One Door-to-Door Salesman You'll Love

From “Ten Things I Learned from Bill Porter.” Used with permission of New World Library.

Bill Porter, born with cerebral palsy, has been a door-to-door salesman in Portland, Ore., since 1954. As a teenager, Shelly Brady started working for Bill, learning from his indomitable spirit and strong values. Today a wife and mother of six, Shelly often shares Bill’s inspiring story with others, and Bill is a sought-after motivational speaker. Last week, actor William H. Macy won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor in a TV Movie for his portrayal of Bill Porter in "Door to Door," the film he made for TNT about the salesman's life.

Bill is often asked, “What makes you tick? What makes you get up day after day, don a business suit, and sell door-to-door when you could stay home and collect disability payments?”

He answers, “I knew there was something I could do. I felt it deep inside. My mother told me I could do anything I set out to do and I believed her. I set out to work and nothing could make me take my eyes off that goal. When I was let go from the jobs the unemployment office set me up with, I was frustrated and discouraged, but I wouldn’t let those feelings fester. I pushed them aside and kept going back. Eventually, I knew the right job would come my way. You must have faith in yourself and work hard. I learned that from my mother, my father, and God.”

I marvel at the inner strength Bill Porter mustered during the 1980s when he cared for his ill mother and continued to work each day. “I had to go to work. I had to pay the bills,” he’ll tell you. Bill’s admirable character traits are built upon a deep, internal value system.

Shortly before his mother passed away, I was asked to volunteer time for a youth group at my church. The goal of the group was to introduce young women to values they could use today and carry with them their entire life. Those values were: faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, and integrity.

We had the girls choose someone they knew personally who exemplified the seven values and discuss how they were manifested. Well-respected parents, teachers, grandparents, and friends were commonly cited as examples. To the surprise of the girls, I chose Bill Porter because more than anyone I know, he dramatically demonstrates the belief and practice of these seven values. In fact, he has believed and practiced them since childhood, when his parents taught him the importance of possessing the kind of internal values that one can rely on every day all through life.

 

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