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Two days later she took Michael todinner. She let him go on and on abouthow business had been getting worseand worse, how the recession washurting sales, and how they needed tomake adjustments.frizza | stock.adobe.comFounder’s Favourites | December 2021—Issue 17 | 12
that he needed another assistant, basically abookkeeper, to do the billing and to pay the bills.Although both assistants were quite competent,Michael could not resist micromanaging, therebymaking their jobs a lot harder. Still, he knew thatYvonne would always be his bread-and-butter, so hedid make an effort to keep her happy.In the meanwhile, she was becoming increasinglyaware that everything depended on her. She was thetalent. She was the creator. She was the money-maker.Still, she would be forever grateful to Michael forhaving not only discovered her talent, but enabling herto monetize it and becoming richer than she everdreamed possible.Over the next two years, both assistants quit andMichael hired two others. But when the replacementswere hired, it took time for them to get up to speed.Sales began to decline as costs rose. And when both ofthem quit, it finally began to dawn on Michael thatjust maybe there might be a problem.And then, the recession of 1973 soon made bad thingseven worse. Michael finally realized that whileYvonne was still earning a decent income, he wasbarely breaking even. He suggested to Yvonne that hewanted to renegotiate their contract. She asked for acouple of days to think things over.7Two days later she took Michael to dinner. She let himgo on and on about how business had been gettingworse and worse, how the recession was hurting sales,and how they needed to make adjustments.He talked about how he had had to fire so manyassistants, how he knew he wasn’t perfect, but nowthat his back was against the wall, he would need abigger commission.Yvonne had not realized that things had gotten so bad,but she did know who was largely to blame. Michaelhad one valuable sales gift, which was to let herdrawings sell themselves. But otherwise, he wasalmost a complete disaster. Nevertheless, she did owehim for giving her start.She decided to level with him. “Look Michael, I willalways be grateful to you for giving me my firstopportunity. But face it -- you have almost completelymismanaged the business over the last couple of years.Giving you a bigger cut would just be throwing goodmoney after bad.”He was stunned. He never would have expected thiskind of reaction. But he began to realize that she wasright.“Michael, for the good of both of us, we need todissolve our agreement. I’m really sorry, but that’swhat I’ve decided.Then she summoned the waiter, paid the check, andleft. Michael didn’t say a word.8A year later, Michael was still living in the townhouse.He was still giving monthly parties. But now they hadspread out to the lower three floors below his ownliving quarters. He was representing four hot youngartists.Michael had very painfully become aware of his mostglaring limitations, but he felt powerless to doanything about them. Still, he also knew his greateststrength: Never try to sell anything. Just sit back andlet the buyer approach you.Although he was once again an agent, he had the fourartists hire assistants to arrange for reproductions,billing, and all the other arcana of the business world.He just sat back and earned his commissions.Despite what had happened between them, he andYvonne stayed in touch. He even got to know her son,who was now almost eight years old. In fact, he hadsome of Jimmy’s drawings hanging in his townhouse.Imagine Michael’s surprise when someoneapproached him to ask if one of them was for sale.Founder’s Favourites | December 2021—Issue 17 | 13
Page 1 and 2: Founder’s FavouritesIssue 17 - De
Page 3 and 4: Winter’s FaceDuane AndersonShatte
Page 5 and 6: Quintessence Of DustNolo Segundo[Wi
Page 7 and 8: The Man on the LedgeJohn GreyYou se
Page 9 and 10: The AgentSteve SlavinMichael had th
Page 11: “How did you feel, knowing that h
Page 15 and 16: Shadow LightIvan de MonbrisonI play
Page 17 and 18: Blue Jays & CardinalsBruce LevineI
Page 19 and 20: In Pursuit of HappinessBruce Levine
Page 21 and 22: Complete System ShutdownIvanka Fear
Page 23 and 24: Contributor Bios cont’d'Nolo Segu

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