Şadan Doğan: Çıraklık Hatıraları

Hello İsmail, I'm good, how are you? I'm also good, thank you. Our work started very early. I was born in 1965. At age 7, I was already working in my father's tea house. After school, my father wanted us to learn, so he had us sell simit. We'd go to Baker Ahmet's place and line up at 5 AM. Sometimes it was tough waiting. We'd pick up the simit while still warm from the oven, then sell in Bademlik neighborhood. In the evening, we'd collect the money and return it to the baker. The simit were something else entirely back then. We'd sell out by 3 PM, between afternoon and evening prayers. The shopkeepers were great. We'd start early — lining up at 5 and beginning at 7, wanting to grab the simit quickly to sell. In winter we did other things too — my mother and I would go to the fields, especially during fig season. We'd pick figs and sell dried figs, and also collect and sell lettuce and onions.

Mostly on the street. We would even shout out to attract customers. We had regular customers. We were mobile simit sellers — you couldn't stay in one spot, especially on Wednesdays. Even without proper bazaar spots, we sold a lot of simit. Since we lived near the bazaar, we'd walk through Bademlik neighborhood and sell out. We'd also work at the coffee house and in the park. During Ramadan we'd go late and come back early. In autumn, cleaning the fallen leaves felt like torture. While working at the coffee house, when I was about 9 years old, I hit a customer with a tray and all the glasses broke. My father — God rest his soul — slapped me. I later understood why: it was about respect for the customer. The customer is always right. The older sisters and mothers of girls in our school would come by and give us tips, deliberately choosing us.

My biggest ideal was becoming a congress member of the sports club. I've been a Fenerbahçe member since 1990, and became a congress member in 1996. I'd save small gold coins, and in February 1996 I cashed them in — nearly a thousand lira at the time. The membership fee now is much higher, but back then it was a significant amount. I kept working and saving for it. That slap from my father — it was a turning point that changed my life. It made me more careful and brought me to a completely different place. We've been working since we can remember ourselves. We were in the same class in primary school. Our teacher at Dumlupınar raised us well. Most of our classmates did well — even friends who went abroad.

Yes, but very briefly — maybe a month sweeping the floor. Then we worked at the grocery store next to the coffee house, helped at the photography shop, filled cotton pillows. On weekends after school we'd help at the coffee house and earn a little. In 1972, my father opened a furniture store selling mattresses, oilcloth, trousseau items, wardrobes, beds, and trousseau chests. We'd help at the store, especially on Wednesdays when the bazaar was fully set up. I'd help at the store after school, even during lunch break. The furniture business really took off when we started production. I handled logistics — buying materials and fabrics. We started making sofa sets, first two a day, then four. We'd load 40 pieces onto a truck and drive to village squares, unload everything, and sell. If we couldn't sell, we'd reload. The villagers would help with their tractors to carry furniture to their homes. We had to sell everything that day because we were producing and needed the cash.

Yes, we had trucks. One Bayram, we accidentally hit a butcher's shop door while rushing by — didn't even notice. The next morning we found out. The butcher hadn't even opened yet. But that's how it was — always rushing to sell everything that day. Fortunately, the villagers supported us and we could sell. Back then people were more generous. From those humble beginnings, selling from trucks in village squares, the business grew into a world-famous brand. That's where it all came from.

Because selling simit, working in coffee houses, working in parks — that teaches you what life really is. Now we know very well how money is earned. Even though conditions are different now, the principle still applies. Back then, things we aspired to we couldn't have. Now we can provide what we dreamed of. But most importantly, they learned respect and honesty — you collect what you sell, return unsold goods and the money to the baker. The baker wouldn't give simit to someone he didn't trust, because the money might not come back. Our fathers knew the bakers, so they trusted their sons. My son saw how it all worked, he experienced it.

Yes, she's in marketing, heading one of the brands. All of them finished university. My son studied in America, then went to England. In our family, we have a constitution, so to speak — after completing everything according to proper procedure, they can become senior executives. Both hold those positions now. My daughter is in the furniture division, and my son heads energy procurement as the purchasing director.