Tom Black is an American

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

and wine collector.

Early life

Black was born in

Nickerson, Kansas Nickerson is a city in Reno County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,058. It was named in honor of Thomas Nickerson, former president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. History Nickerson ...

in 1959 in a converted train boxcar. Black attended Southwest Missouri State Teachers College where he sold books door-to-door during summer breaks for booksellers Southwestern Company of Nashville, Tennessee.

Business ventures and writing

Black became sales manager of Southwestern Company of

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, then National Sales Manager for

FISI The Italian Winter Sports Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Sport Invernali; FISI), is the winter sports federation for Italy. Part of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), it deals with all federations conducting sports for the Win ...

In 1990, Black founded and was the CEO of accounts receivable company, Private Business, Inc. The company went public in 1999. That same year, Black co-founded bank mission-critical equipment and maintenance company, Tecniflex, then its sister company, Imagic Corporation. In 2007, Black published an autobiography, ''The Boxcar Millionaire'', which describes his impoverished childhood and his subsequent business success. In 2020, Black published "Doing Business at the Table: The Guide to Presenting an Exemplary Professional and Social Presence While Hosting a Successful Business Lunch Or Dinner Meeting" through the Tom Black Center for Excellence. Black has written columns for ''

The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, ...

'' newspaper. Black is also a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...

, giving seminars on ethical sales techniques. In 2008, Black partnered with ''

Chicken Soup for the Soul Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is an American self-help, consumer goods and media company based in Cos Cob, Connecticut. It is known for the ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' book series. The first book, like most subsequent titles in the ...

'' author,

Mark Victor Hansen Mark Victor Hansen (born January 8, 1948) is an American inspirational and motivational speaker, trainer and author. He is best known as the founder and co-creator of the ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' book series. Early life Hansen was born to D ...

, to give a series of one-day seminars on sales.

Wine

Black is a

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

collector, with a wine cellar containing more than 30,000 bottles, one of the largest personal collections in the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Tom 21st-century American male writers Living people Writers from Kansas People from Rice County, Kansas Year of birth missing (living people)