🎩 THE PROFESSOR & ME THE WALKING, TALKING SOCIAL-MEDIA MAN Long before Facebook, WhatsApp and TikTok, there was Percy Dudchi—better known as “The Great Showman.” Percy was a successful car salesman with a big personality and an even bigger way of speaking. “Hello, my cuzzie! Howzit, cuzzie?” Everyone he liked became his “cuzzie.” He loved Cockney-style rhyming slang: “Ones and twos” were your shoes. “Hopscotch” was your watch. “Bubble and squeak” was a Greek. But Percy’s greatest gift was promoting people. If he believed in you, he told everybody: “Listen, my cuzzie has a fruit shop in Silverton. Go and see him—he’ll look after you!” Percy didn’t need a Facebook page. He was a walking, talking social-media platform. He understood that the most powerful advertising comes from one person enthusiastically recommending another. My father—the Professor—learned from Percy. He saw that good products brought customers through the door, but personality, relationships and word of mouth built a reputation throughout the community. 🌿 THE PROFESSOR’S WISDOM When you believe in someone’s business, don’t keep quiet about it. Tell people, recommend them and help them grow. ☕ MY TAKE Today we call it sharing, tagging and promoting. Percy simply called it looking after his “cuzzies.” Technology has changed. The power of a personal recommendation has not. Be the person who speaks well of other people—even when they are not in the room. #TheProfessorAndMe #TheGreatShowman #PercyDudchi #WordOfMouth #SupportLocalBusiness #BusinessLessons #FunchalFreshProduce

☕ COFFEE TIME WITH GILBERT 🎸 FRANK BEARD—THE MAN WITHOUT A BEARD ZZ Top had three famous members: Billy Gibbons. Dusty Hill. And Frank Beard. Here’s the funny part: Frank Beard was the only one without a beard. While Billy and Dusty were instantly recognised, Frank could apparently walk through a shopping mall without anybody noticing him. But behind that joke is a serious business lesson. ZZ Top stayed together for more than 50 years. Their secret wasn’t complicated. They enjoyed the work. They respected one another. They developed their own unmistakable identity. And they kept showing up. Even their famous beards weren’t part of some brilliant marketing strategy. After years of constant touring, they took a long break and simply stopped shaving. Frank eventually shaved. Billy and Dusty didn’t. What started accidentally became one of the most recognisable trademarks in music. 🌿 THE PROFESSOR’S WISDOM You don’t always need to manufacture an image. Sometimes your strongest brand develops naturally from who you are, what you do and how consistently you do it. ☕ MY TAKE—THE BRUTAL TRUTH Most people don’t fail because they lack talent. They fail because they keep changing direction. A new idea this week. A different business next month. A new identity whenever things become difficult. ZZ Top found their sound, built their identity and stayed together long enough for the world to remember them. That is the part people overlook: Success takes time. A strong partnership takes loyalty. A trusted brand takes repetition. And enjoying the work makes it easier to continue when the excitement disappears. You don’t need to copy somebody else’s beard. You need to discover what makes people recognise and remember you—and then keep showing up until they do. Because the real secret to lasting success isn’t looking the part. It’s staying in the game. ☕ Here’s today’s question: What is the one thing that makes you or your business memorable? #CoffeeTimeWithGilbert #TheProfessorAndMe #ZZTop #FrankBeard #BusinessLessons #KeepShowingUp #BuildYourBrand #SuccessMindset

🍌 THE PROFESSOR & ME KNOW YOUR BUSINESS FROM THE GROUND UP I recently came across the story of Samuel Zemurray—the immigrant who became known as America’s Banana King. He started by buying overripe bananas that other traders considered worthless. They saw waste. He saw an opportunity. His story reminded me of my father and the lessons he taught us at Funchal Fruit & Veg in Silverton. The Professor believed that you had to know what you were selling. He taught us the names, varieties and uses of our different fruits and vegetables. He knew which apples were sweeter, which fruit was best for cooking and what a customer needed for a fruit basket or arrangement. He didn’t manage the business from a distance. He worked inside it. He understood the stock. He understood the customers. He understood the people doing the work. 🌿 THE PROFESSOR’S WISDOM You cannot lead a business properly from behind a desk if you don’t understand what is happening on the shop floor. ☕ MY TAKE Technology and reports are useful—but they cannot replace firsthand knowledge. Go to the customer. Look at the product. Speak to the people doing the work. See the problem for yourself. Before you try to grow your business, make sure you truly understand it—from the ground up. 💬 YOUR TURN Do you know your business from the ground up—or are you trying to manage it from a distance? — Gilbert Nobrega The Professor & Me

☕ COFFEE TIME WITH GILBERT FOCUS ON TODAY Yesterday is finished. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. All we truly have is today. One lesson I have learned is this: Do the hard thing first. The easy thing feels comfortable—but comfort doesn’t always produce results. The hard phone call. The difficult decision. The task you keep postponing. Going out and doing the work when you would rather stay comfortable. That is usually where the real progress is hiding. You don’t win by avoiding the difficult things. You win when you face them, finish them and realise that you were stronger than you thought. So today, don’t ask: “What is the easiest thing I can do?” Ask: “What is the hard thing I need to do today?” Then go and do it. That is where the real satisfaction comes from. Focus on today. Do the hard thing. What hard thing have you been putting off? — Gilbert Nobrega The Professor & Me Stories