Imagine Sitting Next to Sir Richard Branson on a Flight!
Sounds implausible? Well it actually happened to Jason Murphy who found himself sitting in seat 1A, the most sought after seat on the plane.
Little did Jason know at the time, when shortly after being upgraded to his new seat, he’d be asked to move over and give it up for an unnamed VIP. But as you’ll read in Jason’s own words, it was none other than entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson who took his place.
During the course of the flight, Jason (who was about to start a new business in Australia) had the perfect traveling companion and business mentor who could give him invaluable advice and encouragement.
Here is Jason’s own account of that now infamous flight.
This is the story as I recall it…
After many years working in the UK, I had looked at a failed business in Australia. In my opinion, it was not the business which had failed, but it was the people in the business. At the top level, they just didn’t have the right ‘mindset’.
I was in Australia traveling around, looking to inspire the people of this failed business, and restart it with a new focus. On this particular flight, I was traveling to Adelaide. I’m quite tall (over 6 ft), so I asked at the check-in desk if they could give me a seat with extra leg room. I was delighted when they allocated me seat 1A.
I’d only just sat down when the stewardess approached me and asked if I could move seats. She explained that there had been a mistake. Seat 1C was still available, so I asked if I could move there, which she said would be OK. I moved up two seats, and was happy to still have the extra leg room. We were just about to take off, and I remember having that smug feeling that I’d got the whole row to myself!
With seconds left before the stewardess closed the door, a familiar looking man boarded the plane and sat down in the seat I’d just given up. I thought to myself, ‘What makes you so special?’, but when I took another look, I realised that it was none other than Sir Richard Branson, one of the owners of the airline!
Once I had caught my breath, I wondered what on earth I would talk to him about, if indeed he would even want to talk to the likes of me!
Australians are not renowned for overly appreciating ‘poms’, but to my total amazement the Australians on the plane clapped and cheered Richard Branson?s arrival.
It soon became evident to me why. Richard was confident, warm, cheerful and genuinely interested in my future business plans and goals. He and I chatted away like we had known each other for many years, and I’ll never forget the respect he showed me.
This chance meeting has proved to be one of the greatest inspirations of my life. I decided from that day forward, I was going to treat everybody with the same respect, whether I was dealing with a refuse collector, or the MD of a multinational company. Everybody in the company needs to know that ‘THEY’ are important.
On the back of this ‘mindset’ we have taken a failed business to a business that is currently on track to invoice some $25m (?10 million). Our new business is called ‘Penny Miller Pty Ltd’ and sells household products throughout Australia. (We changed the trade name from Betterware Australia)
Only in the last month we launched a similar business in New Zealand, and are currently looking to expand into other international markets.
Jason’s story was the inspiration for the best selling business book, Millionaire Upgrade: Lessons in Success From Those Who Travel at the Sharp End of the Plane.
This book tells the story of Tom, a frustrated employee who gets upgraded on a plane and finds himself sitting next to Michael, a self-made millionaire entrepreneur. During the course of the flight, Michael shares with Tom his own secrets for business success. Millionaire Upgrade has been translated into over 10 languages, and is a regular Amazon top seller.
Tags: Entrepreneurs