OF ALBION STREET He is the former Cliftonhill ballboy who travelled the world saving jobs and increasing profits for global firms. Now a much respected motivational speaker and author, John Silvestro tells us how he became such a big deal...

Author, musician, motivator.

Just a few of the qualities attributed to Coatbridge business guru and former Albion Rovers ballboy, John Silvestro.

The 58-year-old has been a mover and shaker in the cut-throat world of big business for 30 years.

The dad-of-two, who now lives in Staffordshire, left his home town at the age of just 21 and was soon travelling the globe saving jobs, increasing profits and productivity and assisting companies to keep one step ahead of their rivals.

And now, after semi-retiring at the age of 47, John delivers keynote speeches to audiences across Europe to help them see the business world through his eyes.

He told the Advertiser: “When I’m at conferences I talk about the best strategies for business to use in different concepts.

“I have the enthusiasm of a 21-year-old. I love what I do and I love business.

“It’s my aim to help smaller businesses overcome larger competition.

“I’m a strategist so I recognise what they are good at and what their problems are before finding a solution for it.

“I see things that others don’t because they’ve become submerged and I offer a fresh pair of eyes.”

The former Cliftonhill ballboy and St Patrick’s Primary pupil joined the Navy straight from Columba High and was at sea for four years.

He then had stints at a number of retail companies, developing their marketing strategies, but admits itchy feet stopped him from staying put for too long.

John went on: “I’m a bit of a Nomad. I’ve never really had a proper career path.

“I love change, so I never really stayed in the same job for longer than a few years.

“I’d achieve what I set out to achieve and then seek a new challenge.”

“I’m absolutely driven by the aspect of completing a challenge.”

John’s list of accomplishments is an impressive one. He has taken on tasks for companies in places as far afield as South Africa and Switzerland and come up trumps every time.

His strategies have seen him increase the sales growth and market share at several businesses, as well as working in director roles.

John reckons his success in the industry is down to enjoying what he does, as well as putting his heart and soul into his work.

He continued: “I’ve never fallen into a trap of doing a job I hated.

“You’ll love your life if you’re on the right path and doing something you enjoy.

“If you hate a certain aspect of your life, change it and find something that matches your personality.

“I only take on projects that I put 100 per cent focus on.

“There’s been times when I’ve been on holiday and all I can think about is work.”

After taking a step-back from his business ventures a decade ago, John sought out something to fill the increasing void in his life.

He opted to learn a musical instrument, but even that transpired into another success story.

He explained: “I taught myself guitar and within one year I was producing online guitar lessons for beginners.

“I ended up with a top 20 YouTube channel with more than five million views and 7000 subscribers.

“I founded, and still run, kickstartguitar. com which offers more than 300 video lessons that are downloaded by people all over the world.”

And is if that wasn’t enough, he has now transformed his popular online blogs into a book.

John said: “For the last three years I’ve been writing monthly business columns for national trade magazines.

“It’s an accumulation of those and is called How to Beat Your Larger Competitors.

“It contains more than 20 different strategies and will be used as the core reference in a new online resource service that’s available to more than 1000 independent retailers.

“The book is self published and will be out in the Autumn.”

Despite his hectic lifestyle John makes sure he gets back home as often as possible to visit his family, including proud parents May and Peter, who now live in Motherwell.

He added: “Family is the most important thing in life and I get back home to see everyone as often as I can.

“It is important to keep an eye on the health of my parents as they are both now in their 80s.

“This is my home and always will be, it is where my roots are formed and I learned the values of responsibility and hard work.”

Generation game John on his graduation day with daughter Joanne, mum May (right) and grandmother Winifred