Art Pearson has been a Fuller Brush Man for 71 years. At 90, he’s still going strong – and making money. How does he do it? He happily works hard and focuses on knowing his customers’ needs and treating them like family. These days he also gets help from his son with deliveries.
Pearson looks at the door-in-the-face as a simple matter of mathematics. If he stops at five houses, one will buy.
“One thing you’ll never survive with in this business is trying to plan your time or your money,” he says. “I’ve gone out and worked, and sometimes I don’t get any business till noon. And then after noon, it all just falls into place. What would have happened if I’d have quit at noon?
“The trouble today is, people don’t want to work.”
The World War II Marine Corps veteran got his start in the business in 1938, at the age of 20, when a Fuller Brush Man called at his house and suggested he might like the work.
Over the years, Pearson earned enough on commissions to buy a spacious two-story home on a quiet street near Sea-Tac International Airport. He has lived alone since his wife passed away a year ago.
The single extravagance he indulges in is traveling. Holland America Line recently awarded Pearson one of its all-time top passenger awards because of the hundreds of thousands of miles he’s traveled on cruises over the years, most recently to Hawaii and Panama.
What a blessing – and role model – he is. Reminds me of my dad.
