Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain
Page 22
The irony is that while my personal life had hit bottom in the wake of my stepfather’s death, everything else—my career as an author, fatherhood, and our company’s financial goals—all came into focus. One event summed up the extremes going on in my life at the time: delivering a eulogy to several hundred friends and family members at the funeral of the man who taught me everything about finance, as I was making the biggest financial gains of my lifetime.
In the midst of this, my family was simultaneously coming together and falling apart. We rallied around my mother as she went into a rapid downward spiral caused by a broken heart, and we knew that no matter how overwhelming our grief was, it was nothing compared to hers. She’d lost her soul mate.
Just as I landed in Michigan I got word from my sister and brother in law. My mother had fallen down a flight of stairs, and had been found lying with a cracked skull on the marble floor in the foyer, twelve hours later.
I rushed back to Los Angeles.
My mother is a beautiful woman, slender and fair-haired. She used to get pegged for Farrah Fawcett when the actress was in her heyday. And my mother knew she was gorgeous; she used to make us crazy spending three hours in the bathroom getting ready when we were kids. I walked into the hospital and there she was; nothing could have prepared me for the sight. Her head was shaved, and all her blond curls were gone. Half of her skull had been removed and she had a row of staples and stitches that spanned from her forehead to the back of her neck up where they’d performed a marathon surgery, 10 hours long. There were tubes and wires coming in and out of her nose and throat. The doctor told me point blank that my mom had a 1 percent change of coming out of the coma; the brain damage was severe. And even less than 1 percent chance, if she did come back, of ever having a life worth living.
My mother is the strongest woman I’ve ever known. She’s my hero. She taught me to love and to be positive no matter how bad our situation seemed. Most important my mother always taught me that when you fall down, you get back up, and you stand strong. When I was a kid and I’d hurt myself, my mother would make me stand up. She’d say, be a man. You’re stronger than that. This is a woman who worked a job at a local deli making minimum wage to support her family. I remember her stepping in front of my father and taking beating after beating so that I wouldn’t have to. She had no resources to provide for us, but she still sacrificed herself to make sure we had a chance. I remember visiting her in hospital after my father gave her a near death beating and when she finally stood up to his evil rage with the courage of a woman without fear of life and death, and her coming to see me in jail when I’d started making bad decisions of my own. It broke her heart because I wasn’t living up to the potential she told me I had.
If it weren’t for her example of strength, I wouldn’t be here now and, I wouldn’t be able to go on now. After I got the news of my mother’s condition, I immediately reached out to my ViSalus family via my Facebook page and asked for their prayers and support while my mother was having brain surgery and I was on a five-hour flight to see her. The longest five hours of my life. I sat there crying, thinking about all the times we had together, all the times we might not have together, thinking my son will never know his dad’s parents, and that I could have been a better son myself. I mourned the fact that my poor mother had been lying on that floor for twelve hours without help as she slipped away, not into the next world, but to a middle world where she couldn’t experience heaven on earth, or beyond it. I prayed for a miracle.
I had a hard time asking for the help of the thousands of people in my network, because I didn’t want pity. I wanted their energy, I wanted God to hear, and I wanted my mother to feel 10,000 prayers, because it was all I could do. I was helpless and just as my mother taught me when “you’re helpless, get on your knees and pray.”
The whole reason I wrote this book is to share the mind-set and philosophies that have gotten me through the toughest times in my life, so that I could have a life worth living. If you take anything with you from this book, take this: whether adversity is self-imposed, attracted, or swiftly delivered by God himself, know that you are being battle tested, and strengthened for a purpose greater than you can understand. With each successive hardship comes the endurance to overcome even bigger storms. God knows what battles I’ll have to fight next in my life, but I know that I’ll be ready.
We don’t know whether or not my mother is coming back. Before this, I never knew what hope meant. I do now, because I know that my faith gives me hope that she will recover or I’ll see her in the next life. And I’ll spend the rest of this life making her proud of her son.
I hope you embrace every battle-test with a similar philosophy. On to the next one, because no matter how successful you are, you have to take every last day and live it as if you had everything to gain.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are many people in my life whom I want to thank. Everything I have learned, I have learned from someone. I first want to thank God for giving me the faith necessary to overcome many obstacles. And second, I thank my entire family because they are the people who kept me from the edge of many cliffs. Kasie Head for giving me the greatest gift I have ever known, my son, Ryan Reagan Blair. My mother, Erla Hunt, and my late stepfather Robert Hunt, for leading me out of adversity and being role models. Thank you, Stephanie Gager, the best big sister a little brother could have. My grandmother Wini, for instilling in me spirituality and teaching me unconditional love.
I also want to thank the people most responsible for making this book a reality, my writer-in-chief Shannon Constantine Logan for helping me put my stories and philosophies on paper. Don Yaeger, thank you for having the confidence in me to pass up many projects to make this book happen. I’d also like to acknowledge Dave Moldawer from Penguin and Kirby Kim of William Morris Endeavor; Dave for believing in me enough to publish me, and Kirby for being a good agent; as well as Emily Angell, Adrian Zackheim, and the sales and marketing team at Portfolio. Coach Dale Brown, I appreciate you for your mentorship and for introducing me to Don and Coach John Wooden, two people who have added indescribable value to my life. Tiffany Brooks, Erica Jennings, Matt Sinnreich, Jade Charles, John Laun, Karl Stedman and Joe Perez.
Many thanks to my partners in ViSalus—Todd Goergen, Nick Sarnicola, and Blake Mallen—thank you for bringing me on as a partner and for companies. You guys are the most talented and dedicated people I’ve ever worked with. I also want to thank the ViSalus Employees & Executive team, ROPART Asset Management, and the Blyth team. I’d like to acknowledge the Nothing to Lose book launch team, Daniel Decker; Ashley Huebner; Bryan Stafford; Andrew Sandler; Vertical KI; Jace Perry; Fortier PR; Julian Chavez; Andy Jenkins; Allison McLean; and Jacquelynn Burke. Also, Stuart Johnson and the teams at Video Plus, Success Magazine, and Direct Selling News.
Last, I want to thank every person who ever invested in my ventures; it is because of your willingness to take a risk that the entrepreneurial world goes round.
SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To the ViSalus leaders who made history and promoted the Body-By-Vi Challenge, without your sacrifice and hard work, none of this could happen; Jake Trzcinski; Ethan Lanagan; Nick Sarnicola; Pete and Nicole Bunting; Richard Pala; Mike Craig; Jason Silverthorn; Kyle Pacetti Jr.; G.J. Reynolds; Tony and Rhonda Lucero; Vicki Meyer; Charles Carver; Timothy Kirkland; Jason O’Toole; Gaudia Chevannes-Aquart; Damien Canerot; William Nissen; Cheri Hays; Kalani Lagao; Ali Sharareh; Dale Croy; Bryan Bellville; Jeremy Gilchrist; Mike and Robin Gunn; Shirley Wrenn; Dan Hardy; Matthew Britt; Mysti Wehrum; Laurie Crowe; Brian Cummi
ngs; Robert Lukas; Tina Hicks; Tony Lucero; Tony Belden; Rob Hamilton; Scott Whitney; Ashley Riggs; Derrick Carter; Tito Aleman; Rhonda Flowers; Ron and Belinda Pruett; Shelly Goschka; John Evans; Tanis MacDonald; Paula Foeller; Robert Long; Neil Bellville II; Alan Welch; Chad Robbins; Shanda Whitney; Aaron Fortner; Matt Ward; Kevin Merriweather; Kristy East; Jenny Lynn; Bob Bearden; John Turner; Kevin Sergent; Ken Logan; Michael and Saritza Dobson; Hazen Christensen; Elaine Lynas; Philip Watson; C. Annette Whitney; Michael and Linda Knuth; Freddie Melero; Archer Elliott Jr.; Susan Pacetti; Phil Taneda; Lorna Humenny; Casey Baker; Tara Wilson; Trish Courchaine; La Donna Wade; Robert Medina; Tracy Pouliot; Dale Peake; Donna Allen; Kelly Thayer; Holley Kirkland; Jeni Briscoe; Dan Mount; RJ Barros; Rassami and Kevin Raymer; Eric Pope; Sylvain Laplante; Jorrick Battle; John Chionidis; Gustavo A. Munguia; Tyler Howard; Lori Petrilli; Billie Lukas, and the entire ViSalus community for believing in a vision greater than all of us.
INDEX
accountant’s review of business plan
acquisitions and mergers
action words in business-model statement
active participation in business
adaptability
adversity, responses to
advertising and marketing
brand name
catch phrases and repeatable statements
for creation of sales
logo
sales pitch
underpromotion
Web site
word of mouth
Airborne brand name
Allen, Paul
assets
brand equity of business name
certainty of
employees
existing business
learning from mistakes
location
in network marketing business
networks and reputable affiliations
street smarts and nothing-to-lose mind-set
time to master skill
unfilled niche
attorneys
Bezos, Jeff
Biel, Jessica
Bik, Russ
Blair, Ryan
biological father
to contact
deals
delinquency and gang membership
dreams and premonitions
faith in God
learning style
lifestyle
nothing-to-lose attitude
passion for computers
purpose statement
stepfather
work ethic
Blyth
investment in ViSalus
purchase of ViSalus
Body By Vi Community Challenge
borrowing. See financing
brand name and recognition
as asset
catch phrases and repeatable statements
identification with product or service
logo
for network marketing business
selection of name
Brown, Dale
budgeting proposals
Buffett, Warren
Bunting, Pete and Nicole
Business-Model Rules
action words and active participation
adaptability
compensation as driver of behavior
formula for increasing sales
marketing to create sales
business plans
budgeting proposals
determining market niche
funding sources
fund-raising presentation
name of company
for network marketing business
operational plan
professional review of
proofreading
purpose statement
simplicity
Small Business Administration assistance
capital. See financing
cash
budgeting proposals
dividend distributions
forecasting of needs
investment versus spending
minimum standard of living
start-up costs
vigilance concerning
See also financing
cashing out
acquisitions and mergers
alternative to
choosing new leader
contract for
deferring until fulfillment of investment promises
direction of company and industry
early engagement with prospective partners
financial recordkeeping
legacy left behind
legal advice for
present and future opportunities
public offering
retirement with tie to company/golden handcuffs
through cash flow
timing of
charity work
cause marketing
contribution to community
finding mentors through
cliff vesting
Clinton, Bill
Collins, Jim
common stock
Communication and Management Rules
analysis of failures
asking and answering questions
embarrassing e-mails
emotional e-mails
mastery and active participation
praise and reprimand
prioritizing tasks
teamwork
compensation
alignment with company’s objectives
deferred
as driver of behavior
equity in company
expensive talent
in network marketing
non-salary benefits
competitors
confidence, projection of
Connect Four hiring technique
consolidated savings in mergers and acquisitions
contribution to community
cause marketing
coexistence of nonprofits and for-profit businesses
as compensation
finding mentors through charity work
as legacy
as motivational driver
convertible debt
Craig, Mike
Cuomo, Chris
customers
Customer Rules/service-orientation
marketing to
in network marketing
sparking interest of
trust in
Darwin, Charles
deals
debt, convertible
deferred compensation
Dell, Michael
Dilworth, Bob
direct sales. See network marketing
dividend distribution
dominant strategy
Dunlap, Judy
education. See learning
elevator pitch
e-mail communication
Eminem (Marshall Mathers)
emotion
in decision making
in e-mail communications
in hiring
during investment presentation
employees
as assets
collective passion and intelligence
concern for company’s priorities
critical thinkers
entrepreneurial culture
firing
fraternizing with
loss of jobs through acquisitions and mergers
mastery of business skills
praise and reprimand of
smart people
teamwork
See also compensation; hiring
Enspire
entrepreneurial mind-set
equity
convertible debt
as employee incentive
in exchange for investor’s time
ethics. See Golden Rules of business
exit from business. See cashing out
Facebook
failures. See mistakes
family-run companies
Fecht, Jerry
financing
access through mentors
anchor investors
convertible debt
demonstrating commitment
first impression on investors
from friends and family
fund-raising presentation
identifying sources
personal guarantees
projecting confidence
realistic sales forecasts
repayment
reputable investors
stock
venture capitalists
firing employees
forecasting
cash needs
sales
founder’s syndrome
Fulcher, Jay
funding. See financing
game theory
Gates, Bill
Gladwell, Malcolm
goals
alignment of compensation with
in purpose statement
sales forecasts
teamwork to accomplish
Goergen, Bob
acquisition of ViSalus
on eternal nature of entrepreneurship
on expansion into Europe
investment in ViSalus
Goergen, Todd
investment in ViSalus
on scrutinizing sellout contract
support for Blair
golden handcuffs
Golden Rules of business
Business-Model Rules
Communication and Management Rules
Customer Rules
Personal Rules
Strategy Rules
Good to Great (Collins)
Google
hiring
attitude of candidate
of CFO
commitment and loyalty
Connect Four technique
defining ideal candidate
enhancing team
inappropriate interview questions
mistakes
for network marketing
recruiting perfect candidate
smart and talented people
See also compensation; employees
home-based businesses. See network marketing