Participants: Karen Thomas, Ashley Cobb
Series Code: IAA
Program Code: IAA000014
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00:31 Welcome to another edition of Issues and Answers.
00:33 What an exciting program we have 00:35 for you today. We have a real 00:36 live private investigator who has 25 years of experiences and 00:41 has solved 9600 cases in the city of New York of all places. 00:45 Join us. We are so excited to have Mr. Ashley Cobb. 00:49 Welcome to our program, Ashley. It's a pleasure to have you 00:52 today. Thank you. What an exciting story you have to tell 00:55 us I'm sure. Yes. First I'm just really wanting to know, 00:59 how did you get started in becoming a private investigator? 01:03 Well Karen that's a long story. We don't have time to tell all 01:07 of it but I will tell you some 01:09 of it. When I was a young man, probably as a youth, I always 01:13 wanted to be a private investigator or an actor, but... 01:17 An actor? Yes, I always wanted to be that, that was my 01:21 dream to become an actor, but after moving to New York City, 01:26 and seeing how things were going private investigator became the 01:31 the major driving force in my life. So I took some courses at 01:36 nights started as an insurance investigator and on and on 01:40 until here I am today. 01:42 Well now tell me, did you grow up in the city of New York? 01:44 No I didn't grow up in New York. I grew up in the South. I grew 01:51 up on a farm in south Georgia. My parents were poor share 01:55 croppers. How many in your family? 01:59 Well at the time there were 10 children and I was the oldest. 02:02 So that's a lot of responsibility when 02:05 you're the oldest. Oh yes. My parents made me 02:08 responsible for the actions or raising them. Dad used to tell 02:12 me, he says now when your brothers and sisters are doing 02:17 something like the chores or taking care of farm duties, I'm 02:21 going to hold you responsible. As I grew up I realized maybe 02:26 that's what caused me to be a leader today because I was given 02:31 that responsibility at a very young age. 02:33 Now what type of farming did your family do? 02:36 In South Georgia my father planted and grew tobacco, 02:45 cotton, corn and peanuts. So those were the major crops that 02:50 he grew. This is how we survived off what we could raise and sell 02:55 at the end of the year. 02:57 So now tell me, as the son of a share cropper, it sounds like 03:03 you had a wide rotation of crops 03:05 Oh yes. Year around farming. So did you have time to do much 03:13 schooling? Yes we had time for schooling. 03:16 We had time but much of it was in work. There was about nine 03:21 months of schooling. Many times we had to miss days from school 03:26 in order to harvest the crops. During those years that was the 03:31 thing. Share croppers would have a lot of children and the 03:37 children were to help cultivate the crops and do all that. 03:42 So there was time for schooling but during those days we missed 03:46 a lot of days from schooling. 03:47 So you had no problem finishing your education all the way from 03:50 kindergarten through high school? 03:52 Well I don't know anything about kindergarten. In those days 03:54 there wasn't anything like kindergarten. I'd say from first 03:59 grade. When I was around ninth or tenth grade, I dropped out of 04:04 school. In fact, my parents were very disappointed about that. 04:09 But after leaving the farm I decided that it was the best 04:14 thing that I finish school, so I went to school at nights and 04:18 I was able to finish my high school working at night. 04:24 Now what made you drop out of school? You know we have a high 04:28 dropout rate with a lot of young people around the world. 04:32 Was there something in your life at that time where you 04:36 decided that school was not for you at the moment? 04:39 Well let me put it this way. I always loved school but the 04:44 great responsibilities say in the 50s and early 60s of living 04:50 on a farm, we were poor share croppers, I missed days from 04:55 school. See I was the oldest one in my family that dropped out 05:00 of high school. But being the oldest my responsibility was 05:04 great. I had to deal with my younger brothers and my younger 05:09 sisters. There were crops to be planted and we'd spend long 05:14 hours in the fields working. I guess I was young and I became 05:20 frustrated and I said look I just don't want this. I want to 05:24 do something better. But as I got older I realized it was a 05:29 mistake. Today that's no excuse for any youth dropping out of 05:34 school. Usually when I give my motivational speech I talk about 05:38 how a person can pick themselves up by the bootstrap and pull 05:42 themselves up. Very seldom that I would talk about dropping out 05:47 of high school because some young people may say oh yeah 05:50 well Ashley made it so I can do the same thing. You can't do 05:53 that. Your education comes first because education opens the 05:57 doors for an individual to climb the ladder of success. 06:01 So then from Georgia how did you make it to New York City? 06:06 The Big Apple. Well in those days, Carol, it 06:10 wasn't called The Big Apple. No, it was New York City. 06:15 I had an aunt living in New York City and I always was ambitious 06:20 and motivated. I wanted to be a movie actor, a rock-n-roll 06:24 singer. So you sing? No I don't sing; I was going to learn to 06:30 sing. I wanted to have a good time. I wanted to be a rich 06:36 individual because I was tired of just working on the farm and 06:43 just being poor so the bright lights caught my 06:48 attention. So as soon as I reached 18 I kind of sneaked 06:53 away from home without my parents' permission and I came 06:58 to New York. My dad was upset, but I assured him that even 07:03 though I was living in New York City I would do what a son was 07:08 raised to do. See I was very religious, very Christian, in 07:14 those days and so when I got there I got a job. 07:17 See I was dreaming about making it 07:19 big so this is what brought me to New York City, the bright 07:22 lights. I thought you could come 07:24 to New York City and you know and pick money off the street 07:27 or pick it off trees, that it 07:29 grew on trees but I soon 07:30 realized that wasn't the fact. So would come by success which 07:36 would come by me studying hard and taking God on and let him 07:41 direct my life. Without God I would never would have made it 07:44 this far. I probably would have made it. Maybe I would have made 07:48 it in rock-n-roll field, maybe a movie actor but I could 07:52 have wound up on drugs or some other or alcoholic. I'm not 07:56 saying everybody does that but I know in my case life was too 08:00 great for me without putting in the Creator and letting him 08:04 direct me wherever I may go. 08:06 So now you're 18, you've arrived 08:09 in New York to stay with 08:10 relatives and now what was your first job? 08:13 When I came to New York it was a Saturday morning before day and 08:21 I had an aunt who was religious and it was Sabbath morning. 08:24 She was a Seventh-day Adventist? 08:26 Oh yes, she was Seventh-day Adventist and I wasn't. 08:29 She would call me son. I was young and she would call me son 08:33 because she always treated me like she was my mother because 08:37 she was my father's oldest sister. That Saturday morning I 08:41 arrived at her house. I'll never forget that Karen. That was back 08:46 in Red Hooks and she lived there in the projects and I arrived 08:49 about 5 o'clock in the morning and she says I know that you're 08:53 tired so you can lie down and get some rest. So I thought I 08:56 was going to be able to sleep all day. So around about 8 08:58 o'clock she came in there and tapped me on the shoulder and 09:02 she says, son it's time to get up. We worship on Sabbath. 09:05 And I said what is Sabbath? She said you know we go to church. 09:09 I was always obedient and so I got up and got dressed and I 09:13 went to church with them. We were out about 12:30 or 1:00. 09:17 As we were walking back to the house I looked and I saw this 09:22 factory and a sign that they needed help. They manufactured 09:26 Christmas cards so I went in and I applied for a job and the guy 09:31 said well I don't have time now but you can come back Monday 09:35 morning. I was eager to get a job because I did not want to be 09:39 on anyone's hand. I'm a very independent person, very proud 09:43 of myself. I thought my aunt didn't see me, but as I was 09:47 coming out she said I want to talk to you. Son on Sabbath we 09:51 don't look for jobs. God will take care of that and I'm saying 09:55 to myself, well I need a job now. She kind of talked to me 09:59 nice and she says now the Lord will take care of you. That 10:03 Monday morning when I got up I walked around in the same 10:08 location and I was hired. I packed Christmas cards for $48 10:12 a week. I remember coming back and telling her, I said Aunt 10:15 Becky, I have a job, I have a job. She was very proud of me. 10:19 She says will I'm glad of that because many times young people 10:22 come here and they stay on relatives and they have to take 10:25 care of them. I see that you're ambitious. So I had a job within 10:28 three days after I arrived in New York. 10:30 Praise the Lord. It's not easy to find work sometimes, a lot 10:34 of times. No it's not. But if you're 10:35 ambitious and I knew that wanted to go places I wasn't going to 10:39 stay in a factory. My dream still was to become a rock-n- 10:44 roll singer. My aunt did not agree with that. She would tell 10:50 me not son let me explain. Now all the breath that Satan gives 10:55 you to sing then you sing, now if he gave you any. Now all the 11:01 breath that God gives you then you use it for his glory to 11:05 glorify him. And I'm trying to figure and I'm all caught 11:09 between that I cannot be a Christian and be part of the 11:13 rock-n-roll world. I was seeing the money and all that you know. 11:17 But when you're young you think a little different. As years 11:21 have gone by I think different. That was some 35-40 years ago. 11:27 So then you got your first job working in a factory. Yes. And 11:32 how long did you stay there? 11:34 I stayed there, it was a season, so after Christmas you don't 11:39 need Christmas cards. That was probably October when I arrived 11:44 in New York until April; that's when they closed the factory 11:50 and my cousin's husband invited me and said why don't you come 11:56 over and live with us for a while. I heard that you're an 11:58 ambitious young man and you get jobs so we don't have to worry 12:01 about you laying up on us. So I went over and stayed with 12:05 them so they gave me the key to the house after all the 12:09 instructions you know. This is a God-fearing house and we 12:13 believe in the Lord. Now I had no problem dealing with that so 12:17 they went to work. My cousin who didn't work went shopping. 12:21 And I decided to take a walk through the neighborhood. 12:25 In New York at that time you had factories all the way around. 12:28 It was a residential and a commercial area. So I walked 12:31 down and the first factory I walked in and I told the manager 12:35 of the factory I was looking for a job. He said come on in, do 12:38 we have work for you. So I worked there. We were making 12:41 baby carriages and doll carriages. I worked there for 12:45 about six months. That was in April and in July it closed and 12:50 I was able to go back home to visit my parents for a vacation. 12:55 You know I had a pocket full of money and nice clothes to wear 12:59 and my parents said well Ashley is doing fine in New York. I was 13:04 feeling good about myself and I think my parents were too 13:07 because I was able to give my mother some money. She loved 13:10 New York then because each week I would take a part of my check, 13:14 knowing that they were having a difficult time living in the 13:17 south, because many years Dad would work and he didn't make 13:21 anything. So I think my $10-15 a week made a difference as I 13:26 worked in New York. So that motivated me to keep a job 13:28 thinking about my parents and siblings back home. 13:34 So now from those jobs how did you get into PI work, 13:39 private investigative work? 13:41 I knew you were going to ask that. 13:43 And we were hoping we have time for a good story. 13:44 Okay, one day in a factory I was working. I kept getting 13:51 closer to my rock-n-roll field. I got a job in a get to where 13:56 they manufactured guitars and so when we manufactured guitars 14:00 we made guitars for Bo Dylan and all the rock-n-roll singers 14:05 so my job was when they put the guitar together it's done in 14:10 such a magnificent way. They would paint it after it was put 14:13 together, assembled together and my job was to sand the paint 14:18 down and make it smooth so you can put a coat shellac on it. 14:22 During that time I was standing there sanding my guitar at a 14:26 table and you see these two tall handsome gentlemen with black 14:31 suits and red ties in those days and they were walking, they were 14:36 stepping. One was the plant manager and the other was the 14:39 engineer. So the plant manager stopped and he focused his eyes 14:42 on the job I was doing and he says, you see there that's an 14:47 unskilled job. Wow. That went home. It suddenly dawned on me 14:52 that my labor was unskilled, I wasn't important, and that hurt 14:57 very much. I made up my mind that day, I said, the next time 15:02 that I get a job no one will ever be able to say his job is 15:08 unskilled; it doesn't pay much. So a few weeks later I was 15:12 reading the newspaper. I always took a newspaper to work and 15:17 I would read it on my lunch time and I saw this sign in the print 15:22 How would you like to be an insurance investigator and 15:26 adjustor? Good salary, a car to drive and expenses. And I said 15:32 wow, that's for me. I immediately got on the phone 15:37 and called up the school and asked them all the details and 15:41 they said okay, we'll send you some literature on it. So a few 15:45 days later I received the literature and I read it and I 15:48 liked everything that I read and the entire course, I think, for 15:52 four months was $160 and I had about $180 in the bank. 15:57 So instead of paying the store man, the next day I went to the 16:02 bank and drew out $160 and I was the first one at class that 16:07 night. I paid my tuition in full ready to start learning 16:12 to be an insurance investigator. That night we enrolled and the 16:18 instructor was telling us they had the experienced 16:20 investigators telling us how they conduct surveillance and 16:23 how they could do this. One investigator said he had this 16:26 guy on the workers' compensation surveillance and the client was 16:31 selling fish. He told the insurance company that he 16:33 couldn't work. So he caught the guy and the guy was running down 16:36 the street with the fish bucket trying to get away from him to 16:40 say sure that he couldn't work. I was all excited about that and 16:43 so on and on. So we continued and one night the instructor 16:47 called me out and he said Ashley I want to talk to you. He said 16:51 unless you do something about your English grammar you will 16:56 never make an investigator or adjustor. He was very serious. 17:00 That was discouraging because I thought I talked all right, but 17:04 I guess my talk was from Georgia certainly it was different from 17:08 the people in the east and especially in New York City. 17:12 But I didn't let that stop me. I says, I'm not going to let 17:15 that stop me. So I continued with the class and I checked 17:19 around and I found a school at nights that had an English 17:22 program. So I took the English course and I was able to 17:26 complete the insurance investigation course. 17:30 So after I completed I thought I would just go out and get a 17:34 job right away. The doors were going to be open. But that was 17:38 totally different. I took some other part time jobs, driving 17:43 taxis in order to get the job that I wanted. It was like I 17:47 had gone to every insurance company in New York City. 17:50 I sent out I guess approximately 50 or 60 letters and 100s of 17:54 telephone calls. They would say well I'm sorry we don't have 17:58 anything. You fill out the application... Don't you call us 18:01 we'll call you and I just knew that my English grammar was 18:05 getting in the way. I just kept dreaming and I was frustrated 18:10 and I kept praying Lord, I've taken the course and I want a 18:15 job in my desired field. So one day I was walking down a street 18:20 in Brooklyn and I saw this sign over an office building. It read 18:25 insurance company. My mind says why don't you go up and apply 18:30 for a job. Then the thought came back and says well you've been 18:34 there. You've gone every place so why should you go up there? 18:39 But I decided to go up anyway. I walked up and the receptionist 18:43 asked me well what did I come for? I said I would like to 18:47 apply for a job as an insurance adjustor. I just said it all in 18:51 a resonant manner like I know what I'm talking about and she 18:55 says okay. She handed me an application and said fill it out 18:59 and I completed the application. She took it and said will you 19:02 have a seat. The president of the company will see you. He's 19:06 in a meeting. So about 20 minutes later or so this 19:09 handsome guy came out. I guess he was a little taller than me; 19:11 I considered myself to be short. 19:13 He was well dressed in this black, I think, Botany 500. 19:18 In those days that was a suit for $200. He was dressed up and 19:22 he was a wealthy man. He owned the company. He said come in and 19:27 sit down and talk with me. He reared back and I guess he was 19:30 middle age, well experienced with a little salt and pepper 19:33 hair, you know, he knew what he was talking about. He says what 19:38 can I do for you. I said sir I came and I would like to be 19:41 hired by you as an insurance investigator and adjustor. 19:44 He said will I'll tell you what sign your name. I always had a 19:48 beautiful handwriting. Son tell me what you know about insurance 19:51 adjusting. So I go to tell him what I learned in school. 19:55 He sat patiently and listened to me and after I finished he 19:57 said you don't know anything about insurance investigation 20:01 and adjusting. And I was shocked. He said but I tell you 20:04 what, I'll teach you if you're willing to learn. I said yes sir 20:10 I'm willing to learn. How much do you want a week. I said $85. 20:14 He said no I tell you I'll give you $75. He said I have an 20:19 experienced adjustor. I'll never forget that man, Augustus 20:23 Taylor. He's deceased now but Gus was a middle age man and he 20:28 assigned me to Augustus Taylor. Boy, he had us all over New York 20:34 City. Truckers have accidents every day; they back into some 20:40 car, running into some building, etc. He gave me a work load and 20:44 I would be out there interviewing the people, Karen, 20:48 and when I started writing my statement... You see being an 20:51 insurance investigator you must be able to put whatever happened 20:55 on paper and you have to put it in the proper manner. You have 20:58 to know how to use the king's language as we speak, you know. 21:01 I would get there and start off my name is John Doe, I am such 21:05 and such age, I reside at this address, my telephone number 21:08 is such and such, my driver's license number is such and such. 21:11 I've been driving for this amount of years, but when I got 21:16 into the body on say example June 1, 1962 at about 10 o'clock 21:20 a. m. I was driving this truck... and I would just get 21:24 lost. I would just get all mixed up. I finally would get through 21:28 with it and so I would bring it back. He watched me for two or 21:31 three months and he says I want to talk to you, why don't you 21:35 come in my office. He says, you have great ambitions of being an 21:39 investigator. You're an aggressive person, but he says, 21:43 but I'm going to have to fire you. I said, sir, I can do the 21:47 job but I just need some time. He looked at me and he said, 21:51 Ashley, why don't you stop a while. Sometime if you're 21:55 going something that's so hard stop a while and wait and come 21:58 back. He said, I tell you what, if you go back and get some more 22:01 schooling for your English grammar and come back and I'll 22:04 rehire you. So that's just what I did, Karen. I went out and I 22:08 found a local college this time and I took another course and 22:12 I came back and he hired me again. For some reason when 22:16 I got back to the part of my statement I would get lost. 22:20 He says, well I'm sorry, I'm going to have to fire you again. 22:24 But he said, but you're so determined. Go back and get some 22:28 more training and then I'll hire you again. But when I came back 22:32 I was ready that time. I was able to go through my statement. 22:36 I was able to do my surveillance, I was able to take 22:38 photos, I was able to interview, I was good with it. Just like 22:43 anything when I became good and experienced I moved on to 22:47 another insurance, a larger insurance company. But when I 22:51 got to that insurance company they said well we don't have a 22:54 job open for adjustor, but I tell you what, we have a workers 22:58 compensation clerk position, will you take it. Well I didn't 23:01 want to take it but in order to get where you want to go in life 23:05 you have to do some of the things you don't like to do. 23:09 So what I did, I took the clerk's job and once I was 23:14 inside... Once you get inside a company you can move around 23:17 and I kept pestering them till they wound up making me an 23:21 investigator and I succeeded and I remained with them for four 23:24 years and then I went with the Brooklyn District Attorney's 23:28 Office and from there I was employed by a private 23:31 investigative firm and at that point I realized that there was 23:35 a lot of money to be made as a private investigator. 23:38 Why shouldn't I have my own license. So I was talking to a 23:41 friend and I said, why don't we go in business together. He said 23:45 well I'm doing fine myself Ashley. I make $1000 a week. 23:48 I said, yes, but look. This man is making $10,000 a week. 23:52 We can do that. He said, no, you just go ahead. So what I did 23:56 was for a few months I studied and I got my license and I 23:59 opened up by own business and then that's where I am today 24:03 I did make the Creator part of the business. Any time that 24:07 you're going in business, make God your partner. If you make 24:11 God your partner, you'll never go out of business because he 24:14 is the resource of all success. 24:16 Not only have you made God your 24:18 partner in business, but I 24:19 understand that God has blessed you to become the president of 24:22 a group of international business people, the Adventist 24:25 Laymen's Services Industry Council. Tell us about that. 24:29 Yes, Karen, I'm glad to do that. We call that ASI. That is a 24:34 group of business Christian entrepreneurs from the Adventist 24:40 churches. We meet once a year at various pods in North America 24:46 We learn more how to witness in the work place to those that 24:51 we come in contact with as well as our employees and those who 24:57 may not know God as we do. It's more than just making money 25:02 God expects each one of us to tell others about his love and 25:07 saving power. You see, we are in this world. We are here to help 25:13 each other. You see, we know, and I know for myself, that our 25:19 main purpose for living is to serve each other. So the ASI is 25:24 dedicated to doing that and it fits with me just like a glove 25:29 and 1000s of other entrepreneurs across this 25:32 country. Well praise the Lord. What an 25:34 exciting organization it sounds like. Also for those who are 25:39 watching at home, Ashley has written a book that is soon to 25:45 be published. Secrets of Success and also he has a video called 25:52 The Secret of Success. And he is also featured in Sharing Ideas. 25:58 This is a magazine that goes all around the country for 26:02 motivational speakers. It seems like we're out of time today. 26:07 We will on our next program talk with you and we know we 26:12 would live to hear one of your exciting stories. I understand 26:14 there is a story you're going to tell in our next program 26:17 about a young woman who was lost in New York City and was 26:20 lost for years and presumed dead Give us just a little snap shot 26:24 about that one. Okay, well this is a young lady 26:27 that got on drugs and her parents thought she was dead. 26:31 She left Philadelphia and went to New York City and so one 26:34 day a private investigator called me and said will you help 26:38 me out? I want you to help locate this young lady. He sent 26:42 the information over and after I prayed about it and did some 26:45 investigation within two weeks I had located her. 26:48 Now don't say any more. We want to save this for our next 26:51 program to talk about this and other exciting stories that you 26:55 have in your 25 years of experience as a private 26:57 investigator in New York solving 9600 cases, 98% success rate. 27:01 How exciting this is going to be. I'd like to speak now to our 27:06 viewers at home. What an inspirational story we've heard 27:08 today of Ashley, who is the son of a share cropper, the eldest 27:13 of 10, moving to New York at 18 and making the choice early with 27:17 his aunt's encouragement to include God in his plan. 27:20 Now he is a private investigator all over the city of New York. 27:25 If there's something in this story that has touched your 27:27 heart, we would like to pray with you right now that you will 27:31 allow God to use you, too, to do his work and to be successful 27:34 in life. Will you pray for us now please. 27:37 Yes. Father in heaven, I pray that you would bless others 27:42 to see that what you have done for me you will do the same for 27:48 them. Motivate them to live all that they can in this life and 27:53 serve you and they will be a great success to themselves as 27:57 well as humanity. Amen. 27:59 Amen. Thank you so much for coming and thank you for joining 28:03 us for another edition of Issues and Answers. |
Revised 2014-12-17