My Story…
How I “Woke Up” to My Life’s Greatest Calling: Enriching the Lives of Others
I was a serial entrepreneur for 20 years. It seemed I “had it all”. But something started gnawing at my soul. There was something I knew I wanted to do more. Something I felt was my life’s greatest calling…
I grew up in a good neighborhood in Salt Lake City, but my family didn’t have much money. We weren’t starving by any means, but as a kid, I didn’t have anything just handed to me so I worked a lot. At 10 years old, I was selling cold sodas to hot thirsty golfers between the 6th and 7th hole on the golf course. At 14, I was a dishwasher and busboy. Then on to mowing lawns with my little brother, 33 per week. The summer before my senior year, I was doing grueling construction work for $5/hr. Hard work is how I got the things I wanted.
(My first “business” – selling cold pop to hot, thirsty golfers)
After high school, I did volunteer work through my church for two years throughout the country of South Africa. The experience ignited in me a burning desire to succeed in life; then to bless the lives of others with that success. But where to start?
At the suggestion of a spiritual leader I grew close to, I began to read everything I could get my hands on about the subject of “success”.
(Some of the classics that began shaping my life for success)
I was on my way to new thought patterns, but “how” to succeed was going to take time. By 25, I was married, broke (actually several thousand dollars in debt), and renting a scary basement apartment. I was scrambling to find a way to support my wife in finishing her teaching degree.
You name it, I sold it that way — in person, over the phone, inside a showroom, outside in the rain, in an office, behind a counter, in a family room, or in a hotel ballroom!
Hoping sales could provide an above average income, I entered into the “school of hard knocks”. After the devastation of being fired from my first real sales job just two days before Christmas, I forced myself to continue on – eventually selling all kinds of things… encyclopedias (remember those?), automobiles, financial and real estate education programs, coaching products, retail sales, telecommunications and career consulting services. You name it, I sold it that way – in person, over the phone, inside a showroom, outside in the rain, in an office, behind a counter, in a family room, or in a hotel ballroom! Eventually, I gained sales mastery and became a top producer, training several thousand people along the way – up to 1,000 on one occasion.
After selling for 10 years, using a little savings and a credit card, I decided to go into business for myself – flying by the seat of my pants. I had no close entrepreneurial role models, but I chose to believe in my possibilities. I was “ignorance on fire!” Over the next 20 years, with a whole lot of work and taking some risks, I eventually started, built and sold a number of successful 6, 7 & 8-figure companies in the online marketing, advertising, and healthy foods sectors. In fact, I even found myself on the front cover of a business magazine, with one of my companies as the feature story. Each business was built without investment capital – or even a written business plan – but eventually they generated over $150 Million in combined revenue.
It seemed I “had it all”. But there was something I knew I wanted to do more. Something that really lit up my soul.
I loved watching their eyes light up when they really had that “Aha” moment about their own greater potential.
Over the years, I would often find myself sharing things with other entrepreneurs that showed them how much more was possible than what they were currently seeing for themselves. Each time, I loved watching their eyes light up when they really had that “Aha” moment about their own greater potential. I would feel joy and a deep sense of purpose! But as a serial entrepreneur actively running several companies, I found myself stretched so thin I had fewer and fewer of these moments. It really began to gnaw at me.
One morning, while on vacation in Mexico with my wife, I “woke up” in more ways than one. I said to her, “Honey, there’s something I’ve been putting off, something I’ve been thinking I’ll get around to, but I feel it’s now or never… What I really want to do is spend the rest of my life enriching the lives of others by sharing what I’ve learned. I want to stop building businesses, and start building people. If I don’t do that, I’m going to die with regrets.”
Finally… I was able to transition out of my most time-consuming business interests and get on point with my life’s greatest calling: enriching the lives of others by helping them achieve their best life and greatest potential.
Family First: married to my bride of 29 years & blessed with four wonderful children who enrich my life every day. “No other success can compensate for failure in the home.”