of that city will wear the
team's jersey and for the most fanaticalgive their lives for it. For many
cities, it's a true blessing.What I want to convey with this is
(01:49):
that a businessman is not a savorof the homeland, but a person who
helps many people, including the States, through the payment of taxes, and
of course benefits themselves as well.There are no free lanches here in this
world, and here how is abusiness person viewed well? Here? The
(02:10):
government already see them as people willhelp the city or local area, and
if they are very successful, willbring votes to the politicians. I'm talking
about the equivalent of a franchise openinghere in my country, similar to what
happens in the United States, maybe on a smaller scale. As for
(02:30):
the general population here on the island, the business person is still scenes as
someone who wants to get rich,focused solely on profits, not all interest
in well being of the people,and willing to engage in fraud if they
can without a second thought. It'sas if the businessman made a secret pact
(02:53):
with the devil. You ruin theirlives and in return, I will give
wealth and fortunes. How wrong theyare if they are seen as lucifer when
things are going well, when thingsgo wrong, the businessman is seen as
the very devil. The only thingthey deserve is the flames of hell or
(03:16):
something more earthly, the flames ofthe Spanish Inquisition. In today's episode,
I spoke with the businessman from theregion who had a lot of success in
the heavy truck and automobile mechanics field. However, in twenty twelve, with
the Portuguese public death crisis, hehad to close and file for bankruptcy.
(03:39):
As he told me during our conversation, I went from being great to being
despised in the blink of an eye. Today I will talk about the anguish
he suffered during this period, thepersonal and family consequences, and finally the
health problems that ensued. He managedto overcome all this with the true mastery,
(04:00):
becoming a phoenix reborn. Not onlydid he have a comet, but
he is now better off than hewas before. As with you, as
with the other episodes, I hopeyou love it and feel motivated by getting
to know Antonio's story. This isthe David and Goliath podcast, and I
(04:23):
will tell you real stories from normalpeople who had great, mighty wars and
defeated their giants. Antony munish sharesthe same surname as the place where he
was born fifty eight years ago,Porto Munish, to be more precise,
in the parish of Santa ask youthat you go to Google, type in
(04:47):
Porto Munich and see how beautiful itis. The name of this locality is
mentioned below in the descriptions for youto see. His father was a farmer
and his mother a homemaker. Iwas typical at that time here in the
island, throughout Portugal, and likealmost everyone back then, he completed his
(05:11):
fourth grade exams, left school andimmediately afterward and start working. In the
meantime, he witnessed the twenty fifthof April, the revolution I told you
about one month ago, but hemanaged to finish his studies. Initially,
he helped his father with the farming. He said. I helped him for
(05:35):
about five years, but it wassomething I didn't like doing. I had
to wake up at dawn, feedthe cattle in the mountains in the cold
and rain, and then spend theday bent over. I didn't like it
at all, but I really likedworkers working on engines, getting dirty with
(05:57):
all of that oil. I feltdrawn to do it, as attraction is
something hard to resist. He madea decision, stopping his father's helper and
went to Funchal, the capital city, looking for work as a mechanic.
Off he went, embarking on hisnew challenges. He said, I always
(06:19):
loved challenges since I was a kid. I love them. Even my mother
said, I was found trouble toget into. What can I do?
It's part of me. So Iarrived in Funchale and went to see a
cousin who had been living in thecapital for some time. He worked in
construction and by merchants or not,he knew with the workshop handle truck repairs,
(06:46):
and Tony recalls the next morning therehe was at a workshop asking for
a job, and I started thatevery very same day. I began as
an assistant to do the head mechanicthere at the workshop, the number two,
because the number one was the boss. My master, as he called
(07:08):
the mechanic, was a tough guyto work with. He always made me
carry the tools and the parts fromthe smallest and lightest to the biggie and
heavy ones. He recalls, SinceI liked it mechanics, I always wanted
to learn what all those things inthe engine were and what they were for
(07:30):
I always wanted to know the causeof particle malfunction and how to fix it.
You can probably guess that what thisman did. He looked at me
as if triggered my imagination. Exactlywhat you are thinking. He thinks,
he hi thinks, and didn't saynothing that annoyed me. I was so
(07:56):
curious guy, but I couldn't keepasking questions all the time. So the
boss had a book on mechanics withmany images and drawings, yes, because
I couldn't read very well, whichI asked to borrow. He looked at
me sideways, gazed by my request, but lent it to me. Anyway.
(08:18):
At night, I would look atthe drawings and try to recall what
I had seen during the day.I tried to remember what my master did
and why he did it. Thatday I decided to stick close to the
master in the workshop, so offhe went. He mentioned that his master
found out it odd that he waseven more attentive than usual. Get away
(08:45):
from me. I can't work withoffering over me. Antony says nothing as
he is remembered the shouts his mastergave him that day. He was cuning
and stute two. He soon realizedI wanted to know more. But back
then everything was a secret, thetricks of detecting malfunction and fixing it because
(09:07):
they thought they might lose their jobsor something similar. My master would hide
things from me when they were moredelicate, let's say, whenever he needed
space, meaning whenever he needed tohide something from me. He would send
me to the fetch of a toolfrom the other side of the workshop.
(09:28):
Many times that tool wasn't there wherehe said it, or he would say
that he had had it after all. This trick gave him time to hide
whatever he needed to be hiding fromme. But this didn't stop me.
Quite the opposite. He spurred himof even more. At the end of
(09:52):
the day, when everyone everyone wenthome, I would stay in the workshop
with the boss. He was thefirst to open the door and the last
to leave. I would be therelooking at the engines, relating everything to
what I had read and seen.I tried to understand the role of each
part. I was very curious.An Tonia says, the Bolls found it
(10:16):
strange because it wasn't usual at thattime, especially for a fourteen year old
boy. He came over me andI told him that I love all of
it. Everything about mechanics delighted me. I wanted to learn everything he told
me. So the boss turned tome and said, okay, now I
(10:37):
understand everything. You are going tobe my assistant. The kid who works
with me will be replaced by you. Antonio was over the moon. The
next day I started. I wasan insistant for six years. I learned
everything about mechanics, from regular carto trucks. At the end of the
(11:00):
time, I gained enough confidence tobecome a master, a first class mechanic,
as they said back then, andToni remained head mechanic for another five
years. During this period, hesaved a lot of money. I paid
for the room where I lived,and my expenses besides the room were food,
(11:22):
and at the time I was alreadyearning well, so I could save
a lot of money, he says. One day, a friend of mine,
who was a heavy truck driver,had a problem with this struck.
He asked me to help me.It was a simple thing and ought to
burst and leaked all everywhere. Ifixed it, and my friend paid for
my services. It was anything special, but he was so grateful that it
(11:48):
paid me well. That's when Irealized that I could have something of my
own two and that I could makemoney. It was the year of nineteen
ninety two and Madeira Island was startinglarge construction projects. This meant more trucks
and heavy mechanical equipment to maintain andrepair. Antonio went home and began to
(12:13):
see how much money he had.He found he had enough to buy a
good set of tools to start.I just needed to find a space and
start. I was sure that theclients would come naturally. That wasn't my
concern, he told me. Thenext day, he went to work with
the thought of his own business buzzingin his mind. A few days later,
(12:37):
he found the space, settled therent, and was ready. The
place was ideal on the outskirts ofFunchale. This way I could work an
all types of cars and trucks withoutdisturbing anyone. At that time, the
Funchale City Council already wanted workshops andfactories outside of the city center. I
(13:01):
had already spoken to some people wholiked my work and wanted to continue with
me, so everything was prepared tostart this new stage of my life.
I just had to tell the boss, and that made me uncomfortable, Antonio
said, and he continues, Iwas so nervous for days about how I
(13:24):
was going to approach the subject withhim, until one day, at the
end of the door of the work, I went to him and told him
I was preparing my own business.Antonio fondly remembers what the boss said to
him. I've been expecting this fora long time. I was even surprised
(13:45):
you didn't do it sooner. Itwas to be expected. You love this,
so it was natural, the bosssaid to Antonio. Antonio concludes,
you know, at that time,it wasn't usual to hear from someone old
enough to be my father. Ifelt so relieved. I agree with him
that I would stay until I finishedpending work, and then I would leave.
(14:11):
And that's what happened. After aweek, I began my new adventure,
my business. In the first fewdays, I didn't actually work on
any cars. I bought the toolsand everything necessary to get started. Then,
(14:31):
out of the blue, after thosefirst few days, two trucks suddenly
showed up. They were already inmy clients from other workshops. I hadn't
seen them in a while, Antoniosays, and he continues, I made
a repair budget, told them theprice, and to my surprise, they
(14:52):
accepted. I thought maybe I waspushing it, but no. I went
to buy the parts from the dealershipand start the repairs. The problem was
that I wasn't expecting two trucks justlike that. But I did it,
the repairs and deliver a long time. He turns to me and says,
with the straight face, you know, it's very important to stick to what
(15:16):
we promised to the clients. Ifyou say tomorrow, you have to do
everything to deliver by tomorrow. AnTONI couldn't have hoped for a better start.
It took part of that money andreinvested in the workshop, buying the
necessary tools to achieve the desired success. And he said, well, from
(15:39):
that point on, I can tellyou I never stopped after those first two
trucks. The work never slowed down. I kept coming in waves, he
recalls, as the Thrush project wereincreased by year. With the airport construction,
the expressway and the tunnels. Thework was coming from everywhere, increasing
(16:02):
each year. I noticed that mostof these drugs didn't have representation here in
Madeira, so I went to Lisbon, the capitol of Portugal, to main
brands to arrange training with them sothey could give me the exclusiitivity on the
island, and that's what happened.I went from working alone to having ten
(16:25):
employees after five years of work,he said. During this period, Antonio
met his wife. With the moneythe business was generating, he built his
house in Funchal. He got marriedat thirty and in nineteen ninety eight,
at the age of thirty two,he became the father of a little girl
(16:45):
named Leonore. Everything was going wonderfully. It was more than he had every
imagine for his life. Money wasnot a problem, thank god. I
had clients ranging from small to largecompanies, and all of them were paying
at that time. The biggest onespaid after one month and then it become
(17:07):
two months, but they always alwayspaid. I always liked mechanics, so
I ended over management to a nephewwho had just graduate from college. He
only told me what I had topay, what I would receive, and
the list of companies or people whowere overdue. With us, I spent
(17:29):
time repairing cars, helping others withtheir repairs, and even teaching the youngest
ones, just as they had donewith the same thing to me. Some
time ago, and like my oldboss Boss, I was the first to
arrive at the company and the lastto leave, said Antonio. In two
thousand, he became a father forthe second time to a boy, and
(17:53):
more cars and trucks entered his workshop. By the end of two thousand and
one, there were twenty of usfrom mechanics to assistance. Ku said,
around two thousand and three or twothousand and four, I can't remember exactly,
I went to the bank to borrowmoney with intention of expanding the workshop
(18:14):
space. At that time, therewas so much money circulating that my request
was accepted, and better yet,I could pay over ten years with very
low interest rates. I started theconstruction that same year, and by the
end of two thousand and five hehad the capacity to have more vehicles being
repaired or on our premises. Betweentwo thousand and five and early two thousand
(18:41):
and nine, there were always trucksand cars to repair, until at the
beginning of two thousand and nine,my nephew warned me very seriously that there
was a lot of money still tobe received. I asked if it was
a lot. He replied that eightypercent of the clients were failing to meet
(19:03):
the promise states or simply not paying. I thought to myself, how it
is possible. We are full ofwork, there was so much construction going
on. How can there not bemoney to pay us. What is certain
is that until twenty eleven things onlygot worse. I had to start layings
(19:26):
of staff in twenty ten because Icouldn't afford to pay everyone salaries. I
started requiring clients to pay upfront,and with this more than half of them
disappeared. I started not having enoughmoney to meet my obligations. I couldn't
imagine that what was coming, butI was at the gates of hell with
(19:56):
all these economic problems. Banks startfor closing supplies, cut off the supply
of materials and services, and hecouldn't finish the work, and finally he
couldn't pay salaries. In twenty twelve, Antoni couldn't take it any more and
had to close the company, throwingI don't know how many people into an
(20:18):
unemployment with u unpaid wages, hesaid. Many of these people start taking
legal actions against me for lack ofsalary payment. People I helped in the
past were now against me. Outof nowhere. My then wife started receiving
(20:40):
wages. Garnishments on our house wasbeing saized. The situation was becoming unsustainable.
In that same year of twenty twelve, she asked for divorce. She
left home, taking my children,leaving me with no one. And Tonia
(21:03):
didn't want to go back to PortMunich because his mother wouldn't be able to
bear the pain since his father wasno longer alive at that time. He
said, if it wasn't for afriend lend me an apartment in Nazare,
I would have slept under a bridge, he told me, And he continued,
(21:23):
I still have some difficulty remembering fromthose times when I my children stopped
talking to me and apparently was addingtowards the nervous brecton burnout. I spent
days in bed, not wanting toget up, just crying. I felt
immense shame, so I didn't wantto be around anyone. I even thought
(21:48):
about killing myself because the pain wasso great and avy that I couldn't bear
it. But what is certain isthat he didn't do it. Lost with
a sense of direction, not knowingwhat to do with his life. An
angel came knocking at his door.He said it was someone from outside Portugal,
(22:11):
whom I had helped with the cara few years ago and who had
greatly appreciated my work at that time, He had another car with a similar
problem and needed my help. Ididn't have the strength to get out of
bed, let alone repair cars,he recalls, but somehow I said yes
(22:33):
that I would help him. Ichecked the problem with the car I immediately.
I didn't fight the cause, butI told him I didn't have money
for tools of materials. I thinkat that time I only had money for
a few more weeks. He turnedto me and said it wasn't a problem,
that he would pay for everything rightaway. So we went to buy
(22:56):
what we needed, then headed tohis garage. When I started working,
the smell of the engine the oilseemed to be a bomb from me to
start cheering up with my life again. After two days of intensive work,
I solved the problem and their carwas okay. I later found out that
(23:18):
he was to sell the car andalso for him to see if I was
fit for mechanics. Had money,I had some more money for a few
more weeks, so I returned homefeeling more a pit. A few days
later, the frongine knocked on mydoor again. I thought the car had
broken down again, but it hadn't. He wanted to open the mechanic company
(23:44):
with me supervising. What it isusually here in Portugal to say that God
writes traits on creeked lines. Againof this podcast, I told you about
a fellow Maderia who succeed in Angolaand Madeira and then lost everything. I
(24:10):
told you about my MVP who trainedso hard to be chosen for the Madeira
regional basketball team, even training withblisters on her feet. The case of
Victor whose mother killed herself with therat poison because she couldn't bear her pain,
and with this Victor became an alcoholclick years later. Or me like
(24:34):
Antonio, this Antonio who went tohell and back. Well, I'm coming
out right now as if I've toldyou in the previous episodes. So the
question is why do this goliaths appearin our lives think they have the right
to knock us down? And Antoniotold me that in his case, Goliaves
(24:59):
appeared because he wasn't paying attention tothe good things in life, where those
things were children, his wife,the joy in mechanics that he loved so
much. Everything was lived in anunconscious way, without any purpose. I
also know what it's like when peoplewant to burn us alive. I know
(25:22):
very well people passing by us andlooking at us as if we were criminals.
And TONI closed the company and hadno money, left with nothing,
nothing, just some clothes, somemoney on his wallet and nothing else.
How many people did help and inthe end they still tried to crush him
(25:47):
even more. How much money diddegenerate to create wealth for the community where
he lives. Yes, he mademistakes, just like me, but it
didn't Still why this treatment or becausethings didn't go well burning alive? Will
the people who were arm be reimbursedfor the outstanding amounts? Will they?
(26:17):
Antonia went to work with his Swedishfriends. There, they opened the company
for five years. They were sosuccessful that they managed to sell it.
They made so much money that Antoniowas able to pay off what he owed
to everyone. Suddenly people stopped havinghatred, as if money had the magic
(26:41):
to erase those grievances. Meanwhile,Antonia met a new woman, his current
partner, who went through hell also, As he often says, I met
her when I was coming out ofhell. He has long left mechanics behind,
now focusing on sports, where hehas a company connected to the trail
(27:04):
and water supports sorry water sports peopleand athletes who want to improve their performances.
The company is his and his wife's. He also has business with the
Swedish Friend and lives in peace ina house outside from Shechelle. As you
(27:25):
always dreamed, the children came backand made peace and life goes on.
Dreams for the future, he answeredme. I want to run the mute
of one hundred and fifteen kilometers.I want to do an iron man in
a y. I want to writemy memoirs. I want to be a
(27:45):
beacon for my children. I wantto deepen in this relationship with my wife
and always want to create meaningful relationshipsand work because that's what we take from
here and what better way to beaccompanied by this beautiful human being who is
my wife. Our conversation ended withthem sharing a big kiss. I'll leave
(28:12):
you with this coat from Soren kicka guard. I hope, I said
right. Life can only be understoodbackward, but it must be lived forward.
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