The first time I met with Larry for this book project, we discussed our audience. Larry had always planned to produce a book only for family, business associates and friends. Gail, who often was working in the kitchen nearby while Larry and I conducted our interviews and added valuable comments, said she thought he should make the book available to everyone, as did I. Larry listened and thought about this for a moment and decided this was acceptable, but with this caveat: He didn't want to change the content simply because he had broadened his audience. He was still going to talk about personal and spiritual matters the way he would if he were addressing family members. And so he did. He openly discussed his feelings about his faith, the abrupt departure of his parents from the church and the effect it had on his life, his reactivation in the church, the dilemma he faced about watching his professional basketball team play on Sunday, and the role of tithing in his success.Six weeks after Larry committed to be fully active in the church again and began to pay tithing, it hardly appeared to be a blessing — he was demoted. Rather than accept the demotion, Larry looked for another job and found one. While on vacation in Utah, he suddenly and unexpectedly found himself buying a car dealership. That was the beginning of Miller's remarkable climb from car-parts manager to business owner, entrepreneur, NBA owner, philanthropist and multi-millionaire.
Consider this: On Jan. 5, I paid tithing for the first time. On Feb. 17, I was demoted. On April 6, I bought a car dealership. By May 31, I had sold 172 cars and was off and running in the car business.People might say this was a coincidence, but how many coincidences need to occur before they're not coincidences? By the end of May I was thinking there were more forces at work than I had considered. When I began paying my tithing, that was absolutely the beginning. Then I was demoted and it forced me out of a situation where I thought I would be indefinitely. There were forces at work that sent me back to Utah.We endured hard times when the economy turned sour in the early '80s. There were a lot of business failures in '80 and '81. We had just barely gotten going when the downturn came. We didn't even have enough to pay our bills sometimes. I returned home one evening and told Gail that we didn't make enough money to pay ourselves that month; we had just enough to pay everyone else. We almost didn't survive. We came within days and hours of making it. Gail, who had experienced lean times when she was a teenager, knew how to manage meager resources. She would wait until the last minute to pay a bill, and she wouldn't pay all the bills at once, or she would pay only part of them. She was pretty nervous that first year, especially because we were responsible for employees and their families. Gail tells people now she had complete trust in whatever I said I could do; she didn't worry about me taking risks. But she did wonder how long it was going to continue like this and if she needed to take a job again. I'd deposit my paycheck each month and tell her to determine what she needed for the household and then write a check to the company for the difference. I was funding the business with my personal earnings as much as possible to avoid unnecessary debt. We felt a lot of stress about being in business for ourselves. Everything depended on us, including other people. It was a scary time.We survived the debt and the lean times — the economy took a turn for the better in '83 and '84. We gained traction in our car dealerships. We emerged from trying times, and it looked like we were going to make it.And then I had a dream one night that was so remarkable in its clarity that it has stuck with me all these years later. It was actually the third or fourth time I had this same dream, but this one made an indelible impression on me. I dreamed I was in a high-ceiling room with open skylights, and there was a knock at the door. I took a white package wrapped with white ribbon that lay on a table and gave it to someone at the door. Moments later, there was another knock. This time there were more white packages on the table. I took them to the person at the door. The scene repeated itself over and over, and each time I gave away a box I discovered it had been replaced by many more boxes on the table until eventually they filled the entire room. In the dream, I asked Gail, "Where are these coming from?" She said, "The only thing I can figure is they're coming through the skylights."I had never told Gail about the previous dreams, but this time I did. After I recounted the dream for her, Gail asked, "What did you learn from the dream?""It teaches me the promise of tithing made in the scriptures."If nothing else, it solidified things for me. I believe the dream was about paying tithing, which is not just a Mormon belief, of course, but something that is mentioned in the Bible, as well.I have been so fortunate in my life, and not just in a material way. I have been able to do so many wonderful things in my life and meet so many people. I've been able to build and create things and work with NBA owners and players, governors, church leaders, congressmen, people in the community, artists, musicians and doctors. When I think about these things, I wonder why me? I set out to be a parts salesman. It has been a wonderful life that has exceeded all my expectations.If you asked me what the turning points of my life were, I would say marrying Gail and paying tithing. Since that decision to pay tithing, the church has been the guiding force in my life — in business, family, everything. I have undergone a curious change since then, as well. When I was younger, going to church was a duty, if I went at all. I did it because of social and family pressure. That all changed. Going to church became an enjoyable refuge for me and a place to learn. I love going to church, sitting there listening to the songs and the testimonies. It feels like a safe, comfortable place, and I have found something to be true that I have always preached to my employees: You can learn something in every meeting if you're teachable and have the right attitude and are humble.The church and its teachings have been a guide to me in my business dealings. We do millions of transactions each year, so I can't guarantee that they are all done right, but most of them are. We teach this constantly in our meetings. We talk about ethics. I tell employees that during their careers they will see people who take shortcuts and cheat, and it might be a temptation for them. But in reality they will emerge more successful if they do things with integrity. I ask them: Is it worth the accomplishment if you have to cheat to get there? Does your golf score mean anything if you pick up the ball for any putt that's inside of six feet? We're not keeping a daily scorecard the way we do in golf, but maybe we should.