My name is Gabriel Louli.  I am a 44 year old father of three wonderful children, brother to my brother and sisters and son to my parents. 

My current job/career is owner and operator of a Software Development and Training Company.  I say my current job / career because it is my fourth.  In fact it feels almost like I am on my fourth life.

For the most part I am self taught.  I have taken very specific skills courses when I needed them, but when I tried University or College I found that I was learning at a far greater rate than the other students – and felt bored and held back.  So I embarked headlong into the workplace.

Stage 1

Going back as far as I can remember – when I was asked in High School what I wanted to be – all I could think of was “The Boss”.  “The boss of what?” they inquired – it didn’t matter so long as I was in charge.  So it was no surprise that my first career which was in Financial Services /Banking lasted only 3 years.  My first big break came with the invention of the personal computer.  I tried to get my Trust Company manager to buy one so we could program in our appraisal forms – he said that was great, but we would not be doing that.  It was at that point that I knew for certain I could not work for someone else.

Stage 2

I started a Property Management company which was the first in the Ottawa area to be fully computerized.  I tracked down some software from California and away we went.  From there I got into Real Estate Development and Investment – and by the age of thirty had made my first million in fact two million.  Unfortunately by the age of thirty two it was all gone and I had to start from scratch once again.

Stage 3

After treading water (more like licking my wounds) for two years working for somebody else, I finally had the nerve to go for it again.  This time we went into the Video Rental business.  We were avid renters and watchers of movies – so I felt if I could come up with a concept that would please me – it probably would please a lot of people.  We found a great location – in a poorly serviced area and built Video Vacation Superstore.  We were an overnight success – people loved our design, our service and our selection.  Again I used my love of technology to give me the edge over the competition.  We had three very successful years – then Blockbuster came.  Within three months we were done –they split the market –and our sales dropped by 40 %.

My marketing consultant advised me to start working on my resume – because the writing was on the wall.  He asked me if I could teach any or all of the software listed on my resume as skills.  I thought to myself – sure I have been doing that for years teaching and training my employees on how to use them.

Stage 4

So this leads me to my current career – sort of.  For the first 5 years ending in 2000, I was doing software training and consulting.  I then evolved to add Software Development.  It was the first time my career changed without total disaster striking – maybe I was growing up.

My company still provides training and consulting.  My experiences there have lead me to believe that there is a niche market for a company that tailors it’s software to the way people work – instead of getting people to change the way they work to suit the software.  My talent at listening and understanding what people needed and my ability to translate it so that my developers could understand those needs is my edge.

On Education

Many times people ask me why they should stay in school and get an education, they point at me and say “look you didn’t go and you succeeded”.  What they don’t see is all the blood sweat and tears that went into that success – and continues to go into it.  I love to learn – and I read and study on my own all the time.  I do it at a very accelerated pace – not everyone has either the discipline or the aptitude for this.  Most will succeed much better following the more traditional route.

My Advice – in no particular order…

Find something you have a passion for – then find a way to apply that passion in your work (in my case it was learning, technology, and being the boss).

Never give up – failure only happens if you don’t get back up when you get knocked down.  I have been to the top of the mountain twice and been knocked off twice – the key point is I got up three times – and will continue to get up as long as it takes.

Believe in yourself – then make sure you give yourself every possible advantage – never stop learning.  In work, play, hobbies – there is no end to the areas you can go to exercise your mind.

Treat people they way you want to be treated – I know you’ve heard this before – it is far more important than you can imagine.

Love God, life, your family and your friends.  Cherish every minute you have with them – you never know when it will be the last.

Never forget the spring always follows the winter and morning light follows darkenss.  Nothing is ever quite as bad as it seems, and if it seems to go to be true – it is.

Success is a state of mind – all you have to do is decide – look within.  Externals (money possessions etc.) come and go, internals (who you are) stay with you forever – make sure they are the way you want them – good, honest and loving.