I was born on 13 January, 1956, in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Downers Grove, a modest middle-class suburb about 25 miles west of downtown Chicago. I was known as Jake Wissler. I went to high school at Benet Academy and attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I was an editorial writer for the Badger Herald. At the age of 17, I stopped using the name Jake and began using my legal name: Jacob Wissler.

After college I traveled the world, living in Europe and Africa. In 1984 I started a small "grey market" auto export business in the German city of Freiburg, im Breisgau, to export German cars to the world. We also advised British and European firms wanting to do business in the USA. The American dollar was then trading at over three Deutsche Marks, almost equal to the British Pound. It was the European summer of Bruce Springsteen. I was just 28. American kids were everywhere. We thought we were citizens of the world.

In 1985 we opened branch offices in London, England and Cape Town, South Africa. London was a wonderful city made affordable by the strong dollar. July and August were spent in Marbella, Spain, a flashy resort town where a person could get a room downtown, near the beach for $20. This was before Spain joined the European common market, before prices went crazy.

When I flew into South Africa I expected a war zone. The American news media was constantly reporting racial conflict in South Africa, and I expected troops in the streets. I found a friendly, peaceful nation with high quality products and very low prices.

The Cape Sun Hotel, in Cape Town, South Africa, was the most modern building I had ever been in. This was Africa? I thought America was the most modern country? I saw technology and material comforts far beyond American standards. Wow. Perhaps this is what happens, when labor is almost free.

I was shocked to learn that black people were fighting to get into South Africa, because even in the two class society, they felt better off in South Africa than in other African nations. SA was a first world nation in the middle of the Third World.

White South Africans were scared. This was 1985. They felt their nation was about to disappear. Many predicted the black majority would massacre whites (this never happened in South Africa). Many South African whites did not consider blacks to be capable of caring for themselves, and thought it was just natural for white folks to own everything, run everything, and "care for" the black race. To an American, this seemed very odd.

I did notice that products made in South Africa were of the very highest quality. Cotton shirts that sold in London for $100 could be purchased in South Africa for $5 or less. The world's best known designers had clothing made in SA, and often avoided trade sanctions by labeling the garments as being made in other nations.

I had two experiences which best indicate the culture and good will of the South African people. The first was in a nightclub, where I paid a small cover charge, walked around and then left. The bouncer chased me down the street, to give me a refund. He said that if I didn't want to stay, he didn't want to keep my money.

The second experience involved the purchase of a hand made leather brief case. It cost one thousand Rand (about $200). Several months later, the leather began to fade. I marched back into the little leather store with an aggressive attitude, very determined to hold the shop keeper responsible.

Before I could say anything, before I could yell or rant, the older woman looked at the faded leather, and offered a refund or replacement. In total shock, I said sure, a replacement would be fine. She gave Jacob Wissler an example of South African business ethics.

If Paris, France is the rudest city I have visited, Johannesburg or Cape Town is the most polite, at least from the perspective of a visiting white American with American dollars to spend.

In September of 1986, as the American dollar collapsed on world markets, I returned to the USA, but I never stopped thinking of myself as a citizen of the world.

In America we take it for granted that our government transfers power peacefully, every four or eight years. One President leaves the White House, and the next President moves in. This seems so normal to Americans, but in the third world, governments usually change only after a revolution. Therefore, it is truly remarkable that in 1994, the white people of South Africa surrendered power without a war. SA is twice the size of Texas. It may have been the most significant peaceful transfer of power in world history.

I went to work for Peach Tree Bancard Corporation, which was started by entrepreneur Jim Elliott in his kitchen in Lisle, Illinois in the late 1980s. In 1991 Jim sold the company, which by then had offices in 104 cities and 6,000 sales people, for $107 million dollars. It was an American success story. I was in the room when Jim got confirmation the wire transfer had arrived. At that time I was making $7,000 per week in commissions, and had 8 offices under my control. It was the peak of my business career. I tried to duplicate Jim's venture with a company I started in Houston, called Premier Merchant Services, which did poorly and I sold it for a small sum.

My next venture was a company I founded called Advertising Creations, originally intended as a full service advertising agency, we evolved into producing Internet websites and doing search engine optimization as the dot com boom hit America, partnering with TC Web Design. I then launched Global SEO, Inc, dba SEO Houston, which has been a very profitable business, offering search engine optimization services and web design.

Today I live in Houston, Texas, USA. After all this travel, I plan to remain in one place for the rest of my life. I am sick of airports and packing and meals on a plane. Houston has become my home. You will always find Jacob Wissler in the Houston phone book .