Content area
Full Text
Charles J. Noto Sr. is living proof that not everyone has to attend college to become a success.
Sometimes, hard work, dedication and ambition can help make up for the lack of a college diploma.
Noto's company, Notoco Industries Inc., cleared $16.03 million last year, placing it at No. 92 on Business Report's Top 100.
The company saw revenues increase by 6 percent between 1996 and 1997.
Not bad for a guy who started out as a small-time light bulb salesman at age 23.
"All I ever wanted to do was make a good living from selling light bulbs," Noto said.
The third of seven children, Noto developed a strong work ethic at an early age, said his father, Charles Noto. The elder Noto has no middle name, making his son, who has a son named Charles J. Noto, Charles Sr.
"He always had a job. He'd cut the grass or something, but he always had a job," said the elder Noto.
The younger Noto, 44, said he inherited his passion for work from his dad, who supported seven children by working long and hard as a television repairman.
Chic's TV operated out of a shop on St. Ferdinand Street in Baton Rouge.
"I most definitely learned hard work from my dad," Noto said. "He worked 60 to 70 hours a week."
Noto married right out of high school and skipped college in favor of the kind of honest, hard work his dad had taught him. He landed jobs working for electricians, plumbers, roofers--anything he could find.
"I hardly made it out of high school," Noto admitted. "I never would have made it through college."
But those jobs left him far from satisfied. Most of the work he was finding was seasonal or part time, and he needed a permanent job to support his family.
Then one day, Noto found his niche rather by accident. A man living in his apartment complex was selling magazines for a living and encouraged Noto to see what he could do in sales. Noto rode around with the salesman for one day just...