Vinney “Smile” Chopra

“I came from India almost 44 years ago. I grew up in a family of six siblings and parents in a one-bedroom apartment, in very humble beginnings. We never had a television, telephone, or refrigerator in the house. We also had no car or even a motorcycle. We just had a bicycle and public transportation.”

Interviewed by Jonathan Rozek for Ten Paths. David Lindahl was not involved in editing these interviews.

Vinney: I came from India almost 44 years ago. I grew up in a family of six siblings and parents in a one-bedroom apartment, in very humble beginnings. We never had a television, telephone, or refrigerator in the house. We also had no car or even a motorcycle. We just had a bicycle and public transportation.

It was just a very humble beginning, but we were happy. I have no qualms about my early life. I walked to my school, which was held in tents. When it rained, the water would come into the tents.

Anyway, long story short I decided at one point that I wanted to be an engineer, and I became one. I then decided that I should go to the United States, and get my MBA at George Washington University. I thought that marketing and engineering would enable me to get a good living here in the land of opportunity. I came into this country with $7 in my pocket. I knew a little bit of English, but I had a really thick accent. People couldn't understand me.

Jon: Had any of your family come to America before you?

Vinney: My dad's youngest brother came here in ‘63. I came in ‘75, and he had to sponsor me; otherwise I couldn't get a visa. Then he paid for my first semester, which was about $1,800. Later on, I found out he didn't know where the next money would come from. He took a gamble on me.

After a while, one of my friends said: “Vinney, do you want to sell some books door-to-door?” I said: “I just came from India!” But he said: “I sell these educational books and make some money. Do you want to come along with me?” It actually changed my career and my life. I sold Bibles, encyclopedias, and children’s books door to door in the Atlanta area in 1976 and two more summers after that, before graduating with my MBA.

Jon: Was your family supportive of your coming to America?

Vinney: My parents did not want me to come here at all. My dad and mom were very mad about it. I owe it to my grandpa, who visited the US one time. He had been to Washington, DC and saw the university there. He had a vision or desire that I should go abroad, and he paid for my airplane ticket. After a while, my family was happy, because I lived very frugally and every time I'd make an extra dime, I would send money back to India. Literally every month.

Jon: You said that English was a challenge. So how difficult was it for you then to go door to door and sell books?

Vinney: I could speak but with a thick accent. I still have an accent, and some people cannot understand me. But my accent actually helped me in my sales, because I would say: “May I come in?” or something else that they would not understand. But they saw my manners and seemed to think that I was a nice guy, so they’d say: “Just come on in.” I had a lot of doors open, just like that, and then they usually welcomed me. I still have very fond memories of Austell, Mableton, and Douglasville in Georgia, and also Pulaski, VA and Aiken, SC.

In fact, one fine lady, who’s passed away now, loaned me her van so I could deliver books. She did not charge me a penny. She said: “How are you going to deliver all those books you’ve sold now?” She kept in touch with me all throughout the summer. Then I met her again one more time, after I had become a little bit successful. I have a lot of fun memories.

I sold this way for three summers. I worked 80 hours a week, but I liked it so much. I walked for the entire first year. In the second year, I was able to buy a blue Maverick car for $700.

Jon: That’s 100 times what you came to the US with, so that's a lot.

Vinney: That's right. But Jonathan, it literally converted me from an engineer to a salesperson. I enjoyed the interactions, and I started to win awards within the company. At one point, someone preparing a trophy for an award took out my middle name—Kumar—and put in “Smile”. My trophy read: “Vinney (Smile) Chopra”. That was 44 years ago, and the name stuck.

Jon: I think it would be reasonable to say that somebody reading this interview would say that you are so different from a typical person who is filled with doubt. That person might then think: I can’t sell books in a language I don’t know well. And even if I could, this door-to-door stuff is wearing me down. So what did you find difficult at that time? And then how did you get over those difficulties?

Vinney: I would say that I'm not the person who I am today. At that time, more than 40 years ago, I did all of that because I had the desire to make something out of my life. In this new country, I had a desire to really learn the sales business. I had a desire to really motivate myself on a daily basis.

One way I got through difficulties was that my company gave me seven books: The Greatest Salesman In The World by Og Mandino, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie; Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill; The Magic of Thinking Big by W.J. Schwartz; Life is Tremendous by Charlie Jones; The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale; and The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. I still have those books on my desk, more than 40 years later.

Jon: I'm curious about something. Many people love Think and Grow Rich, but I found that there was a different book that he wrote that's even better. And it's the Laws of Success. Do you have that?

Vinney: I do. I don't have it on my desk here, but I have read many, many books, and always have. I’m a very curious guy. I want to learn and I feel like I should always train my mind, grow my knowledge, and be motivated each day.

I really believe it's all a matter of what we think about. It starts with what’s between our two ears. That is because we act—or don’t act—based on the thoughts we create, and those actions then largely determine our destiny. Zig Zigler once said, “the stinking thinking”. He meant that if we think too negatively, it’s easy to spiral down. Then it's much harder to come out of it. We feel depressed, we feel self-pity, and we feel not worthy of all the things we want to do.

I really try to be truthful to myself. I've always been goal-oriented, but I was not as positive back in India. But when I came here, I began to read books and listened to people like Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Tom Hopkins, John C Maxwell, you name it. I learned a lot from How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life by Alan Lakein.

Jon: How about Brian Tracy?

Vinney: Oh, Brian Tracy, he’s amazing. Plus Tommy Hopkins and How to Master the Art of Selling Anything. I probably have bought thousands of books, tapes, CDs, and DVDs. I loved my “Automobile University”: learning while driving each day!

It's the decisions you make for yourself. Rome was not built in a day. I cannot be a new person overnight, but I can do things incrementally so that I can control my mindset, control my attitude, and control what I want to accomplish.

I’ve definitely had a lot of hurdles and challenges along the way. Who hasn’t? We should expect them and deal with them the best way possible. I got hit by a car. I mean, a lot of things happened in my life. Even now, a lot of things are happening. But the thing is, if you want to be sincere to yourself that you are here in this life for a very short period of time—90 years or 100 years—that is just a speck of time. We tend to take our life so seriously, and we should not; that's what I feel.

Going back to your question, I have progressed, slowly and incrementally, to the person I am today. I’m almost 70, and I still am on a journey to learn more, especially about myself. I love to spend money in developing my mind, because we spend so much money from the mouth down. It's literally uncanny.

I just spent $700 on dinner! Last week we were in Florida vacationing for the first time with some really good people, and I spent $700. But we don't tend to spend as much money above the mouth, and that's the tragic thing. I need to be spending $700 above the mouth, not from the mouth on down. I really never have regretted spending money for coaching and mentoring by Dave Lindahl and his esteemed coach, Ron Jung; I remember to this day how helpful he was, meeting with me weekly at night, after my day job, and holding me accountable. If I had not taken the training—and it was a weekly grind to learn it—then I wouldn't be where I am today. I know that for sure. So I owe a lot of my success to Dave.

Also having the right members on my team is super important: attorneys, real estate brokers, loan brokers, accounting help, underwriters, everybody. This business is a team effort—it's not a solo game. And learning is a huge part of it, so that we don't step on landmines. It’s the way you can find out what’s coming up, and how others have handled it.

Jon: Was there a period in your early years when you didn't know what direction you wanted to take?

Vinney: My wife and I bought single-family homes all over the US, but I found the cash flow was not coming in. That's when I looked for advice on multifamily. I found Dave's books on the internet, bought them, and made huge amounts of notes, under linings, and yellow highlights in them.

I didn't meet Dave until about two years later; before then, I was just studying and learning on my own. You might call it bookish knowledge. I met him when he came to San Francisco, I think in 2007. Then I learned more from Dave, his coaches, and his boot camps. That's when it all started for me: expansion in my thinking and in my knowledge, and just to kind of get in a rhythm to really take care of what I wanted to accomplish. I was learning it all as a “student of the profession.”

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