Ronald J. Gillespie, the inventor of the Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) model, relates how his career as researcher in Christopher Ingold's laboratories started. Gillespie developed a passion for chemistry and chemical education, searching for more appropriate and interesting ways to transmit the essential knowledge and enthusiasm to new generations. It has been over 50 years since the basic ideas of the now popular and fully accepted VSEPR model were first proposed. For more than five decades, Gillespie and his numerous students have been making many original contributions to chemistry, particularly the investigation of nonaqueous superacid solvents and polyatomic cations of the nonmetals. In this interview, Gillespie suggests how his research and investigations and his VSEPR model are intimately interwoven, which frames the long-term success of his explanation of chemical bonding and geometry. (Contains 1 figure.)