Billy Houston Rags to Riches (Paperback)

"A colorful journey involving exotic locations and larger than life personalities." Kathy Denver, The International Review of Books

At fourteen years of age, Billy Houston arrived in Santa Monica, California and embraced the land of opportunity with both hands. This is his story.

From clandestine raffles with his schoolmates, to creating two of the most dynamic franchise businesses in history, Billy's tale is one of triumphs and tribulations, interspersed with the wit and wisdom of a natural-born entrepreneur.

Inspired by true events, Billy Houston Rags to Riches will take you on a journey unlike any you've read before - rooted firmly in reality, but with the twists and turns of a fast-paced financial thriller.

I was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia before moving to Noosa, Queensland, Australia where I have lived for the past twenty-eight years. I commenced university in Melbourne but after a horrific car accident, then being tied up at gunpoint by a man wielding a sawn-off shot gun decided there was more to life than finishing my university degree. I spent a few years travelling, doing odd jobs and I guess like many young people at the time, searching for the meaning of life. At age twenty-seven, I finally returned to university in Melbourne to complete my degree and commence a career in the accounting profession. When I was thirty-five, I opened an accounting firm in Noosa, Australia. I was the sole employee and started the firm with three clients. Fifteen years later, my accounting firm was listed by BRW magazine as one of the top 100 accounting firms in Australia by revenue and one of the top 10 fastest-growing accounting firms in Australia. Whilst running the accounting firm, I established a surf clothing company with clothing retailers in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United States of America stocking my clothing label. After operating for three years, with the global financial crisis upon us, I closed this business at considerable cost to me and other investors. I commenced one of Australia's first franchised insurance businesses for insurance advisors. This business then morphed into becoming an Australian Financial Services Licensee. With a lot of hard work, this business grew substantially over a six-year period to include over 300 licensed advisors and accountants throughout Australia. The business won many national awards and was acknowledged as one of Australia's leading independently owned financial services licensees. In growing this business, I spent a lot of time living in hotel rooms, Monday to Friday, whilst travelling across Australia, recruiting new advisors and accountants. In June 2017, as the largest shareholder, the business was sold for twenty million Australian dollars to a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. In October 2017 I officially retired from corporate life. I'm known in business circles as a successful entrepreneur. Most of my business ideas have come to me on my daily walks, when home, along Noosa Main Beach. I find the feel of sand under my feet along with the sound of the ocean aids my creative thought process. I've always had an imagination, I'm full of ideas, and decided to write my first novel, 'Billy Houston Rags to Riches' which was published in November 2018. My second novel, 'Billy Houston Fall from Grace' is the sequel to my first novel. Next I complete the third and final novel in the Billy Houston trilogy. The story line for this book came from my daily walks along the beaches of Noosa, Australia and Koh Samui and Phuket, Thailand. It is a work of fiction, all character's products of my imagination. It's a story of persistence, failure, greed, corruption, lies with murder and torture intermixed with mystery, success and at times laughter. I now spend half my life in Noosa and the other half in Thailand, where I have a beautiful house on the beach in a small, lovely Thai community. A relaxed, stress-free, idyllic lifestyle. People ask me what more can possibly happen to Billy Houston in the third book? Hasn't Billy endured enough? Well the plot for the third book is already ticking away in my mind. A few more walks along the beaches of Noosa and Phuket and I'll have the outline ready to go. Between now and then I've got a bit on my plate as I head to Bangkok to build an online fitness, yoga and diet app designed for South East Asia - ala Billy Houston. Yep, perhaps there is a bit of Billy Houston in me. No matter where you may be in life's journey, I hope you find Billy Houston an inspiration. I hope you enjoy reading 'Billy Houston Fall from Grace' as much as I enjoyed writing it.