William Campbell, born in March 6, 1926 and passed away in May 20, 2033, was a compassionate, hard-working father whose goal was to support and make a living for his seven children, Albin, Paulette, Lisa, Marla, Scott, Jessica, and Mary. Starting from the bottom and making his way up to the top, Jessica Streightiff, his daughter and my mother, told me his story and how he has impacted her life to this day.

Q:What is your definition of the American Dream?
A:Our country affords us the opportunities to have success without limitations. No matter what your ethnic background is, no matter what your socioeconomic background is, if you work hard and put your mind to it you can be successful financially.

Q:How has the American Dream come into play in your lifetime?
A:With my father, just based on the fact that he came from meager beginnings, was educated in the upper peninsula of Michigan and went on to serve in WWII. At that time if you were in the military they granted you higher education and my dad took advantage of that and went to University of Michigan. He was able to get his education through the GI bill and just like any other man in the WWII era, was living post depression. Everyone was trying to find a new beginning in which he took several years trying to find his place.

Q:How was your lifestyle before your father became so successful?
A:Well, this goes back to after he graduated from college, right? He ended up marrying his high school sweetheart and they moved back to the upper peninsula because thats where he grew up. He thought that he could, you know, do something there because those were his roots and that’s where his family was all from. When he got married he helped his family in a family store that they owed for years and then my mom ended up getting pregnant with two kids, both close in age. Being that they were living in the Upper Peninsula, there were still some struggles because it was still trying to grow. Then they had two other children and at that point he had owned a grocery store and became a butcher. Eventually, my parents had two more kids, one including myself. So now they’re living in the 60’s trying to be a small business owner. They have my brother, Albin, my sisters, Paulette, Lisa and Marla, my brother, Scott, and myself. As my dad was really taking assessments of his life and how to support his six kids, owning the local grocery store was not going to cut it. Luckily, he had a friend that was telling him about a job opportunity in North Carolina and so they packed up all the six kids and moved in hopes that this company, which is nowadays known as AFLAC, would give him at opportunity that would let him grow on his own.

Q:How was it living in North Carolina?
A:There was so much racial tension. So here’s this family, moving from the north to the south where the was a lot of, you know, black against white, north against south, and companies that were trying to be upstarts and growing, in which we endured all of that. We endured racial hatred, we endured geographical hatred because we were Northerners (which was a huge deal back then). We weren’t well off to live in a great community at the time because my dad was just starting out and I remember my sisters and brothers and even myself not being able to ride the school buses because we’d get spit upon since we lived in a neighborhood that was poor and where there were african-americans. It was a nasty combination at the time. But even though we endured a lot of hatred, my dad had insight that he could make this work based on everything that he was thinking about. He could become his own man.

Q:What is Aflac?
A:Aflac is actually an insurance policy writer and was very new at that time. So you know how you would just have normal life insurance? Well Aflac took a gamble and looked at the rates of cancer and how employees could get cancer and how that would impact the employee and their families and if you got cancer that insurance would help you with your mortgages, your loans, or whatever was going on in your life at the time. My dad came from a family where his dad had diabetes and his mom had cancer so he saw how devastating it could be if you didn't have extra insurance. I think that’s why he believed in it so much.



Q:Do you think your dad's business opportunity had anything to do with the time it happened?
A:Yes. I think with any smart companies you find something that’s missing in our world or your own personal life. Kind of how everyone is exposed to a computer now. Well when I was growing up computers were not existent and then Steve Jobs and all them decided there was a need for it. That is kind of how it was at Aflac. The rate of cancer was growing, the rate of diseases, the rate of huge factories and organizations that had excessive employees, and you had to be smart to understand what your clientele was and where you were going to go after that. With my dad and Aflac was in North Carolina which has tons of manufacturing. They had furniture manufacturing and tobacco manufacturing, but my dad thought out of the box. These factories had employees that were making minimum wage and he sold them the concept of, “Listen, you could get sick and if you get sick you’re done. Your family won’t be able to support themselves,” He was living it. Actually, when he was in North Carolina he had a seventh baby, your aunt Mary, so he had seven kids living in a two bedroom house. Our living room was one of the bedrooms. We had to convert it. He knew the feeling of what could happen next to a family if they weren’t covered with insurance and he was so passionate about it. He was able to sell so believingly and he just hit the right market at the right time.

Q:I knew you didn’t grow up in North Carolina. I knew you actually grew up in Michigan. What brought you there?
A:Well, that’s part of the American Dream! Your grandpa, my father, made such a name for himself that the owners of Aflac decided that they wanted their employees to grow as much as they could. They started to branch out from the South to the midwest. And what a perfect employee they had, your grandpa Bill Campbell. They offered him to start Aflac in one of the midwestern states. His choices were ohio, michigan, or minnesota and being that he was from Michigan he chose to go there. He ended up becoming the number one state manager for years and years until he retired.

Q:Based on your definition of the american dream, do you think your father fulfilled that?
A:Yes, I do. He gave all of his kids a quality of life. He showed us a work ethic and he showed us compassion for others. He was the type of guy that knew what a struggle was and he knew when he was successful how to pass that down. He hired a lot of people in his lifetime that fell upon hard times or were coming from different countries and were not given opportunities in other places to be successful. I remember as a little girl, driving our cars to Detroit to give to another family because the dad wanted to work and couldn’t afford a car and we happened to have an extra one. My dad would go give it to them. No questions asked, just the hopes that that guy would work his ass off to give his family a good life. My dad just showed us that compassion and showed us that if you want something you have to work for it.

Q:Your father gave you such a great example of hard work and dedication. How does that reflect in your life?
A:I was fortunate that my father exposed me to an education that I didnt have to worry about. One of his favorite comments was, “Educate the mother and you’ll educate the family.” When I look back at that it is so true. In the back of his mind he always wanted to have strong daughters that could pass on inspiration and work ethic to their kids. He just knew it takes a lot of things to drive people and you have to have that drive. When things get rough I look at all the things I was exposed to and think, I could either go down without a fight or I could be like my dad who tried all different avenues and realized he was working for the greater good. He realized he was working for the greater good and wanted to give not only himself, but his kids a greater life, so he knuckled down and he did it. That’s what’s on my horizon. Right now I have opportunities and that’s what I’m going to do.

As you can see, William Campbell has made an impact on many people throughout his life. Not only did he affect his family, but he also affected everyone around him. He worked hard to make his way up to the top and his motivation was what got him so far. This just goes to show if you have the right mindset you can go where you want in life. In my mother's opinion he completed the American dream and gave her the best life she could live. To this day she has taken his lessons along with her and his love and compassion has forever left an imprint on her heart.