Swiss Recipe To Happiness

Stephan Bosshard

Description

This is the story of a Swiss businessman who thought he had fulfilled his dreams, but then realized that on the way, he had lost sight of his real goals. He let go of what he had achieved, sold his company and regained what he had lost: his freedom. His autobiography, which reads like a suspenseful novel, is a great success story with heart and soul. And he has found the recipe to happiness. - The man is Stephan Bosshard Although Stephan Bosshard was born (on August 6, 1960) and raised in Switzerland, it wouldn't be quite appropriate to call him the typical Swiss. Due to his not exactly carefree childhood, he took his life into his own hands quite early and began to dream of true happiness. He found it - not where one might expect, in his success and wealth, but in the subtleties of daily life. He learned from experience that true happiness consists of love, leisure time and good health. On the zenith of his career - around the turn of the Millennium - he decided to let go. He sold his life's work, the famous "Pretzel King" business, at a profit. For the time being, that spelled a Happy End to his earlier chase after happiness.

Sujets

• Lettres et linguistique

Informations

• Publié par: First Edition Design Publishing
• Date de parution: 25 août 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781622879502
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

SWISS RECIPE TO HAPPINESS
A success story with a difference
Follow your dreams and don't listen to others,
but do exactly what you want and what gives you pleasure.
Stephan Bosshard
Swiss Recipe to Happiness
Copyright ©2015 Stephan Bosshard
ISBN 978-1622-899-48-9 HC
ISBN 978-1622-879-49-6 PAPERBACK
ISBN 978-1622-879-50-2 EBOOK
LCCN 2015944051
July 2015
Published and Distributed by
First Edition Design Publishing, Inc.
P.O. Box 20217, Sarasota, FL 34276-3217
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means ─ electronic, mechanical, photo-copy, recording, or any other ─ except brief quotation in reviews, without the prior permission of the author or publisher.
Copyright © 2015 Stephan Bosshard
Cover, illustrations: Stephan Bosshard
Edited by Peter Hessel
English translation: Peter Hessel, Delmenhorst, German y ,
www.peterhesseltranslator.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher and author.
The author attests that all photographs in this book are personal property belonging to the author, which grants him full permissions/copyright of each photo.
This EBOOK version has been scaled down in photos, Full unabridged version is available via Paperback or Hardcover.
I wrote this book for my Birgit, the love of my life,
and I dedicate it to my beloved Opa
Table of Contents
PRE-HISTORY .. 1
CHAPTER 1 My First Chapter Of Love . 9
CHAPTER 2 My Dream Job: Market Vendor . 11
CHAPTER 3 Love Takes Me To Holland .. 13
CHAPTER 4 Germany, The Land Next Door . 14
CHAPTER 5 Love Without Borders . 17
CHAPTER 6 In France With A Brit . 18
CHAPTER 7 My Own Boss At 18 .. 20
CHAPTER 8 A Slippery Slide . 23
CHAPTER 9 The Doors To Success . 25
CHAPTER 10 Checkmate . 27
CHAPTER 11 Coming Full Circle . 29
CHAPTER 12 Childhood Memories 1968 To 1976 .. 30
CHAPTER 13 Red Light District . 33
CHAPTER 14 Girls, Girls, Girls . 39
CHAPTER 15 Niente Lire . 42
CHAPTER 16 Auto Dreams . 44
CHAPTER 17 Vision .. 52
CHAPTER 18 Compass Heading . 54
CHAPTER 19 The Dream Of Sailing . 59
CHAPTER 20 Sailing Lessons . 61
CHAPTER 21 When The Yugo Blows . 63
CHAPTER 22 The Best Car In The World .. 69
CHAPTER 23 My Own Firm At 22 .. 71
CHAPTER 24 Forbidden Creativity . 76
CHAPTER 25 My Invention: Candy Corn .. 78
CHAPTER 26 As Smooth As In Her Majesty's Service . 82
CHAPTER 27 The Sun, The Sea, And The Discos . 85
CHAPTER 28 Will Trade Dream Car For Sales Vehicle . 87
CHAPTER 29 Smelling The Pretzel 89
CHAPTER 30 Time To Cut The Cord .. 91
CHAPTER 31 The Pretzel Revolution .. 95
CHAPTER 32 Rosy Future . 97
CHAPTER 33 A Risky Cruise . 100
CHAPTER 34 Once Upon A Corn Field .. 108
CHAPTER 35 The Greek Doldrums And Fresh Fish .. 110
CHAPTER 36 Work Has Its Rewards . 114
CHAPTER 37 Freedom Under White Sails . 116
CHAPTER 38 The Aegean .. 121
CHAPTER 39 From Pretzel Baker To Pretzel King . 126
CHAPTER 40 Aegean Expedition .. 127
CHAPTER 41 Change In The Air . 130
CHAPTER 42 Every King Must Have A Castle . 131
CHAPTER 43 Dreamland America . 133
CHAPTER 44 A Hand-Made Work Of Art . 135
CHAPTER 45 Asian Dreams . 138
CHAPTER 46 Zürifäscht . 139
CHAPTER 47 Love At First Sight . 140
CHAPTER 48 A Kiss With Consequences . 143
CHAPTER 49 Trouble Getting Started .. 145
CHAPTER 50 Eternal Love . 147
CHAPTER 51 Merry Christmas . 149
CHAPTER 52 A Holiday Of Love . 151
CHAPTER 53 Las Vegas . 159
CHAPTER 54 The Best Skis . 165
CHAPTER 55 Corsica – Sardinia – Saint-Tropez . 167
CHAPTER 56 Home, Sweet Home . 173
CHAPTER 57 A Last Minute Escape . 175
CHAPTER 58 With 400 Hp Through Europe . 179
CHAPTER 59 And There Will Be Another Summer . 184
CHAPTER 60 Red As A Boiled Lobster . 185
CHAPTER 61 Hong Kong & China . 192
CHAPTER 62 Tokyo .. 198
CHAPTER 63 Hawaii 206
CHAPTER 64 Frankie Boy . 216
CHAPTER 65 The Jewelry District In Los Angeles . 223
CHAPTER 66 Ups And Downs . 225
CHAPTER 67 Laid On Thick . 228
CHAPTER 68 Comeback On Bahnofstrasse . 232
CHAPTER 69 Detour To Paradise . 235
CHAPTER 70 White Beaches, Palm Trees And A Playboy . 238
CHAPTER 71 Maiton Island And Koh Samui 243
CHAPTER 72 Surprise Effect . 249
CHAPTER 73 Princess . 252
CHAPTER 74 Maranello .. 255
CHAPTER 75 Don Edoardo .. 258
CHAPTER 76 With Clinton In Rome . 260
CHAPTER 77 Wedding Present . 264
CHAPTER 78 Yes, Of Course I Do .. 266
CHAPTER 79 Just Married : Hurray! 275
CHAPTER 80 First Class Round The World .. 285
CHAPTER 81 Treachery . 297
CHAPTER 82 Plan B Or C? . 299
CHAPTER 83 Robot Or Figment Of Imagination? . 301
CHAPTER 84 Overestimated .. 303
CHAPTER 85 Breaking Ground .. 304
CHAPTER 86 The Thief 306
CHAPTER 87 An Attack With Consequences . 307
CHAPTER 88 Expensive Cognac For The Captain .. 310
CHAPTER 89 Welcome To Majorca . 313
CHAPTER 90 Self-made Man .. 314
CHAPTER 91 Gambler's Paradise . 316
CHAPTER 92 World Premiere Of The Pretzel Boutique . 319
CHAPTER 93 The Pretzel Factory . 323
CHAPTER 94 Hot Summer On Minorca . 329
CHAPTER 95 Mövenpick Ice Cream ... 336
CHAPTER 96 On The Pinnacle Of Success . 337
CHAPTER 97 The King's Last Act . 339
CHAPTER 98 That Was It Money Can Give You Wings . 341
CHAPTER 99 Recipe To Happiness . 343
CHAPTER 100 Millennium ... 345
PRE-HISTORY
When I came into this world on August 6, 1960, at the hospital in the village of Muri in the Swiss Canton of Aargau, my f at her , Hans Bosshard the Third, didn't have the necessary small change to pay for my birth. Without further ado, he took his black Studebaker to the Ticino region in the morning, looked around for a smart villa and secretly entered the grounds of the place. He dug out a few young palm trees and sold them pro f itably in the market of Ascona. That, so the tale goes, is how my father financed my birth. My future life would develop just as adventurously, and I'm going to describe it in this book by telling some exciting stories.

Stephan 1960/61
I come from a family of market vendors - usually independent self- employed entrepreneurs with different occupational backgrounds. As a rule they are equipped with the gift of the gab - a big mouth - and an even bigger c a r . They need the former to promote their merchandise in a convincing wa y , and the latter to transport it as effectively as possible. By the wa y , palm trees are not usually part of that respectable trade.
My beloved grandpa (Opa), Hans Bosshard the Second, was a cook by trade, as was his f at her , Hans Bosshard the First, my great -g randfather. As my Opa told us, his father during World Wa r I had been the much- dreaded head chef of the famous Four Seasons Hotel ( Vier Jahreszeiten ) in Hamburg. My Opa was the one who - near the end of World Wa r II - started the family tradition, capturing the markets with his stand all over Switzerland. Wherever he was, he prepared his famous Butter Nidelzältli fudge right on location, and he roasted delicious almonds, all by hand. Even back then, Opa was extremely f lexible and versatile. That is why - together with Grandma - he also sold bratwurst and " Heissi Marroni " (hot maroons). While my Italian grandma passed awa y e a r l y , Opa continued to ply his trade well into his old age. He was around eighty when he still operated his hot maroons stall at the train station in his birthplace, the town of Uster near Zurich. The market had been Opa's life and only passion. It didn't make him rich. But until he died at eighty - fo u r , he was a proud market vendor with heart and soul, just like me to d a y . If he could read my book n o w, he would surely be very proud of me.
Although my father had also learned the trade of cook and pastry chef, he followed in his father's footsteps as a young man. He was industrious and ambitious, but in particular, he was c l ever . He soon recognized the potential of his new occupation and seized the opportunity. He was one of the first to trade his market stall for an attractive market vehicle. Instead of continuing to toil at weekly town markets, he now specialized in trade fairs, town and country fairs and big public festivals. That is how he came to be years if not decades ahead of his competitors. He also came up with the idea of having his own sales stand at the main entrance of a department store. As early as the late 1960s, he operated f ixed locations at the E P A department stores in Lucerne and Winterthur and at the Oscar Weber store on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich. He sold soft ice cream in the s u mmer , roasted almonds and caramel in the fall and w i nt er , and - as an always adventurous pastry chef - he pioneered chocolate c oated bananas, which had been completely unknown at the time and now literally sold like hot cakes. Thanks to his good daily sales, he soon became substantially affluent. He moved into his first single - family home at the end of the 1960s in Buchrain, where I grew up and spent my first years of school.
Even when I was a little b oy , my dad often took me along to work. That used to be a big deal for me, and I always absolutely wanted to be like Dad. One of my best childhood memories is the OLMA Fair in St. Gallen. In that town, which is at an altitude of about 2000 feet, winter always arrived on time for the OLMA F AIR, and I was always out f itted with new warm winter clothes and lambskin-lined shoes.

Opa and Oma at the Uster Market-early 1950s

Oma and Opa at their market stand in the late 1940s

Opa’s fully loaded Chevy - 1960s

At Lake Greifensee near Uster, about 1963.

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