I had just survived a nasty divorce and came down to LA to help FarrahFawcett.us get her message of hope out to the world, through all the noise that was in her life. A friend had told me that there was a spot on The Big Idea With Donny Deutsch on MSNBC regarding branding. I called the producers, discussed how my story was relevant and was accepted to appear via satellite on the show. I had developed, marketed and built a workers compensation consultation company wrapped around one idea, branded, "The Industrial Athlete Program". It was a culmination of my work with International Olympic Teams, Pro Athletes, Corporate Safety and Injury Management Programs. Our clients included large trucking, manufacturing and warehouse companies internationally. My program and I were recruited by Carnegie Mellon University to work with their the self-driving truck program. There were military ramifications to my biomechanic work and that was implemented as well. This company allowed me to retire in Bozeman MT, with a ranch, horses, tractors, and the best fishing anywhere.
Things went down hill when my wife and divorce came in 2005 with devastating results. In the divorce, my now ex-wife actually got custody of the brand I developed. Looking back, I now know how Ronda Rousey felt when she lost her famous fight to Holly Holm, I felt like my I lost my identity, that thing that makes you different than anybody else. It was a very devastating time, I'm not sure where I would have been without my girlfriend and the support she gave me. I was directed to the studio to tape the show on MSNBC really without any idea of what to expect. I was never told who the panel members would be, prior to the show and really how I would interact. Donny Deutch, opened the show and introduced me to the panel, just a great guy, made a few jokes, very pleasant and that helped me control the urge to vomit from fear. One of the three panelists was Kathy Ireland, ex-supermodel and now the President of Kathy Ireland Worldwide a 2+ billion dollar company.
The panelist was briefed on our individual stories and wasted no time in getting to the crux of the issues at hand. I'm retelling my story, and saying "my ex-wife stole my brand", All I remember is Ms. Ireland knew immediately what I was trying to communicate, she understood the anguish of losing my brand and immediately reinforced that I was the brand, not the title. In that moment, I understood that this brilliant insightful business woman saw me. She was adamant in her advice and stated that she would like to continue the conversation following the show. I thought it was just a TV thing and dismissed it. Well no it wasn't, I got a call from the show producer setting up a time to talk to Kathy and her president Stephen Roseberry. I got the call and I was immediately treated like a celebrity, this floored me. I wanted to say, hey, I’m the divorced guy that lost the brand, Hello! Anyway, they were treating me like a star which by the way, really pumps up the old ego. These are the most gracious and kind people that I have ever encountered. It is not every day you get to talk to a billionaire so one should listen and take notes, so I did. Ms. Ireland began by giving me her backstory about how she started her company and she emphasized the importance of a mission statement. She explained that this was the path to her success. Now I have built a successful practice and subsequent business which enabled me to work with sports teams all over the world, the ones my ex-wife now owned. When I started I just hit the ground running, I never really wrote down a mission statement and really didn't understand the importance, I kinda knew where I was going and did pretty well. But when a business woman of this statue gives you the most precious asset she has, her time, and spends it on this one lesson you listen. We spent approximately 60 precious minutes on the phone together, and it was the most uplifting and amazing experience of my life.
Following the call, I read my notes, contemplated the lessons that Ms. Ireland and Mr. Roseberry provided and I started to write my own mission statement. It was the hardest thing I have ever done! I had to examine my strengths, weakness, my path, goals, and most importantly what I would accept and more importantly decline. This was an important moment in the lessons they discussed with me, it's easy to say yes, it's excruciating to say no, especially when it brings in money. I took those lessons and developed Body Slimming Experts, a body contouring system with lifestyle and nutrition protocols spotlighting top doctors nationally. This grew rapidly, requiring the development of equipment because the machines on the market didn't "fit" in our mission statement of quality. We developed training protocols, everything to give the patient the quality experience demanding this same quality in our approved providers, again in our mission statement. We grew rapidly and internationally to 60 offices and still growing. I've always stayed in touch with Ms. Ireland through Stephen Roseberry asking the occasional question or requesting advice always thankful for the kindness. Lady K, as I refer to her, changed my life and I am truly grateful every day for her intervention and help.
We are several years later, and I recently received a call from a producer representing Kathy Ireland, Worldwide Business Modern Living, telling me they would like to spotlight Body Slimming Experts and me on a show she is doing for E and Bloomberg. So as a precursor to the show, I wanted to both thank Ms. Ireland for her the gracious, kind and life changing advice she gave me. So I in everything I do, parrot her advice and most importantly stick to the mission statement, it takes you where you want to go.
