Doing It the Right Way: Autobiography & Career of John Giovanni Milano

Doing It the Right Way is a heart-warming story of business success. It is particularly appealing in this day of instant gratification where success might be short-lived and recognition is often achieved at the expense of others. The story opens in Sorrento, Italy, where John Milano grew up on the "wrong side of the tracks." As a young boy learning first how to dodge the Germans and then how to wheel and deal from American GIs, John began to sharpen his innate entrepreneurial skills. He was a natural charmer and a born salesman Norman Vincent Peale, who urged him to migrate to the United States and pledged to lend his help. But having a limited education, a lack of proficiency in English, and no funds, John had his doubts. So he played around town, catering to tourists and spending every penny he made. Then he fell in love and married an Italian-American girl from Staten Island. On a trip to New York to meet her family, he finally decided to take Dr. Peale€s offer. John began work in the hat department of a haberdashery in Lower Manhattan, painstakingly learned the business from the bottom up, rose through the ranks, and beyond his wildest dreams, became president of the largest manufacturer of men€s headwear in the country. He moved to the Dallas metropolitan area where he eventually established his own business, the Milano Hat Company. But reaching the top wasn€t instant. In easy narrative, Doing It the Right Way relates John€s road to success. The formula is quite simple: work hard, be honest, learn from the best, recognize the masters, don€t cut corners, and do it right the first time. John Milano earned many industry awards during his career. He received the coveted Horatio Alger Award in 1976 in recognition of initiative, hard work, honesty, and adherence to traditional ideals. "Such an honor could happen only in America," he claims.