Good morning to all my dear friends of Rising Star, how are you today? I hope you are very well and above all enjoying the game very much. Well friends, today is Saturday and the body knows it😅 Why do I tell you this, because today is the weekend and as usual I bring you a new story. In today's particular case I chose the letter 170 Callahan. I really liked this letter because of its phrase and the art itself. Both things helped me a lot to design and write the story. So I think without further ado it's time to present the story. I hope you like it, then let me know in the comments what you thought of it.

You know, my dear friends, Callahan is a man who has always known how to play his cards, or his chances, very well. From a very young age he has been known for his personality. But not everything is as you might imagine. He did not always act honestly or fairly. He was more of an opportunist. Because he was young and enjoyed some success in the music production business, he was able to move up in the music industry. Of course, this success was not only due to his own merits, but to several of his tricks that he used to rise at all costs.

Then thanks to his fame or rather curtain of success he was hired by one of the most prestigious record labels in the country, called LVT. At the beginning when he started working there he started working as an administrative assistant. The truth is that he stood out quite a bit in that position because out of everything if he had certain talents to direct. But you know friends, it didn't take him long to start bringing out his dark side again. In that position he developed a talent that consisted in detecting the weaknesses and abilities of others to turn them into an advantage for him. For example, if a worker excelled in his position, Callahan would tell his superiors that it was because of him, that the bonuses and salary increases should go to him for his good management. This when in reality he had done nothing.

The truth is that while others were concerned with getting the job done, Callahan was more concerned with studying the system, as he watched the power dynamics like a patient hunter. He had only one ambition that he turned into his passion, to be better than others at all costs, no matter what had to be done along the way. This is how he worked for several years in the company. In fact, he never missed an opportunity to humiliate his colleagues who had lesser positions in the record company. To give them an example in meetings, he would ask seemingly innocent questions that would expose the failings of his colleagues: “Wasn't that report in your folder, so why didn't you turn it in today,” he would ask to ridicule someone who had fallen behind in their work.

Some time later came his first big maneuver within the record company. You see, his boss who was assistant manager, a man of integrity but overconfident, made the mistake of delegating too much power to him, shall we say. His boss Jack asked him to handle the earnings reports for his department, which was in pop music. One of the biggest moneymakers in the company. So Callahan didn't waste a second and took advantage of this opportunity to make a fool of himself. What he did was to alter those key reports and manipulated the results to make his superior Jack look incompetent. He then told the bosses and the board of directors that he was the one who had discovered his boss's failings and therefore he should be promoted. You know it wasn't long before he finally took his position. He was now appointed as ceo by the board of directors.

You know in that position Callahan felt invincible. During the early years he signed million-dollar contracts, propelled the label's artists to international levels of fame, and brought LVT to its best financial position in decades. However, as you can imagine, success did not quench his ambition. On the contrary, it fueled it. He saw that the label was making millions but his salary was insignificant (in his view) compared to everything LVT was earning. That's why he decided to start playing dirty but in a more extreme way. For example, you see one night, while reviewing the company's balance sheets, he realized that a recently cancelled project had left a considerable fund unallocated. In other words, that money had neither been used for what it was intended for nor had it been returned to the company's funds.

At that moment, a dangerous idea formed in his head. He told himself that it was just a small adjustment. Or was it more of a temporary diversion, nothing that anyone would notice he thought. So he stole that money. The truth is that at the time no one knew about it. But that first time marked the beginning of a pattern. Little by little, he began to create fictitious projects, inflate budgets and divert funds into accounts under his control. In a manner of speaking, he was driven by his impulses and selfish desires for which he was never satisfied.

But you know friends, even though he tried hard to keep up appearances, the cracks began to show. It all started when an up-and-coming singer was frustrated by the lack of financial support for her tour, so she confronted him at a meeting. They promised to cover the costs, but now they say there's no budget. How am I supposed to do my job,” she complained. Callahan managed to calm her with words, but that night she couldn't sleep. She knew the questions were piling up and that her facade wouldn't hold up much longer. What happened with the singer was because he stole her tour funds.

He took into account that his decisions began to directly impact the artists and employees. It can be said that the final straw came a few days later when a promising album was cancelled due to lack of resources, and several workers resigned due to the disappointment of not being able to see their album come to fruition. The truth is that this decision he had made for his own benefit was beginning to destroy the foundation of the company he had built.

That's why the next day something came without warning that he didn't expect. He was called to an emergency meeting, the board of directors called him to confront him. In the last few weeks they had been gathering information and now they had irrefutable proof of his embezzlement. Documents, emails and testimonies already formed a solid case against him. Saben Callahan tried to stand his ground, but his normally confident voice stuttered.

One of the board members, who was an older man felt betrayed, having trusted him since his early days, looked at him with the most disappointment. “How did you come to this, Callahan, was it worth it?” he asked. He told him, look I've convinced the board not to take legal action against you, especially since you did a good job over the last few years. But you will have to face consequences. You will have to pay and return every penny you have dishonestly taken, plus you will have to make financial compensation to the artists whose careers you have destroyed by your mismanagement. Plus you're fired with immediate effect.

After they gave him that Callahan knew he had to do it without complaint, let alone whine, because he knew they were quite right. He also had to take into account the consideration they had given him, not to open legal cases. So a few days later he did everything they asked him to do. For this reason he was financially ruined. And beyond the money, what he lost was something that could not be quantified, his pride.

For weeks after that, he locked himself in his now small apartment, as he had to sell his mansion to pay debts to the record label. The truth is that he was very tormented by every bad decision that had brought him to that point. Saben felt hatred of himself and even thought that he should end his life, because in the end it was all his fault. But something changed his mind. You see one night, while watching the news, he saw a report about a young businessman who had fallen into disgrace for taking unethical shortcuts. That young man spoke candidly about his mistakes and his path to redemption so to speak. You know seeing that example made him for the first time in months feel something akin to hope. For if that young man could find purpose after his fall, perhaps he could too.

That's why a few days later with the little money he had left he decided to found a non-profit organization to educate artists, entrepreneurs or business people about the pitfalls of excessive ambition and unethical decisions. And how to avoid them. You know the truth this was not easy at first. Many people doubted his intentions, and some even refused to listen to him because they thought he was just trying to get attention. However, time went by and people finally realized that his feelings were sincere and it could be seen that he was really willing to admit his mistakes. It is for this reason that he began to gain followers. And many began to see him as their role model after making a mistake, as he was striving to return to the ways of the law.

The truth is that Callahan became an advocate for second chances, sharing his story at workshops and conferences. And many people benefited from his ethics classes. In fact, several books were even written about his example. That's why one day many years after the record label incident something unexpected happened. While he was preparing a talk, he received a call that left him perplexed we might say. It was one of the former LVT board members. Do you know what he said to him? It went something like this: “We've been following your career, Callahan. We know you've changed. The company needs someone with your experience. We want to offer you a position, if you're willing.” Saben Callahan was silent, overwhelmed by the mix of emotions. A few years ago he was leaving the company because of bad practices, and now because of his new qualifications they were opening a door for him again. It was practically a second chance at life.

As you can imagine, he accepted, now not as CEO, but as a consultant and advisor. In fact, on his first day back, as he walked the halls of LVT, he felt somewhat different. For he was no longer driven by ambition or the desire for power, now it was a willingness to do things right. But he knows that his redemption is not in forgetting everything that happened, but in building a better future, day by day.

So friends this teaches us that we have to learn from our mistakes. And not just leave them in the past as if nothing happened. Maybe in our case life will give us a second chance like Callahan. So, friends, this has been my story for today. I hope you liked it, you know I would love to read your opinions in the comments as I said in the introduction. See you in a new post. Until then best regards to all of you and have a nice day.

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