The MFJS Reporter — Winter 2020 M-W

When thinking about a career in business, most of us have an image in our heads of an individual who got a college degree, maybe even an MBA, works five days a week and ten hours a day, they’ll have that job the majority of their life, and they will live a comfortable life regardless of their enjoyment of their profession. 

Arnold Feld, an 80 year old entrepreneur, didn’t go to college, didn’t work a single job for more than a decade, and never gave up. Most impressively, Feld refused to allow his creativity and passions to be squandered throughout both his life and his career, molding him into who he is today. 

“I didn’t have any depth of formal education” Feld said, “my education, my wisdom, and feeling came from being with people… I felt that if I trusted people, they would trust me”

In fact, 33% of entrepreneurs haven’t earned more than a high school diploma when it comes to formal education. Learning his craft through experience, passion, and perseverance, Feld’s first interactions with sales and salesmanship were at his father’s liquor store at just 18 years old. Working with his father, Feld was able to hone in on his personal strengths and begin to learn how to utilize those in his own professional development. 

In today’s profit driven economy everyone is trying to get rich, and they are trying to get rich quick. As the millennials around the world flow into the workforce, there are changes these individuals desire that go against the norms of a traditional office work environment. In fact, 38% of millennials said they do not expect to work in the same place for more than 9 years and 64% of millennials would like to occasionally work from home. 

“I don’t think there are less opportunities for entrepreneurs today, but different opportunities,” Feld explained, “I think today’s world is a specialized world, find something that you love that’s current, and go for it”

After learning about his innate ability to sell and understand people within a sales environment Feld, age 22, went on to work for his (ex) wife’s family company for about 8 years, Leviton Manufacturing. There, he further practiced his people skills and worked to simply make a decent income, it was not his dream job nor was it the career he would stick with. 

In order to become a stockbroker on Wall Street in today’s modern workforce, one must obtain at least a bachelor’s degree, or higher, and must also pass the General Securities Registered Representative Examination. In 1970, Feld, who never received a formal education except for a GED, moved to New York at 30 years old to pursue a job on Wall Street at Merrill Lynch. Feld was trained for six months to become a broker, during which he passed his GSRRE and then was fully hired as a broker. After a few years at Merrill Lynch, Feld continued his career as a broker on Wall Street after accepting a job at Bear Stearns. 

“All they did was give you a desk and a phone,” Feld said, “we got a monthly income, but you really worked on commission. It was on you to make a ‘real’ income.” 

In 1975 with his second, and current, wife Lynn, the two of them created a women’s clothing brand in the Garment District in New York City. Their clothing was sold in stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. In the 19070’s, the manufacturing and producing of clothing was a lot different than the modern day clothing industry. 

“We started our business out of our apartment, while I stayed on Wall Street,” explained Feld, “We had a sweatshop working to create things in China Town,” he continued, “We had things made in Brooklyn, it wasn’t made across the world in China or Vietnam. What we did isn’t possible today, in today’s world it takes a lot of capital to start a business because we have such a global market”

As their clothing business grew and was bringing in a few million dollars in revenue, Feld struck up a deal to sell the company under a two year employment contract to maintain the business and aid the transition between owners. 

“There were days we didn’t want to get up and work, we’d ask each other ‘can we phone in sick?’” said Feld about his time working in both the garment industry and on Wall Street, “but then we would come to the realization ‘who do we call?’ we are the bosses.” 

From there, Feld went on to start a brokerage firm in New York City with a partner, where both of them would split the startup investment. After being “screwed over” by his partner, Feld pursued legal action by proceeding with a lawsuit which he deemed “a waste of time and money”. Ultimately, after bestowing trust in others throughout his professional career, Feld’s sense of faith in humanity and in himself began to dwindle, “it made me a little gun shy” he said. 

Entrepreneurs constantly face adversity within their business endeavors, whether it’s a market shift, a betrayal by a business partner, or just a flat out bad idea, the importance of risk taking as well as perseverance within this career path is essential.

“When you’re younger you are able to take bigger risks,” exclaimed Feld, “and the measurement of making a good decision was getting wealthy, and that’s the truth. In today’s world an education is a lot more important. You need a degree, and you need to have some focus on the economy, and if you don’t love what you’re doing, you’re fucked”

https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/hr-management-services/publications/assets/pwc-nextgen.pdf

https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/entrepreneur-statistics/#gref

https://careertrend.com/how-7503186-stock-broker-wall-street.html