Raw and Real Entrepreneurship®

6. (Part 2) The 'Comeback Kid'


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Bill Bartmann was one of the wealthiest men in America.  Bill has graced the covers of Inc. Magazine, Forbes and more.  Bill came from extremely humble beginnings; growing up on welfare, food stamps and one of eight children.  Bill’s father, a janitor, worked but couldn’t make end’s meat.  The family shuffled around, sometimes living in derelict buildings and often going to sleep with rumbling stomachs.

At the age of fourteen, Bill, left home saying, ‘I am not sure if anyone actually noticed.’  By fifteen Bill was in a street gang, developing what he referred to as ‘bad behaviors.’  In a drunken stupor one night he fell down a flight of stairs and broke his back, losing all mobility in his legs.  The doctor told Bill he would never walk again.  Mysteriously, a copy of the infamous tome Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, appeared on Bill’s hospital bed.  Dismissing it as ‘garbage,’ Bill threw it across the room.  The next morning the book was on his bed again.  The weeks passed and eventually a bored Bill began to read the book.  He credits this with shifting his mind. 

Bill would go on to get his GED, go to college and eventually law school.  He spent the entire four years on probation but eventually passed.  Bill and his great love, Cathy, started in the oil and gas industry, quickly rose to success and then, with the OPEC crash, went into a million in debt.  Bill then started a new business and once more he and Cathy rose to meteoric heights.  When one of the partners committed fraud, everything was lost once more.

After numerous set-backs, Bill is once more building a new company; one that is destined to be a huge success.  Today Bill is also advocating for everyday folks who are upside down in consumer debt.  He is committed to reform the debt collection industry. 

LISTEN TO PART 2 Of Susan's Amazing Interview.

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Raw and Real Entrepreneurship®By Susan Sly

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