In 1984, I was working with a Commercial Photographer designing advertising materials in conjunction with his photography. One day a print shop owner we worked with came in and asked if I could design a book cover called "You were Born Rich" ... with emphasis on the Born Rich ...

So I did the design to their satisfaction, and then about a month later, I was visiting my parents and they handed me a book and it was the one I designed. I asked where they got it and they told me to open it.

There was in inscription that said "George and Diane,  You have a very talented daughter" Apparently their close friends were related to Bob Proctor and when they saw the book, they recognized the name on the credit (see photo) and asked my parents if that was me, after connecting the book printers with me, they had it inscribed and sent them a copy. Small World!

My  mother said that he had quit his job as a firefighter and was going to be a "guru" as she rolled her eyes when saying it like her friends' family did ... I guess Bob got the last laugh ... he not only made it but he was an icon in the self help arena. 

Of course there have been many different printings of the book but it's pretty cool for me that I designed the first one.

This was way back in 1998 when Google was in its infancy ... I was a single mom just graduated from a computer graphics upgrade course and registered the web site domain "SusanHiltonGraphicArtist.com" I know, too long but back then .. I was still new.

So as a single mom in my off time I was surfing and looking for work online and whenever it asked for my web site I put the domain name for my web site, Introducing myself as Susan Hilton Graphic Artist ..

I wasn't trying anything specific, as I was new to the internet, as was most people .. but all of a sudden I started getting inquiries about my services and these were from clients in the USA .. they told me they found me on Google and sure enough, I typed in Graphic Artist and there I was! FIRST PAGE ... I had no idea how it worked but of course now realize that the more  they find the term graphic artist for  a particular person all over the web, they gave them higher ranking ... so I was blessed with gaining some pretty great clients like Aho Consulting and BPR, who stayed with me for well over a decade. And I must admit the exchange rate was pretty lucrative. 

Admittedly, I got a bit cocky, when asked if I was good at getting visibility and I would say "type in graphic artist on google and you tell me" ... I knew about meta tags by that time too .. but I also knew it was a fluke and within a year, Google and Yahoo search engine merged and I was well buried but it was a feather in my cap and fun while it lasted :)

I may not be alone but to my delight, once I complete work for a client it spawned into more and more clients. For example, I did a menu for a client and next thing I knew I had inquiries from a few more restaurants to do their menus.

Also, I had a family friend in who did computer work for an MLM start up in Utah and he put me onto one of the top sellers who was looking for a graphic artist, so I started doing work for her, she was so happy with my work that she asked if I would be willing to move to Utah so it would be easier to do work for her. Since a graphic artist qualifes for a TN Visa, I did .. then when she decided to move onto another product, I was offered to go to Florida to work for another top seller for them and so I did a couple of years there.

After that, I was approached by a colleague of the first woman in Utah who was doing a start up for another MLM and asked if I wanted to help with the launch of his new MLM organization, and I did work for him ..

Also, at the time, I had an interest in the metaphysical and met a mystic teacher who ran a mystery school in Florida, and after taking the course, I moved back to Ontario as my TN Visa was up and he called me asking if I would be interested in working on his web site...

He also had a friend who did promotion work to get his name out there, and got him booked into New Age "telesummits" which were basically phone infomercials.

I created product shots and MP3 covers for a sales package for him and next thing I know the people who ran the telesummits asked me to do work for them as well as recommended me to other speakers for work for them. That kept me busy until my retirement in 2017. 

Unless it had been by choice, I have always enjoyed a busy succesful career. And like my Slogan was, I Make Small Business LOOK BIG!