Dinner with Herman Alves

“So how did you recover after the divorce?”

“Well, I say that if you’re going to make mistakes you’re better off making them when you’re young, so you have time to recover.”

Herman flinches to a paper cut caused by an envelope, the one his ex-wife just handed him.

“I divorced at the age of 27 after 5 years of marriage, so when I lost everything, my only salvation was to go back to school and learn enough so I could land a decent job, then start a new business. Education was my way to get out of poverty. I have always admired people, who began with nothing and made millions. For instance, the Bronfman family, who started bootlegging liquor, later formed the largest distiller of alcoholic beverages world-wide.”

In 1993, former mayor, Jean Doré, introduced a surtax on the existing Montreal business tax. “My property tax bills had tripled from the previous year,” said Herman. The city of Montreal was collecting taxes on business properties, whether there was a tenant or not.

“I tried phoning the mayor’s office, but nobody really wanted to listen.”

“So what drove your actions to battle the Montreal surtax?”

“When you are the little guy, and you feel like you are being trumped by the big guy [governments or institutions], you have to stand up and cry foul. I dedicated a year of my life to fight this tax. Not only did we win, the surtax was abolished and declared illegal in the courts. But when elections came around, the electorates kicked out the mayor – they voted him out.”

A phone rings. Herman answers his cell phone in English. He switches to Portuguese and says, “We better switch to Portuguese.” Because of my Spanish background, I gathered bits and pieces from the conversation. Suspicious.

Herman Alves has more than 25 years of experience in customer service, real estate, telecommunications, entertainment and tourism. He is now a father of three, a marketing consultant and a motivational speaker.

Alves is the former president and active member of Share the Warmth, a charity that gives food and scholarships to underprivileged children in Montreal. He organizes the Table of Hope gala, which aims to raise over $1 million to benefit Share the Warmth. According to The Gazette, the Table of Hope gala raised $140,000 for Share the Warmth in 2011.

“There is an old saying that says: if you love what you do, you never work in your life.”

We are interrupted again by the waitress that brings us expresso coffee. I stir the sugar in my coffee, though I make sure to hold eye-contact. Herman takes the thin, long sugar package and says, “Imagine this is a rope. Grab it.” As he pulls on the sugar package, “If I pull you with a rope, it’s easy to follow.” I let go.

“Now hold your palm out.”

[pullquote]If I try to push you with a rope, the rope has no power, because it will bend and fall. If you want to be pulled, you will go somewhere. But if you want to be pushed, you will go nowhere.[/pullquote]

Herman pushes the sugar package against my hand, it bends. “If I try to push you with a rope, the rope has no power, because it will bend and fall. If you want to be pulled, you will go somewhere. But if you want to be pushed, you will go nowhere. Be certain of what you want to do.”

I remain silent.

“What is your plan for the future?” I ask.

“To have fun. I have my restaurant. I let my sons run it. I want to teach them the art of business. You want to grab a beer?”

I accept. It might be late enough for booze.

ARB Team
Arbitrage Magazine
Business News with BITE.

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