“If you want milk, don’t sit on a stool in the middle of the pasture, waiting for the cows to offer you an udder.” This old saying is quite in the spirit of my mother’s teachings. She would also add, “Come on, Ricky. Don’t sit still. Go and catch a cow.»
An old recipe for rabbit pie says, «Catch the rabbit first.» Note that it doesn’t say, «Buy a rabbit first, or sit and wait for someone to bring it to you.»
Such lessons, which my mother taught me from early childhood, made me an independent person. They taught me to think with my own head and take on the task myself.
It used to be a life principle for the people of Britain, but today’s youth often waits for everything to be brought to them on a silver platter. Perhaps if other parents were like mine, we would all become energetic people, as the British once were.
Once, when I was four years old, my mother stopped the car a few miles from our house and said that now I have to find my own way home through the field. She presented it as a game — and I was only glad to have the opportunity to play it. But it was already a challenge, I grew up, and the tasks became more difficult.
One early winter morning, my mother woke me up and told me to get dressed. It was dark and cold, but I got out of bed. She gave me a paper-wrapped lunch and an apple. “You’ll find water along the way,” my mother said, and waved me off as I rode my bike to the south coast fifty miles from home. It was still dark when I pedaled all alone. I spent the night with relatives and returned home the next day, terribly proud of myself. I was sure that I would be greeted with shouts of joy, but instead my mother said: “Well done, Ricky. Well, was it interesting? Now run to the vicar, he wants you to help him chop wood.»
To some, such an upbringing may seem harsh. But in our family everyone loved each other very much and everyone cared about others. We were a close knit family. Our parents wanted us to grow up strong and learn to rely on ourselves.
Dad was always ready to support us, but it was mom who encouraged us to give all our best in any business. From her I learned how to do business and earn money. She said: “Glory goes to the winner” and “Chase the dream!”.
Mom knew that any loss is unfair — but such is life. It’s not smart to teach kids that they can always win. Real life is a struggle.
When I was born, dad was just starting to study law, and there was not enough money. Mom didn’t whine. She had two goals.
The first is to find useful activities for me and my sisters. Idleness in our family looked disapprovingly. The second is to look for ways to make money.
At family dinners, we often talked about business. I know that many parents do not dedicate their children to their work and do not discuss their problems with them.
But I am convinced that their children will never understand what money is really worth, and often, getting into the real world, they do not stand the fight.
We knew what the world really was. My sister Lindy and I helped my mother with her projects. It was great and created a sense of community in the family and work.
I tried to raise Holly and Sam (sons of Richard Branson) in the same way, although I was lucky in that I had more money than my parents had in their time. I still think Mom’s rules are very good and I think that Holly and Sam know what money is worth.
Mom made little wooden tissue boxes and trash cans. Her workshop was in a garden shed, and our job was to help her. We painted her products, and then folded them. Then an order came from Harrods (one of the most famous and expensive department stores in London), and sales went uphill.
During the holidays, my mother rented rooms to students from France and Germany. Working from the heart and having fun from the heart is a family trait of our family.
My mother’s sister, Aunt Claire, was very fond of black Welsh sheep. She came up with the idea to start a tea cup company with black sheep designs on them, and the women in her village began to knit patterned sweaters with their image. Things in the company went very nicely, it brings a good profit to this day.
Years later, when I was already running Virgin Records, Aunt Claire called me and said that one of her sheep had learned to sing. I didn’t laugh. It was worth listening to my aunt’s ideas. Without any irony, I followed this sheep everywhere with the included tape recorder, Waa Waa BIack Sheep (Waa Waa BIack Sheep — “Beee, beee, black sheep” — a children’s counting song known since 1744, Virgin released it in the performance of the same “singing sheep” on “forty-five” in 1982) was a huge success, reaching fourth place in the charts.
I’ve gone from a small business in a garden shed to a Virgin global network. The level of risk has increased a lot, but since childhood I have learned to be bold in my actions and decisions.
Although I always listen carefully to everyone, but still rely on my own strength and make my own decisions, I believe in myself and in my goals.