Life in USA
1982 - 2000 United States of America
Andreas. On April 7, 1982, we had a late winter storm. By coincidence, it was also Ursula's due date. She woke up early that morning and told me she felt something was happening and that I'd better stay home. That "something" turned out to be the first contractions. I quickly got the car ready while she called the doctor to say we were coming to the hospital. It was a beautiful winter morning with about 20 inches of fresh snow. Thank God for that 4WD Subaru! The hospital was 20 minutes away in Mt. Kisco. Contractions were happening more frequently. I drove like the devil and ignored stop signs and red lights. I skidded a few times on ice but made it to the hospital just before her water broke. About an hour later, we had a beautiful and healthy baby boy. Andreas Olivier was born! It was an indescribable feeling of happiness.
The following Saturday, we took Andreas home. Ursula had prepared a large weaver basket as a bed for Andreas because his crib wasn't quite ready yet. While on the commuter train the following Monday, I remember having a reality check. It just hit me. OK, so now we are a family of three. Ursula chose to be a stay-at-home mom. Wow, so that left me as the sole breadwinner. I wasn't worried, but I suddenly felt the added responsibility on my shoulders!
Ursula was a great mom. He was using common sense and logic - very patient and never panicked. She met regularly with Patty Malone, another first-time mom from Lamaze's class. They got together with a larger group from time to time and shared their experiences. My Mom and Ursula's mom came to stay with us at different times to spend time with Ursula and the new baby. Andreas quickly outgrew the weaver basket, and his crib got finished just in time. I built it in pine wood, on casters, with a height-adjustable platform and a fold-down front railing. Andreas was very alert and curious about everything. It didn't take very long before he crawled around, trying to open cabinet doors and grabbing whatever he could. He took his first steps when he was about ten months old. After that, nothing was safe anymore. He was a happy boy and didn't cry much, except when he was hungry or frustrated with a toy he couldn't dismantle.
The following year, we decided to try for another baby. Our house was a cozy ranch-style home, but we needed more space. Buying a larger home wasn’t an option since we didn’t have the funds, and besides, we loved our house and its private, secluded location. So, we chose to expand the home by adding a second story. Architect Ursula drew up the plans, submitted them, and got them approved.
I started the project by constructing a staircase into the attic space and nailing down the floor. The staircase quickly became Andreas’s favorite climbing spot. In August, we went on a vacation to Key West and hired a carpenter to handle the rough framing while we were away. At the time, Ursula was already three months pregnant with our new baby. When we returned from Florida, the structure and roof were completed as planned.
In the fall, Wally came to visit and helped me install the windows. We then hired a contractor to add extra insulation and vinyl siding. With the new siding and second floor, the house looked warm and inviting—just in time for the winter. Once the exterior was finished, we could begin the interior build-out, which included a kids’ bedroom, a play/study area, a bathroom, and a main bedroom with an en-suite bath and shower. It was an exciting and transformative project for our home and family!
Anina. On January 5, 1984, Anina Christine was born. How nice that our wish for a boy and a girl came through! This time the baby arrived while I was at work. A neighbor down the road rushed Ursula to the hospital, and Anina was born 45 minutes later. Everything happened incredibly fast. The neighbor said that when he got back to his car in the emergency parking lot, the door was still open with the engine running!
A week later, Ursula's mom arrived, and I went with her to pick up Ursula and the baby from the hospital. I could sense that she wasn't very thrilled of the name Anina. Being German, she probably expected something like Ruth, Beatrice, Angelica, Sabrina, or Manuela. But she soon warmed up to it as she held the little bundle of joy. Years later, she laughed about her initial reaction.
Anina was tucked in the same weaver basket as Andreas and later transferred to the crib. She smiled a lot and was a cheerful little girl. Soon she was crawling and taking her first steps too. She always tried to mimic her brother and do what he did. And it frustrated her when she couldn't. She defended her territory and belongings. She knew precisely which toys were hers and would share them with Andreas on her own terms, and would scream bloody murder if Andreas grabbed one without permission.
North American Watch Corp. continued to grow year after year, and so did my watch service division. Managing everything single-handedly became very stressful. In 1985, I brought in a young administrator to handle customer service. It was a good move and let me focus on the technical operations. Around the same time, we received our first RCA computer system. Computers were a valuable tool and significantly improved efficiency. Unfortunately, the people who wrote the program for my Service Division lacked a complete understanding.
The spare parts module had some serious flaws. For expample, it didn’t properly manage lead times or minimum stock quantities. As a result, we frequently ran out of critical inventory which causing delays. To help with this issue, I often had to ask the system administrator to manually adjust the numbers to meet demand. It was a constant struggle that inevitably impacted the turnaround times. Upper management and IT was slow with program improvements - their focus remained on developing the sales and marketing modules. The ongoing issues with the parts shortage eventually began to tarnish my reputation, as complaints from other service centers and authorized watchmakers started piling up on my desk. It was both frustrating and unacceptable.
By 1986, while some improvements had been made to the system, they still fell short of my expectations. For the first time in 16 years, I found myself feeling unhappy at work. Ironically, this was also the year I became 100% vested in the profit-sharing plan. The idea of making a career change began to grow stronger with each passing day. Perhaps it was time to start exploring new opportunities.
Time for Change - My reputation for efficiency, quality, and excellent customer service was no secret in the watch service industry. One day, out of the blue, I received a call from my friend François Girardet. He said he accepted a position at his company's headquarters in Switzerland and asked if I wanted step in as the new Service Director for Ebel USA.
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The week after, I met with Ronnie Wolfgang, the president of EBEL USA at a Sushi restaurant for lunch. Afterward, we walked across the Street to their offices on 5th Avenue where he presented me the watch collection. The watches were quite impressive, carved from a single block of metal. High quality, stylish, and beautifully designed with proprietary movements - 100% Swiss Made. I liked Ronnie from the start. He was very sincere and charismatic - all fired-up about the growth of this relatively new watch brand in the US. He predicted a considerable growth potential.
I liked what I saw and felt like I was in the right place at the right time. Ronnie must have felt confident about my reputation and past accomplishments. Just a few days later, he offered me the position and sent over a contract. I showed it to Ursula, and she was fully on board, encouraging me to go for it. The very next day, I officially resigned from North American Watch Corporation.
Switching to Ebel was one of the best decisions of my professional career! Shortly after I joined the company, my dear friend Bernhard lost his job with North American Watch Corporation under unfortunate circumstances. It turned out to be the perfect timing, as I was looking to hire a new manager for the EBEL's Swisswave service center in Long Beach. To cut a long story short, we extended an offer to Bernhard, and he happily joined the team. I was thrilled to be working with him again at the same company. Bernhard had been a long-time friend, a man of integrity, and someone I could always trust and rely on.
François filled me in on my new job and responsibilities. We worked hand in hand for three weeks before he left for Switzerland. He had just started with the computerization of the service department. He was working with a programmer named Dave Shelton, whom he met during a consumer electronics show in California.
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I had previously used computer terminals but never worked with PCs and programs. It was an excellent opportunity to learn new things. Francois taught me the basics of Framework II and Dbase3. We had IBM XT's running on DOS 2.1 with a 10MB HD and floppy drive. I was off to a slow start, but François was an excellent teacher, and I appreciated his patience. It took me a while, but once it clicked in my brain and I understood the concept, I was hooked on PCs. I spent hours and hours absorbing and learning everything I could. I also loved experimenting with reports and spreadsheets. PCs fascinated me, and I quickly became the company's go-to person for hardware and software.
Ebel was tiny when I joined them in 1986. Only twelve people worked at the main office, including a traveling salesman and a part-time accountant. It felt more like a large family than a company. Ronnie was the best Director anybody could wish for. He was an inspiring leader/motivator and a good communicator. Always up-front and honest. His goals and directions were clear. I had his full support, and he let me develop the service side of the business. He used to say: "Look, you are the expert on watches and service. I only understand numbers, and I want happy customers."
Ebel was quite successful and tripled its sales in just a few years. I remember the day Ronald shared a bottle of Dom Perignon with us in celebration of the first 1-million-dollar month. It was a huge milestone. 1990 Ebel purchased a 4-story brownstone on 61st Street that became our new headquarters. At the same time, Ebel purchased a 3-story brownstone on Madison Avenue and opened its first Boutique. The success continued year after year. Our marketing/advertising director, Lorrie Greenblatt, brilliantly promoted the brand through corporate TV advertising and sponsorship of major sports events.
Our service organization grew as well. I opened service centers in Beverly Hills and Miami and appointed a dozen authorized service agents in major cities in the US and Canada. The service Operation in Manhattan now counted 16 employees. PCs were networked with Novell. The software evolved over the years and featured many excellent components, including location control that tracked watches as they advanced through the repair process. We could pinpoint the whereabouts of a specific watch at any given time. This allowed managers to react to bottlenecks and trace items. Our programmer Dave Shelton was a real asset in developing and improving the programs. Working closely with him and seeing the fruits of our labor was a pleasure. Dave and I worked many times through the night to have the system ready and working for the following morning.
Over in Switzerland, my Dad had retired from the Swiss Railroad Company and moved to the Alps, where he and Mom had built a Chalet (mostly with their own hands) over the last ten years. My brother Herbert often lent his helping hand during the construction and installed the electrical system. The Chalet was in a beautiful setting, overlooking the Simmental Valley. Dad was 65 when he decided to get his driver's license and purchase a 4WD Toyota Tercel. He and Mom truly enjoyed their retirement years. Later, Dad leased the land of adjacent property and became a sheep farmer. The animals provided wool, milk, and cheese. Mom had half a dozen chickens and tended to the vegetable garden. She grew salad, carrots, onions, red beets, celery, and beans.
We remodeled the kitchen, and the next-door bedroom became a dining room. Then we turned our (old) bedroom into a family room and home office. The second-floor addition was all finished by then. I did the inside framing, electrical, and plumbing myself, including insulation, sheetrock, tile work, baseboard heating, and lighting. The only work that Ursula contracted out was plastering and painting.
Kids growing up. We lived at the southern end of Yorktown, which was a little unfortunate, as far as the school district was concerned. Andreas and Anina were always the first kids to be picked up by the school bus at 7 AM and the last to be dropped off at 4 PM, which was a long day. After homework, they usually ran around in the forest or went to the lake. Kids are kids. As parents, you always worry that they might get hurt. It was impossible to watch them every minute, so we knew education was the best prevention.
Living near a lake, we taught them how to swim at an early age. Andreas loved climbing, especially trees, just like when I was a kid! I taught him to safely climb a tree, always ensuring the footing was safe, testing for dead branches, and carefully planning the next move. Luckily he was a good student, and we never had to worry after that.
Another time, they discovered my .22 rifle. Even though I kept the ammo locked in a safe place, I thought they should learn to safely shoot and handle a firearm. This satisfied their curiosity and taught them respect. We were having lots of fun shooting beer cans in the forest.
I generally used my vacation (2 weeks) to work on projects at home or be with friends visiting us. Some years we would travel to Switzerland to visit family. 1992 was an exception. We splurged on a Club Med Vacation in Punta Cana. Ursula and I could relax and enjoy the beach while Andreas and Anina were involved in various activities at the Mini-Club. We would enjoy dinner together and watch exciting evening shows. The children loved the elaborate food buffets! I ran in a 10K race, winning 5th place. Andreas and Anina got to do acrobatics on the flying trapeze. Seeing them climb the narrow ladder and move onto the tiny platform 50 feet in the air was so scary. I will never forget this fantastic vacation.
Home Business. By 1993 the children were in middle school. Ursula had more time and started a home business selling Longaberger baskets. They were beautifully handcrafted baskets sold at home parties, similar to Tupperware. A few years later, she gave up Longaberger to become a distributor for the Shaklee Corporation (food supplements and vitamins). Profits from Shaklee's sales were higher, and the business was more lucrative due to the pyramid-type structure. Ursula worked tirelessly and became successful in building the business. I was a silent partner, managing the accounting & financial part. Our sales volume and status entitled us to certain perks, including a 5-day all-inclusive Caribbean cruise. Hard work and dedication were paying off. Ursula's home business income allowed me to contribute the maximum to Ebel's 401K plan and IRA accounts. It also enabled us to save money for the kid's college education.
Andreas and Anina grew up nicely. They both played on the Yorktown soccer teams and competed in tournaments. We drove to Vermont to introduce them to skiing and snowboarding in the winter. We usually went to New Hampshire in August and rented a house on Lake Winnipesaukee with the Huber Swiss family. Andreas and Anina enrolled in German classes every Wednesday afternoon in high school. We felt it was vital that they learn a second foreign language besides French. It was equally important that they attended church with us on Sundays. La on, it would be up to them to decide whether they wanted to continue.
1996 I prepared for the New York Marathon and trained diligently for several months. But by the time October came around, my left knee was swollen and hurt badly. X-rays confirmed that I had a torn meniscus and not much cartilage left. My doctor suggested I take it easy for a while and then change to low-impact activities such as swimming, biking, and hiking. The following year, my friend Geoffrey Chin (an avid cyclist) encouraged me to purchase a bicycle and start riding with him. It was one of the coolest decisions. I have become a passionate cyclist ever since.
Ebel did well as a luxury brand. Our sales were phenomenal year after year. Unfortunately, the company was heavily invested in real estate and faced financial difficulties when the market crashed late in 1990. Sadly, the owner Alain Blum was forced to sell the company. After changing hands twice, Ebel was eventually acquired by the conglomerate LVMH which forced Ronnie out. With him leaving the company, I sensed it was only a matter of time before the brand would run deeper into trouble. Thus, in January 2000, I started looking around for a new opportunity.
Time for Change - One job offer I received was from Cartier in Japan, but a good friend with far-east experience advised me to stay away from it. Another offer came from Rolex USA. It was for a Service Director's position in Dallas, Texas. Rolex's offer meant a step up in my professional career. My decision to join this company was a no-brainer, but how would my family react? Accepting this job required relocating to another state. It also meant that Ursula would almost certainly lose her Shaklee clients. Besides, it would be hard on Andreas and Anina as they would suddenly be separated from all their friends. Indeed a dramatic change for all of us.
When I broke the news to Ursula, she listened with interest and had many questions. We had long discussions about it, and in the end, the Pros outnumbered the Cons. We decided to embrace the new opportunity. What a partner! It proved once more that we were a good team, meant to be for each other. As expected, the news didn't go well with our children. Anina was still in high school, and Andreas had just graduated. A perfect world had been turned upside down for them; it was extremely difficult.
In November 2000, we moved into a new home in Southlake, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. A new chapter in the United States had just begun!
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