Upcoming TV show to highlight successful lottery winners

May 3, 2007, 8:34 am (11 comments)

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All Fred Brown ever wanted to do was sell cars.

He didn't realize that goal also would land him on a cable television show. But that's what happened to Brown, now the general manager of Garnsey & Wheeler Ford of Greeley and Fort Morgan, who is the subject of an upcoming show on The Learning Channel.

The show, which will probably be aired in the coming months, is about lottery winners who have gone on to successful careers despite a lottery windfall. Brown won $6 million in the Colorado Lottery in 1993, shortly after he graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a business administration degree. Through persistence, he finally landed a job as a car salesman with Garnsey & Wheeler.

"Herrick (Garnsey) didn't want to hire me at first. Car salesmen work on 100 percent commission, and since I had just won the lottery, he didn't think I would have enough incentive to sell cars," Brown said. But that was his goal dating back to his early learning days in his home state of Hawaii. "My mom once said I even tried to sell my Match Box cars on the street," Brown said with a laugh.

Brown won the lottery in December 1993 and started his career with Garnsey & Wheeler in July of the following year after hounding Garnsey, then president and general manager of the longtime Greeley dealership, for a job.

A film crew with Beyond Productions of Bethesda, Md., is in Greeley this week filming Brown and his family, which includes his wife, Barbara, and his children, Andrew, 12, and Alli, who will be 9 on Saturday. Wednesday the crew was at the dealership in west Greeley.

Brown said he is not sure how he was chosen for the program, which he understands is a followup to a program TLC aired a few months back on lottery winners who squandered their winnings.

"I guess they are doing one showing the other side," Brown said.

Brown said that he and his then new wife were struggling to make ends meet when he won the lottery. She was working at two jobs and was about to lose one of those, so they were going over their finances. They had played the lottery regularly and decided the $100 a year they were spending on the lottery would remain part of their budget.

"That was our dream money," he said. He also was heating his garage at the time with kerosene, and it was agreed that when the latest supply ran out, they wouldn't buy anymore.

"But she didn't know when I ran out," Brown said with a wry smile. "I went down to the Agland store on 16th Street, bought five gallons of kerosene, which cost $6 and had $4 left. So I bought three quick picks and one with the numbers we always played." One of the quick picks was the $6 million winner.

That set the pair up for life, but Brown still wanted to sell cars. He finally got the job and worked hard at it, became general sales manager in March of 2004 and was named general manager in October 2005, where he is in charge of the company's 120 employees.

"I still have to make sure our salesmen make their commissions," he said.

Greeley Tribune

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hjones

He needed a business administration degree to sell cars?   Wow.  Maybe I could sell him land,

at low tide. 

megamillionaire's avatarmegamillionaire

I've seen several shows about winners who've gone broke and winners who didn't. One of the lessons those who didn't learned early is how to say "NO". If the guy wants to sell cars, and it seems he did a good job since he has the job of the guy who didn't think he'd have the incentive, Then go for it. It also seems his degree is doing a good job for him.Hurray!

starchild_45's avatarstarchild_45

good for hm and good for the show. i hope there is a post here as to when this will air.

DoubleDown

I'd say earning that Business degree wasn't necessary to sell cars, but it sure comes in handy managing all those people.

BBBx3

I could see buying a couple of car dealerships and owning them, but getting up for working everyday and selling the cars after winning all that money?!

pumpi76

"Through persistence, he finally landed a job as a car salesman with Garnsey & Wheeler."

What are the odds that one would work on a company whose names is "WHEELER" and win the lottery or to be named "wheeler" and win Powerball/Pick6...I just think is amuzing...

 

 

"More important than winning the states' lotteries is the movie "Red Planet"

LckyLary

Let me guess, none of these people went to live in a cave someplace to hide from society after they won. They had the spheres to show up at their press conference and the brains and morals to stay out of trouble.

nc6string

It would be interesting to know how this rumour of lottery winners living in caves got started.  Where are these caves exactly - any pics?

markp1950

The LAST thing that I would do is get a job!

The only  thing I would do that resembels that dirty 4 letter word w*rk is to watch the stock ticker on my computer!

 

MarkP 

ChazzMatt

Quote: Originally posted by markp1950 on May 5, 2007

The LAST thing that I would do is get a job!

The only  thing I would do that resembels that dirty 4 letter word w*rk is to watch the stock ticker on my computer!

 

MarkP 

That's if you hated work.  And yes, I can understand hating a drudge job. 

But there's people like myself who enjoy what we do.  If I won the lottery, I might keep working.  What I do is seen by lots of people around the world.  I get to keep up with current events.  Management at my company is very competent.  I've been here 10 years and I like it very much. 

Now I DO play the lottery every drawing, because I would like to pay off my bills, a nicer house, maybe take vacations in exotic locales, maybe even own vacation home where's there's a spectacular sunset every day.   

But if I won the lottery, I would like to keep living my life, sort of as it is.  I would like to have the same friends, same family.  I would like to keep working at my job.  I would consider it that I was being paid a lot more money for what I do! (paying myself)  :)   Sure at some point in the future I might decide to do something else, I might decide I wanted to take 2 weeks off for every 2 weeks worked.  :)  But I would probably keep working -- at something.   

If I ever won I would take steps to keep it as secret as possible.  Don't need the drama.

There's plenty of really rich people who still work -- but they work at something they enjoy doing.  Warren Buffet is like 77 years old is worth $52 billion, owns lots of companies, but still goes to the office every day.  I mean, at some point 20 or 30 years ago, he already had enough money he could have become a  Bahamas beach bum. 

Some rich people do "work" they don't get paid for -- they work with charities and such.  But it's still something to do.

There's a movie called "About a Boy" starring Hugh Grant.  He's a grown man, he's rich and does NOTHING.  He gets his hair cut at fancy salons, he watches TV, he buys clothes and latest electronic stuff, and that's all he does.  His dad wrote some song years ago that still pays lots of royalties, so he gets to live a life of leisure.  But, he's not happy.  He meets an interesting, beautiful woman and she asks him what he "does" and he has to say "nothing".  He has no accomplishments to his name.  He's just empty.  Getting your hair cut, watching TV, buying clothes is not bad -- just don't let that define your life.   He realizes there's more to life than just money.  However, the movie does not say to GIVE UP the money, just make sure you have more to your life than "I have money".

csfb's avatarcsfb

Quote: Originally posted by hjones on May 3, 2007

He needed a business administration degree to sell cars?   Wow.  Maybe I could sell him land,

at low tide. 

Hmm, you miss the point, honey.  I don't think he'll buy that land.  But I believe he could sell you 2 cars.

He loves selling cars.  It's called passion.  If you love what you do, you'll excel in it.  Having that business degree makes you more assured and confident to pursue your passion.

People with passion do what they do with flare.  They transform that boring job to an art.  That marks the line between success and failure.

Why do you think this website is successful?

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