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THE JOURNEY / 2014 WINTER
Unexpected
Encounters That Changed My Life Bob Washburn As a graduate of Appalachian State University and Boone resident since the 1980s, Bob Washburn is a familiar face to many. Washburn began his banking career in North Wilkesboro, NC, and later moved to Boone to work with First Union and High Country Bank. Washburn is currently the President of Lifestore Banking and Insurance. He married Glenda Woodring in 1982. He and Glenda are the proud parents of four children and one grandson.
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ost of us had summer jobs growing up. In 1979, mine took place in the Midwest. I spent the summer in Nebraska, with the exception of one week driving across the Missouri River to some little towns near Council Bluffs, Iowa. You don’t know when life changing events are going to occur, they just sneak up on you, and that happened to me during my week driving into Iowa. That year, I took a job selling books door to door. It wasn’t nearly as easy as what the company’s propaganda portrayed. They wanted you to make 20 sales calls per day. So you had a few minutes to develop a re-
lationship with a complete stranger, get invited into their home, and then get them to decide to part with some money to purchase books that they didn’t even know they wanted or needed before you knocked on their door. One day, I knocked on a door and was greeted by a gentleman who invited me in without asking what I was there for. Clearly not the typical sales call. As I walked in, I saw that he was an older gentleman, near retirement age. He offered me a seat and asked if I’d like something to drink. Once again, not typical. One of the things you do when ob-
