people dream about you know growing up
in the small farming community
Farmington I quickly learned or we had a
saying I should say that poor people
don’t dream they survive what I mean is
we never actually thought that anything
would change in our lives he worked 12
hours in the factory and you do that
your whole life like your daddy did
before you or you plant corn morning to
us and I was 17 years old I was making
fence line in Farmington with my best
friend and the farm and we’re talking
about London are both excited and I say
Tim someday we’re going to London and he
said maybe you will but I won’t I’m
gonna die right here on this farm I’m
Josiah Cantrell
I grew up in this rural community of
Farmington Wisconsin it’s a bustling
metropolitan area of corn fields cow
pastures and John Deere tractors and
inside this big area there’s a little
dot on the map called Fillmore that’s
where I’m from there’s two bars and one
church smack-dab in the middle Ray’s
there’s my 13 siblings nine sisters a
lot of beautiful faces around the house
nine sisters and four brothers and the
next closest town was a little four-way
intersection called cheese Ville and
there’s still a sign there out front
that says population 22 it’s run from
you know we’re always poor right but
that’s not a big deal right a lot of
people are poor it doesn’t mean you
don’t have a happy life but life really
changed one day I’ll never forget it I
woke up was about 13 years old and my
dad’s car was in the driveway
and I ran upstairs all excited and I
said mom did dad take off a work today
to go play basketball of me and she said
no your father has lost his job so he
spent the next two three years
unemployment rolls trying to find
whatever work he could to take care of
the family and I got my first real job
on a local farm shoveling cow manure
cleaning beehives spinning wrenches and
tractors and I was proud of it because I
was becoming a man like my dad helping
to take care of the family but I always
wanted something more not that I didn’t
love Farmington but I just wanted
something more than being poor so I
figured I should become rich and
successful then right but I didn’t know
anybody that was rich so I had to go
find somebody to help me figure this out
so logically I thought I’ll go wherever
rich people hang out so I went to church
picnics right somebody’s paying for the
building right or local fundraisers
somebody’s got a right to check and I
try to figure out who in the room was
rich so I could talk to them become
their friend and maybe they could help
me figure this whole thing out but I
quickly noticed they all had died his
clothes and suits and ties not only did
I not have a tie I didn’t know how to
tie one either so my grandfather hooked
me up with one he tied it but the knot
in there and I kid you not all through
high school all through college I never
once undid that tie
well I didn’t know how to tie it back on
you know I just slipped the knot down
gently hang it on the wall and when I
needed it I just put it on and put the
knot back up if there’s something else
you know I we drove old junky rust
bucket cars and at first I parked with
next to everybody else’s but then I
started parking blocks away or I’d park
in the back by the kitchen help coming
through the kitchen doors because I
didn’t want people to know where I came
from because if I told them where I came
from they would instantly start treating
me differently and I wasn’t even meaning
it was just like all of a sudden
expectations got lowered they’d say
things like I hear you know machine
operators make really good money these
days or you can make a lot of money as a
mechanic nothing wrong with those jobs
but I didn’t want that I wanted to be a
venture capitalist er go to Harvard and
so I thought if I tell where I come from
the opportunities in life that they’ll
present to you will be much lower so I
hit it and I’ve guessed that was kind of
ashamed of it till one day I met this
man his name was James Harris I’ll never
forget it it was at a rich community
called River Hills in Wisconsin North
Shore Lake Michigan it’s where I
discovered what a coat-check was you
know what is this and he was speaking
and he was just magnificent he was this
tall black man was smoothly shaved had
he had two gold earrings big silver
rings all over the world there’s a
speaker TV comedy or everything and we
became friends and he invited me on one
of his trips I’ll never forget it we’re
riding across highway 94 north towards
the Mississippi River and he’s playing
music and bouncing and these guys come
on and they’re singing something like
ABC one two three
this is the Jackson 5 so naturally I was
like oh you know like related to Allen
Jackson he’s like so he introduced me to
Motown that day and gave me the rich
cultural music history and then I
introduced them to Allen Jackson and so
he wrote on that trip alternating song
singing at the top of our lungs it was a
beautiful thing
well I’ve kept going to places and they
invited me on this trip to go to London
to be part of international delegation
to meet the prime minister of United
Kingdom of the time David Cameron as
housing 10 Downing Street and so I told
mr. Harris I said I want to go but I’m
not going he says what what do you mean
you’re not going
and I was like four Farmington it’s like
so I’m like no no you don’t understand
like from Farmington and you know that’s
a dead a winner and our front doors
broke so we keep a dresser propped up
against it so the snow doesn’t get in
but snow still gets in and accumulates
in her foyer and in the morning the snow
is still there because that’s how cold
the house is I can’t go I I have to take
care of my family he says no you’re
going and then he said something to me
that stuck with me forever you said I
don’t ever want to hear you tell me that
where you come from
well the termina will you end up so he
helped me raise the money I end up in
London I get a postcard and I send it
home to my best friend Tim made it to
London got home and started writing
nationally got a column in The
Washington Times I’m 20 years old at the
time start doing radio and through that
I ended up getting invited onto national
television Fox Business channel wants to
send a car to Farmington to get me with
some guy named David Aston and I don’t
even know who this guy is and to this
day I don’t know where he is but I’ll
tell you this
I heard limousine coming to Farmington I
was like all right yeah so they get me
down there and put me in the chair put
my makeup on and I was okay with that
and I got nine sisters I’m like you know
make sure it looks good and the bright
lights are shining I mean he’s like the
others it’s been a delay but don’t worry
you can have whatever you want to drink
and bring you whiskey drinks whatever
you need just relax I said I want orange
juice because you see better hard life
but my mother didn’t she didn’t cry much
she was a tough woman but sometimes she
would when I was a little kid I’d going
I’d hold her I say mom it’s okay someday
we’re gonna have enough money then we’re
gonna drink orange juice for breakfast
every morning because I thought only
rich people drink orange juice for
breakfast so in that moment I did viewed
on national television the lights of the
cameras on me I drink orange juice and
thought of her that appearance led to a
job offer National Coalition is directed
for a presidential candidate and I
literally didn’t care who he was I just
saw a ticket out of Farmington I took it
headed to wash in DC but before I went I
had to say goodbye to my family
pacifically I had to say goodbye to my
little sister Hattie she suffers from a
chronic disease Lyme disease and she
went from a track start to being been
laid and so growing up I’d always come
and Holi after milking cows and I just
sit there and say someday
Hattie I’m gonna make enough money to
get you better and on this day she cried
I said Hattie I have to leave all but
when I come back I’ll have that money to
get you better and so I left over all
summer sausage from Tommy Shui the local
butcher and jar of my grandma’s homemade
raspberry jam I ate that all the entire
first week because I didn’t realize that
in sometimes you actually can walk to a
grocery store
I mean this is like an all-day event if
you’re in Farmington sighs like oh gosh
I don’t have a car
walk there it always a wild ride like I
even know what I was doing half the time
right but I I had dinner with Hank
Williams junior agent and Nashville then
I met Dolly Parton’s agent and hung out
with Alabama but this guy named rich
Vincent to be partying there he’s a
member of the Hollywood Hall of Fame he
got his career started playing with John
Lennon and Alice Cooper
Rocchi and I wrote across Louisiana
Secret Service motorcade it’s beautiful
and then they’re looking for someone
write speeches I said I’m a writer so I
sent lines off to the candidate next day
on NBC he’s given a speech I turned the
TV on I’m like wow those are my words
I just wrote words for someone that
could be president United States I mean
this this is incredible kid from
Farmington
I was literally was just like wow and
then two days later I’m riding down to
Tennessee the campaign manager he says
so I hear you got this job cuz your dad
was a member of the George W Bush
administration I said no no from
Farmington right there was this silence
and I was like oh no so we get down
there calls all the staffers into there
and he says Josiah has been demoted
make no mistake Josiah is no longer
important and the time I was devastated
I just lost the biggest job of my life
not because of something I did but
because of my last name because of who I
was and who my dad wasn’t but you know
what it was the best thing that ever
happened to me
because I learned to embrace myself not
for my name or where he came from but
because of my talents and the belief
that I could get the job done and that
demotion that firing led to my life as
an entrepreneur so I learn
entrepreneurship all they really care
about is do you have an idea idea and
you can bring it to market you can make
look at the job done
so now I own a sugar-free food company
and I’m pretty well I actually sent some
packages down to Dolly Parton and her
tour manager agent invited me down for
the Christmas party even and that
journey of becoming an entrepreneur
wanting to be a venture capitalist I
decided I wanted to end up as a venture
capitalist and so I spent three years
pursuing this family actually with
Sheryl Sandberg’s family a facebook her
uncle and two cousins they owned a
venture capital firm Wisconsin and I
spent three years literally as I would
do it you know they’re part of that Club
so if I go there I might meet someone
there who has an email and then I can
need though and introduce too though and
for three years I spent this maze of
trying to fear how to get to these
people and it worked they took me out
for dinner they’re an amazing family and
I said how can I end up like you I want
to be an investor like you I don’t have
any money is there room for talent sue
brings me down there take the interview
I don’t think I have it but I didn’t get
the job and I called my old friend James
Harris and I said you know I didn’t get
the job and it kind of reminds to you
and I lost that job the presidential
campaign at this time I’m okay with it
because exactly because it’s not about
achieving something and this isn’t the
end of the journey you see in my mind
I’d always thought don’t I failed that I
fail because I failed to achieve my
dreams but really the victory was never
about arriving was having the courage to
try and get there it was the courage to
believe that something better was out
there to be 17 years old in Farmington
say I’m going to be there someday that
was the victory that’s the victory for
you – it’s not about thriving achieving
it’s about having a courage to get there
because you see it doesn’t matter where
we end up it doesn’t matter where I end
up all that matters is where we are
going and being brave enough to try to
get there
so what do you dream that really like
what is that thing in your life that you
want you thought about it lately because
I’ll tell you this what I learned coming
from Farmington that where’d you come
from
we’ll never determine where you end up
if you don’t let it so I hope you leave
here today inspire to dream again aspire
to take that step to have the courage to
believe that it’s possible can I leave
you with what I dream about lately is
that okay and I only do this is I hope
it really helps you paint a picture in
your head of where you want to be I
dream about a day where Patti is running
again and my whole family were camping
because I like camping riding down on
route 66 all 14 of us kids and night
would pitch a tent in the morning when
the Sun rises over the new horizon I
pour a glass of orange juice for my mom
and in that moment we don’t say anything
at all because we don’t have to
in that moment we know our dreams have
all come true thank you [Applause]