Doing It the Right Way is a heart-warming story of business success. It is particularly appealing in this day of instant gratification where success might be short-lived and recognition is often achieved at the expense of others.

The story opens in Sorrento, Italy, where John Milano grew up on the “wrong side of the tracks.” As a young boy learning first how to dodge the Germans and then how to wheel and deal from American GIs, John began to sharpen his innate entrepreneurial skills.

He was a natural charmer and a born salesman—talents that were not lost on Norman Vincent Peale, who urged him to migrate to the United States and pledged to lend his help. But having a limited education, a lack of proficiency in English, and no funds, John had his doubts. So he played around town, catering to tourists and spending every penny he made. Then he fell in love and married an Italian-American girl from Staten Island. On a trip to New York to meet her family, he finally decided to take Dr. Peale’s offer.

John began work in the hat department of a haberdashery in Lower Manhattan, painstakingly learned the business from the bottom up, rose through the ranks, and beyond his wildest dreams, became president of the largest manufacturer of men’s headwear in the country. He moved to the Dallas metropolitan area where he eventually established his own business, the Milano Hat Company.

But reaching the top wasn’t instant. In easy narrative, Doing It the Right Way relates John’s road to success. The formula is quite simple: work hard, be honest, learn from the best, recognize the masters, don’t cut corners, and do it right the first time.

John Milano earned many industry awards during his career. He received the coveted Horatio Alger Award in 1976 in recognition of initiative, hard work, honesty, and adherence to traditional ideals. “Such an honor could happen only in America,” he claims.

Connie Fisher has been writing about people for many years—initially as a journalist in Mexico City, Chile, and Connecticut, and later in Texas during her career in the business world.

Growing up and living in Latin America enabled Connie to mesh with the mood of John Milano’s European upbringing. Likewise, she could easily sense John’s drive for excellence, having produced many award-winning publications during her career in corporate communications.

Connie lives with her family in Dallas, Texas. This is her first collaborative autobiographical effort.

What People Are Saying about Doing It the Right Way:

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: “There is properly no history, only biography.” This book is a perfect example of such a case.

In sharing his fascinating personal life, the author is also writing little-known history of the hat manufacturing industry and its impact on the cities where it flourished. His success from “rags to riches” will resonate with every immigrant who has come to the United States looking for a better life. Doing It the Right Way also fills an important gap in the written history of the Dallas area.

—Maria Bellavance, librarian, Southern Methodist University

Doing It the Right Way is an inspiring story that will challenge all who read this captivating autobiography about a foreign-born lad who found opportunities for success in America through dedicated hard work in all levels of responsibility.

—John O. Hershey, chairman and president (retired), Milton Hershey School

Dallas businessman John Milano and journalist Connie Fisher have luckily joined forces to come up with this very readable autobiography of a self-proclaimed “undereducated Italian immigrant” who became an icon in the hat business.

Mr. Milano’s story charts the way for astute businessmen and women to learn how to “bottle and sell” his salesmanship skills as well as his determination to “do it the right way.”

—Lois Brown, columnist, Dallas Morning News

The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans was privileged to induct John Milano as a member in 1976. His life story exemplifies the values upon which the mission of the association is based: integrity, perseverance, courage, and a will to work very hard. He is living proof that through our nation’s free enterprise system, all things are possible, and the American Dream can become a reality. While John has written Doing It the Right Way ostensibly for the benefit of his grandchildren, his book is an inspiring gift to all readers.

—Terrence J. Giroux, executive director, Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans