Shirley Willett
1 min readAug 30, 2021

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Hi Lanu, At first I was feeling not a part of your story - then you said this great quote, which I do feel. I was born during the 1930s Great Depression in a very poor neighborhood. My mother was fantastic and taught us how to be comfortable on little. As a piece-work stitcher in the 1940s and 50s garment factories I made more (proportunately) than others around me. and it was more than I paid myself (proportuately) as CEO of a small corporation. It was very successful because I innovated production systems of high quality fashions with less costs than other makers. I did feel some envy of workers who could leave their work at work - yet fairly equal in our paychecks. I sold the business after 20 years, as I had struggles with younger workers wanting power - wages they never complained about. The wisest thing I ever did was to take my business earnings and buy a house, fully paid up. Today I am a low-income senior. but have the deferrment of taxes that gives me modestly all I need. And yes, at 88 I feel rich. Thank you.

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Shirley Willett

Book: “Past, Present, Future: Fashion Memoir, 70 Years, Design, Engineering, Education, Manufacturing & Technology” shirley@pastpresentfuturebook.com