Elvis the Electrician

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome to the Inspire Halton update feed, where we send you inspiring stories, news about our operations and thank yous to those out there on the battlefield managing our event day to day and donating.

Being this is our first post, I’m going to start where I always do − Elvis Presley.

Now, it’s partly because he had an awesome accent and I’m a huge fan, but there’s more (and, believe it or not, it’s not because he’s all I know about).

Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi to relative poverty. His father was arrested when he was still practically a baby for altering a check from their landowner. As a bonus, they lost their house. It was a hard life.

Then, he was made fun of at school for wearing sideburns, elaborate clothes and his ducktail haircut.

Everything was set − Elvis had graduated from Hume Highschool. He was driving trucks while he learned how to be an electrician.

But one day, Elvis needed a birthday present for his mother. Where else to go but Sun Studio, where you could cut a recording of yourself for $3.98?

Elvis walked in one day, made the two-song single, took it home and gave it to his mother.

And that’s nearly where it all ended. But Sam Phillips, owner of Sun, listened to Presley sing, heard something he liked and brought the kid back to record again, and again, and again.

Nearly sixty years later, Elvis is the highest selling solo artist in the history of popular music with over a billion records sold.

Sure he came a long way from that first recording at Sun, but the importance in the story lies with his actions − he made a start, and that’s where all successful and inspiring people start out. You may not have the power to accomplish your dreams now, but you certainly have the power to begin. And you never really know where that first move will take you.

As Lao Tzu, the Chinese Philosopher, said, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.

Perhaps it’s time you take yours.

Alex H.