My favorite topics are marketing and life and business planning. All are custom designed for each group and presentation. The two most frequently requested topics are:
If you are a Vistage Member or Chair, you can view my profile and current programs here or by clicking the links below:
DREAM SKETCH; PLANNING FOR BOTH SUCCESS AND SIGNIFICANCE
THE FIVE IMMUTABLE LAWS OF MARKETING AND SALES
I crave interaction in every program because to help, one must understand people's current situation. The singular goal of my speaking and writing is to meet and share experience with like-minded people who may want to become a part of our journey.
1975-1987 | Professional political organizer, advertising agency executive and Chief Marketing Officer of 650 restaurant chain
1988-2007 | Founder, CEO of WorkPlace Impact, "We Deliver Where People Work"; sold to Riverside Company
1997-present | Founder, Mission Officer; The Business of Good Foundation, "Serving Those Who Serve the Poor"
2003-present | Investor, Minority Owner; Raising Cane's of Ohio; 33 restaurant franchisee of national chicken finger brand based in Dallas, TX and Baton Rouge, LA
My wife, Alice, and I started the foundation in 1997. The Business of Good is a private 501c3 and entirely self-funded. We started by contributing 25% of our company's pretax profits each year to build the first foundation and have experienced several iterations over our 22 year of work. But our mission has never changed: "we serve those who serve the poor." So far, we've invested over $10 million and thousands of hours to support existing non-profit organizations who solely serve the working poor. Our mission centers on three long term solutions to poverty: knowledge, jobs and self-employment. Our primary investments to date have been in lending to un-bankable entrepreneurs, incubating social enterprises and developing a platform for mentoring first generation college students.
ECapital Ashtabula is the current phase of the micro-lending we've been doing in my little hometown since 2008. Ashtabula fronts Lake Erie about 60 miles east of Cleveland and like so many rust belt cities is today about half the size of what it was when i was growing up. We've circulated (and re-circulated) about $5 million into about 50 local businesses over that time, about 40 of which still prosper, providing an expanding financial base for the families we back. Every loan agreement includes a commitment by the borrower to meet with their peers monthly and our business counselors quarterly. if there is a key to success in micro-lending it is staying on the journey with borrowers after they've received their training and capital.
The book begins the day I received $45 million. The first half of the book recounts how I started out then arrived at such a fortune. The second half focuses on my plans to give it all away.
Vistage (CEO peer group members) must participate in monthly all-day meetings with other CEOs. At these meetings I first learned how to create a better business, then how to live a better life. Here I write 40 vignettes of the best things I learned from speakers and other members.
From start-ups to mature companies, I have served as an adviser to hundreds of businesses. Every successful business I've been involved with started with a plan. Plans always evolve, but it's imperative to start somewhere.
As with business plans, I want to share the importance I've found in organizing goals and life strategies. If you haven't already started your life plan, please download and get started. And remember, you win just by trying.