Don Baker

Pocket Change and a Prayer: That's All You Need to Get Started Don Baker

My dad, Silas Baker, has always been my entrepreneur and financial inspiration. In 1938, after marrying my mother, Lucille, on Christmas eve, with only the change in his pockets and a prayer on his lips, he left the red dirt cotton fields of Huntsville, Alabama and moved north to Nashville, Tennessee. He was 19 and my mother was only 17. Dad had an uncanny ability to maintain his focus even when everyone around him lost his or hers. In more than 50 years as the Chief Executive Officer of his own companies, he never played hooky from work. Since I worked for him for 10 of those years, I often wished that he would say, "Don, lets forget about work today and go fishing." But, of course, he never did. Committed to his big family, he took his family obligations and business responsibilities seriously. Facing hostile discrimination, violent competitors, few resources, many obligations and very little formal education, dad built one of the most successful construction firms in middle Tennessee. This book, with hundred of pages of researched information, is about how to create wealth by persevering during difficult life moments, understanding basic financial concepts and the power of God.