First a Dream

This is a captivating "rags to riches" story, as a young boy discovers during the Depression that hard work and sheer perseverance are the keys to living his dreams.

First A Dream is filled with practical, easy-to-understand, no-nonsense business lessons that the entrepreneur can apply to his or her own life -- describing the qualities an effective leader must possess, the key methods to inspiring team members, and the development of culture and values that are critical to the success of a small business as well as a multibillion dollar conglomerate.

Jim Clayton is Founder and Chairman of Clayton Homes, Inc. a NYSE (CMH) company lauded by Wall Street. He reported nearly 30 consecutive years of increased profit, and founded the industry's premier financial institution, servicing $5 billion in manufactured home mortgages.

Retired as CEO after 43 years in 1999. Acquiring a small bank in 1993, he transformed it into an $800 million regional powerhouse before merging it with BB&T in 2000. In his hometown, he purchased First State Bank in 2002.

On the board of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Jim Clayton, a sharecropper's son, grew up on a tiny Tennessee cotton farm in a log cabin with no electricity or running water. From those humble beginnings, he would one day become a Great American Success Story, and a perennial member of the Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans.