The son also rises

When 28-year-old Price Harding III yearned for a new career in 1989, his parents' Atlanta employment agency seemed as good an opportunity as any. Bell Oaks Co.—founded 19 years earlier by Price Harding Jr. (known as Preston) and his wife, Shirley—specialized in placing candidates in junior-level management training positions. Since Price's three siblings had all followed other careers and his parents had given no thought to succession, they welcomed Price into the business.

For the first few years, he was his father's willing student. “I took instruction from him and did it his way to a ‘t,'” Price recalls. “I would have been a fool not to. I knew nothing about the industry, and he was an expert.” As the graduate of a Bible college, Price found that the same qualities that would have made him a good preacher—his easy manner and compelling speaking style—now contributed to his success as a salesman.

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