William Darrell Mays Jr. may have been the King of the TV Pitch, but he didn’t start out that way. Like most people, Mays had a relatively normal upbringing. He was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his father, William Mays Sr., owned and operated a hazardous waste trucking company. After finishing high school, Mays attended West Virginia University, though it’s unclear what his major was while he attended school.
Ultimately, Mays dropped out of college before finishing and returned home to Pittsburgh. While mucking about in his hometown, Mays went to work with his father. After a while, Mays grew tired of working at a hazardous waste trucking company and sought his fortunes elsewhere. In 1983, he picked up and moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey, alongside a high school buddy of his who moved to Jersey to take a job in sales.
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After relocating to Atlantic City, Mays followed in his friend’s footsteps and got into sales. Mays hadn’t invented anything (and wouldn’t go on to), but he found that he was more than capable of convincing folks to buy whatever he was selling. This served him well, as he cut his teeth working with passersby on the Atlantic City boardwalk, hocking whatever he could get his hands on and sell, helping to establish the skills he’d use throughout the rest of his life.
