My mentor was my grandmother. I now refer to her as MOM!  She could not speak a word of English. She could not read or write. Yet, she owned and operated a very successful grocery store. She did all of the buying and most of the selling.  She never made a mistake adding grocery orders of over $100.00 without a calculator, computer, or even paper and pencil. She knew when a salesperson made an error.  She knew when she was being over charged, all from memory.

Now you must know this: MOM even had charge accounts and she could tell her customers, at the end of the month, if they had marked the wrong price, on a total daily charge. I can't even remember some of the item names of merchandise I stock without the computer.

She was a widow with 6 children; the youngest was only 6 months old.

She brought all of them up and several of her grandchildren including me.  I was abandoned by my mother at 9 months and went to live with MOM. 

MOM you are the greatest and I know you are watching over me.

She received the Pioneer Award from the Chamber of Commerce for being the first woman owned business in her parish (county).  All of her 6 children and some of her grandchildren were there to see her receive her award.

Her store was famous locally for her sliced meats.  People would drive miles

to get some of her delicious hams and lunch meats. They were the best!  You can't get anything like that any more, or at least I don't know where to find them.
The first lesson I remember her teaching me was, "Always, always SMILE." "SMILE," no mater how you feel.  Make the customer feel good about being around you and they will return.