Wilburn Smith was living his dream in Holdenville, Okla., during the late 1970s. He was serving as manager of the local IGA grocery store, working hard each week, with the promise of ultimately being offered a chance to purchase the thriving business.
Then something unexpected happened.
The store owner, for whom Smith had worked for over a decade, sold the business out from under him. The promise of ownership disappeared and, in 1980, with no other training and no other prospects, Smith took his cousin, Mike, up on an offer: to sell Pre-Paid Legal plans.