Tony Dhir, RECIPIENT OF THE 2007 ZIG AWARD

NOMINATOR'S STATEMENT
Tony is a very outgoing, personable, funny, generous and loving man who has dealt with life’s unexpected moment of upheaval with intelligence, humor and grace. In 1975, although he had a Bachelors degree in Electronic Engineering, he chose instead to do social work doing rural development in farming villages in his native India. His work involved anything from writing grants for funding to working with farmers to help dig their wells. Tony also saw that the farmers were being abused by their landlords and worked with the villagers to discover what laws would protect and empower them. During this time Tony married and had two small children. In 1983, with his wife and children, Tony moved to Bangalore, India and began working using his degree and eventually opened his own electronic equipment shop, which was quite successful.
In 1988 Tony again moved with his family, this time to Houston, Texas. Work was hard to find in America, but Tony was smart, hard working and highly personable, and he got a job with Sears Roebuck as an outdoor technician. Tony did well and quickly advanced to service technician in the electronic division.

In 2001 Tony was laid off. A bit dismayed, but never discouraged, Tony set about looking for new employment. With his children and wife established in a local community in Houston, he did not want to move, and kept his search as local as possible. Although he had never had any formal training in sales he accepted a position at Best Buy as a sales associate. Tony being an outgoing person and someone who by his very nature wants to help others, together with his extensive background in electronic engineering, did very well. He quickly moved up to Supervisor in the Appliance Department and has consistently maintained a sales ranking in the top 10 in his territory, and in the top 20 of Best Buy’s over 800 stores.  Tony used each zig in his life (some self-initiated and others not) to find something new and interesting to do. I can’t think of a better person to merit a Zig Award.

2008 The Zig Award Recipient

2006 The Zig Award Recipient

2005 The Zig Award Recipient

2004 The Zig Award Recipient