By Maureen Werther
Tom Stock recalled an exact moment just like it was yesterday. He was driving home after a long day of work–a 16-hour day, to be precise–when he found himself driving behind a new, bumble bee-yellow Jeep with a bumper sticker that read, “If you’re not the lead dog, the view never changes.”
That bumper sticker was the impetus Stock needed to become his own boss.
Born and raised in Gloversville, he moved to Delaware after graduating from Syracuse University and began working for a commercial and industrial photography company. While he was doing the kind of photography that he loved, he realized that he needed to be working for himself.
Two months later, after doing extensive market surveys, he packed his equipment in his car and drove to Saratoga Springs, where he set up shop. He hasn’t looked back.
Stock recalled that in January of his first year in Saratoga, his business earned a whopping $6. But he was undaunted. His mother phoned him to tell him about jobs she saw in the classified ads. He would tell her, “Mom, I already have a job.” Her reply would be something like, “How many hours did you spend today doing photography?”
His answer, he said, was: “I’m working on my business.”