Bob King

Robert (Bob) King
Buckner, KY

Bob worked in Evansville then Lexington and Finally Louisville when with Xerox

"What a shock to hear from Jim and David Doll.  I thought the email was “spam” at first, but it turned out to be a joyful reunion".  

"Before I start this “attempt’ to catch you up on my life after Xerox, I must say, my short stay at Xerox had a huge impact on my professional life!  I’ve been through many sales training programs but Xerox taught me how to sell.  I never worried about having a job for the rest of my life, I knew I could carry a bag for anyone!  I fondly recall when we would break up in groups for the day and go cold calling and return to the office to see who had the most signed contracts".  
OK, here goes;  What an old man can recall:

"I believe I started first in the Lexington office (possibly Evansville)!  But, in both branches, I met many fine people, but especially David Doll.  David and I had many good times together, (some we may share one day but others should be left unspoken)!  What a friend that I will always remember"!

"In Evansville, Sugar Bear Morris took me under his wing and taught me all of the tricks that are “not taught at sales school”, tricks that enabled me to better do a good job!  Sugar Bear, “My Man”!

"After Xerox I bumped around for a while and ended up back in Evansville, working for Johnson and Johnson.  Married Lois Drake and in 1980 we had our first child.  That division closed and I went to Saginaw, Michigan and our second child was born in 1981".

"Too cold for me so the next year I came back to Louisville and started working for A.T. & T.  Guess what?  My first manager at A.T. & T. was Valerie Lloyd who is married to Ed Lloyd (a Xerox and Kodak sales representative).  In fact the woman I would later marry, (after Lois died), also worked for Valerie!  Its a small world, huh"!

"At AT & T I found a home.  I sold to the small business, construction sector, statewide.  Divestiture came along and I stayed with South Central Bell’s network are,  I then moved to the major accounts banking sector, statewide and sold the first copper based high speed networks in the state and later the first fiber based networks!

I was promoted to small business sales manager in Louisville.  South Central became BellSouth.  I then went to work on the GM’s staff until the GM moved to Nashville and I continued in management in the collection center at Armory Place in Louisville.

Did that until 2000 whn BellSouth became Cingular wireless.  In 2000, after years of turning down promotions that required me to move, I was offered Regional Vice President over the west coast customer operations.  I would have 3000 employees with call centers in California and Louisiana.  We had just put my son in Centre College and my daughter was in Pitt, so I agreed and said “yes”!

I stayed in California until 2005 when it was discovered that I had Sino nasal undifferentiated carcinoma (SNUC), a rare cancer of the nasal cavity and/or paranasal sinuses.  Odds of survival were low but, God let me live.  After 9 months of surgery, chemo, radiation, I returned to work!

All of a sudden, work wasn’t important so I retired in 2005 and returned to Kentucky.  Guess what Kincer......I live in Buckner, KY!

When i returned to Kentucky, we learned the cancer had moved to my brain.  After more setbacks and surgeries, I’m still here!

I got to see my kids well entrenched in their careers, daughter is a corporate attorney at EQT Gas in Pittsburgh and my son is a Financial Advisor at Northwestern Mutual for the past 16 years.  Was able to spend time with my Dad, who passed at 84 and my Mom is still here at 89!

Bob, Wife Jan,  Daughter Nicole, Son-in-Law Chris, Son Robert III

(Dave Doll and Bob King Dec. 2016)