Breakfast with Herb & Mike

Business trips have a way of becoming legend — equal parts strategy sessions, life lessons, and stories you retell for decades. As Breakfast with Herb and Mike continues, tracing their professional journeys uncovers unexpected detours, bold risks, and some hard knocks. While business deals may fade, the moments and lessons on the road tend to stick.

Mike: Pete and I are going to Montreal tomorrow to meet with a new client. He’ll advise their IT people and I’ll meet with the CEO. Thinking about the trip reminded me of business trips you and I have taken over the years. Tell me about some you recall.

Herb: In the 1960s — the early years of my career with the Police Department — Montreal had serious problems with crime and gangs that often spilled over into our area. After three major bank robberies, local law enforcement joined forces with the Montreal Police Department and the Sûretê du Quebec. I was part of that effort. What about early trips you took?

Mike: When I was in my 20s, I was a truck driver in Connecticut and for a few years I worked for a party company. One year we were offered a job putting up a huge tent in Miami (60’ x 180’) for an AIDS benefit at the Vizcaya Museum. Other companies had provided tents for the event in previous years, but each one had blown into Biscayne Bay. We took the job. Seven of us packed up two tractor trailers and a van (On the side of the van it said, “We Party Anywhere”) and drove from Connecticut to Miami Beach. We spent two weeks handling the job during the day and partying like rock stars at night. It was hard work, but everything went off without a hitch.

Herb: That’s an amazing story.

Mike: The story is even more amazing when you hear why we weren’t invited back the following year to work the event. It turned out the guy who hired us — the president of a large bank — was arrested for embezzling millions of dollars and was no longer involved in the event. Top that one, Dad.

Herb: I can’t, but I can tell you about a couple of small trips I took that taught me big lessons. First was a trip to Dallas with a friend I had been doing consulting work for. When he invited me to attend a trade show it sounded interesting, so I agreed. He made all the arrangements, but when we arrived, we learned the show wasn’t until the following week. I came home the next day and vowed to never rely on anyone else to make travel arrangements for me.

Mike: What was the second trip?

Herb: It was one you and I took to Brooklyn. Our sales call was a success, but on the way out I tripped and fell down an entire flight of cement stairs.

Mike: I remember that! I wanted to take you to an ER, but you refused and were in agony all the way home.

Herb: I had rotator cuff surgery three days later.

Mike: What did you learn from that experience?

Herb: To listen to you. Now it’s your turn.

Mike: A few years ago, a large client invited me to visit their German headquarters. Lizzie and I had never been to Europe before, so we decided to take them up on their offer. We flew a red eye from Montreal and arrived in Munich as the sun was coming up. The next day I went with a group of company executives to their plant in Düsseldorf. It was amazing to see how they operated — producing all their lines in their facility. Nothing was outsourced.

Have you got another trip story?

Herb: I do. When the BRAC Commission voted to close the Air Base, the federal government invited several local businesspeople to a conference in San Francisco. I was one of them. The idea was to introduce us to people from communities that had already faced closure so we could learn from them. Spouses were invited too, so Mary and I jumped at the chance. We learned a great deal about what to do and what not to do on that trip and we got to spend time in a beautiful city neither of us had ever visited. We enjoyed the tourist attractions, ate great Chinese food and rode the trolleys. I even hung off the side of one trolley and screamed as we raced down a really steep hill.

Mike: I have learned that although business can be stressful and challenging, so many of the experiences are what keep us moving forward. As time passes, we may forget some of the specifics, but remember the essence of the trip, and those memories are priceless.