My Mentor

 One of my most prized possessions is something I received from my Dad. It is the smallest book in my collection but it is my favorite. It is “Thoughts of Chairman Buffet: Thirty Years of Unconventional Wisdom from the Sage of Omaha”. Warren Buffet has always been one of my idols ever since I learned who he was in the late 90’s. In this book, which is just a compilation of quotes from Buffett (which is signed by the Sage himself) one of my favorites is about mentors… it reads: 

“The best thing I did was choose the right heroes” 

I used this quote to segway into tell you about my mentor @ ABI, James Villeneuve. He is the VP of Corporate Affairs & Communication in our North American Zone. He has been working for ABI companies for as long as I have been alive! Coming from Canada and the Labatt portion of our company and he is in charge of most of the Better World initiatives that happen in the North American Zone along with government & regulatory affairs, PR, CSR and foundation/donation management. 

The Big Guy... James... Not the greatest picture (hopefully he doesn't get mad at me for it)

 

It is safe to say that I have the best mentor out of the all the NA GMTs. We talk every Friday and email back and forth every couple of days. Whenever I have had a question about the company he answers it or finds out the answer for me and he has helped me to learn the inner workings of such a large company. 

Besides all the internal help James had provided me with, he has also taken me golfing at his country club Sunset Country Club (I shot 86 w/ two birdies) (The story goes… Sunset CC was built by Aldolphus Busch when he was told he wasn’t allowed to join another CC in St. Louis), he has taken me to a Cardinals game and even to a St. Louis Rams game (both teams lost). What a guy! He even took two other GMTs with us to the Cards game. He has also said he is going to come visit Atlanta while I am here and hopefully get to a Thrashers game. 

I am very grateful to have such an awesome mentor. If one day I can be as smart and successful as him, then I know that I will have done a lot. Talk to you soon Chuckleheads. 

Cheers, 

SL I