It was in 2006 that William Johnson and I became pen pals.

Friendship comes easy when two baby boomers share similar values about quality and  serving others.

William is a technician for the city of Torrance, California.  He serves his community.  At night, he teaches HVAC at El Camino College.  William’s technical expertise and benevolent demeanor serve his students well.

The inception of our friendship occurred in 2006 when William’s El Camino supervisor requested that he teach customer service and soft skills in addition to the technical curriculum.  William’s search for resource material led him to my Customer Service Handbook and thus began a friendship during which we shared lessons and PowerPoint slides.

Then… it happened.

A client asked me to emcee a trade conference in Long Beach California (just a few miles from Torrance).  This led to William and I scheming about how we could synchronize our schedules so that El Camino could host my soft skills class.  William made it work.

Meeting William in person was fun.  I couldn’t have dreamed of a better way for two guys to meet in person after years of correspondence.   See for yourself.

At long last we meet.  Bill Johnson and I.

El Camino College students and faculty pose with me after the Soft Skills class.