Just like a book, we all have chapters in our lives. There are personal chapters like school
years, college years, marriage, children and grandchildren. And there are work and career chapters…my first job,
career positions, companies, and experiences.
I have had many varied chapters in my work life.
I have worked for about as long as I can remember. I worked in my Dad’s warehouse unloading
trucks, bagged groceries at the local Kroger, dug ditches and hauled
construction materials for a summer, worked in retail at a golf store and at a
catalogue retailer and clerked and eventually managed health and beauty and
pharmacy stores. And all of that was
before graduating from college.
After college I approached my uncle who owned a chain of stores
with my grandiose ideas of how I could help his company succeed. My first day of work, I showed up in a coat
and tie and he informed me that I would be starting in the warehouse. While unloading trucks, filling orders and
doing inventory I soon discovered that this was my uncle’s way of getting me to
learn the business from the ground up. I
probably did more learning then I did contributing as I became exposed to every
facet of the retail business. Eventually
I traveled around and opened the new prototype stores for the Company. However, always feeling I was simply viewed
by others as “the nephew,” the desire to make my own way became overwhelming. Making the princely sum of $175/week, I
answered an ad for a district manager paying over $30,000 per year and was quickly
rebuffed by the head hunter. However, I
must have had something going for me as he called a few weeks later offering an
interview with a growing chain of discount stores.
I arrived at the offices of Richway Stores, a division of
the well-known Atlanta institution – Rich’s Department Stores, on a Monday
morning and was put through a battery of interviews and tests and was
ultimately offered a position as an assistant buyer for health and beauty
aids. I grew with the Company over a 10
year span rising through the ranks to a Divisional Merchandise Manager with the
responsibility for multiple departments and buyers. The Company had been bought by Federated
Department Stores and rumor had it that they would combine the company with
another of their holdings and move the headquarters to Columbus, Ohio. Before that could happened, I was offered a
position with Child World Stores in the Boston area.
Moving to Boston was not only a new chapter but a whole new
section of the book! In my extended
family, it was virtually unheard of to move out of Atlanta and the warm embrace
of the family. But always the rebel, I
took the position in Boston and moved the family. (As an aside, I once ran away
from home when I was 10 years old and stayed away for about 8 hours. One of my brothers, who has lived in Atlanta
his whole life claims that I have been running ever since!) Again, this chapter was filled with growth as
I eventually became a vice-president and general merchandise manager for this
$650 million company. And obviously had
begun to make a name for myself in the retail industry as I was approached by a
head hunter to consider interview with a new start-up retail company being
formed by retail industry veterans and the venture capital community.
“So, what kind of business do these people want to create?”
I asked the headhunter in 1985. “They
are a bunch of grocery guys, that want to create a grocery store sized retail
store of office supplies!” was the reply.
My immediate response was, “that’s the dumbest idea I have ever
heard..just how many paper clips and legal pads do they think they can
sell?” I turned down the interview for
what would become Staples, The Office Superstore.
Less than a year later, a call came from an old friend in
the Sporting Goods Industry telling me that there was a group of venture
capitalist looking for a Chief Merchant for a new Sporting Goods Super Store
concept. Never one to make the same
mistake twice, I jumped at the opportunity to help create what became The
Sports Authority. As a founding executive, the excitement and satisfaction of starting something from scratch and contributing in such a meaningful way was intoxicating. If you want to know
more about this chapter, I documented the story of this start-up several years
ago and it can be found on my blog page in a five-part series titled “The Real
Story.”
After 6 years and helping to grow the company to over 65
stores, I considered myself a bona fide “entrepreneur,” and got the itch to do
another start-up. Having developed a
retail baby store concept in my head, I put it all on paper in a business plan,
raised $20 million from the Venture capital community, hired a staff, opened 3
stores and was subsequently fired by my VC “partners.” The Company shut down a year later. Most would think that this would be the
darkest chapter in my book, but in reality, it was where I learned the most
about business, inter-working relationships and myself. Nobody likes failure, but if something is
learned from them, then it is not all for naught.
It was at this point, that I figured I needed a break from
work. I decided to spend some time
exercising, playing golf, fishing and playing.
After about 30 days, I ran into on old toy industry acquaintance in the
gym. He invited me to his office for
coffee and I stayed for a year and a half as Senior Vice President of
Marketing. Clearly, the manufacturing
side of the business was out of my wheelhouse, and when the Company began to
falter and restructured eliminating my position with many other high level
positions, I think I was more relieved than anything else.
So, I went back to my plan of playing for awhile….moved to a
country club, played a whole lot of golf, played the market and eventually
needed to go back to work. I got a call
from the Vice-Chairman of The Limited asking me to do some consulting work for
them evaluating a Sporting Goods Retailer they were considering acquiring. After a successful and profitable engagement
on this assignment it occurred to me that I had a lot of general Business
knowledge that could be helpful to small and medium sized businesses and
start-ups looking to expand. Through
word of mouth and recommendations of industry contacts I began consulting,
writing business plans and developing strategic plans for various
businesses. I have worked on many types
of businesses from the Coal Industry to a 3rd world heating and
cooking solution to several retail assignments to new consumer products and
product lines to prospective health care related concepts. All the while, I have maintained a Real
Estate license and have sold millions of dollars of real estate.
Which brings me to The Next Chapter. Over a year ago, a friend told me about this
terrific Physical and Occupational Therapy Clinic that was treating his Father
and Mother. In talking with the owner,
he was convinced that as good as the clinic was, they needed help on the
business side. Realizing that the clinic
was every bit of a mile from my home, I wandered in one day, met the owners and
struck up a conversation. They told me
about what they were doing, how they got started and their desire to expand. So, making them a deal they couldn’t refuse,
I embarked on assembling a base line business plan. Recognizing that they had a unique niche in
the health care market, I became excited about what “could be.” One thing led to another and I signed on as a
part-time business consultant and began restructuring the business side of
their growing clinics. All of our
changes, adjustments and ideas have garnered positive results and the Company
is poised for expansion.
And that is how I have arrived at The Next Chapter. I have recently joined Florida Movement Therapy
Centers for Excellence, Inc. as their CEO.
Ed and Jodi Gray, the owners, are terrific therapists (as well as really
nice people) and have great vision on what they would like the company to
become. They opened their first clinic
in Boynton Beach about 8 years ago and a second clinic in Boca Raton 3 years
ago. They provide advanced approaches to
physical, occupational, speech and cognitive therapy for patients with movement
disorders…Parkinson’s, MS, Stroke, Neurological/brain injuries, spinal stenosis
and the like.
We have worked diligently to put a Business and Strategic
Plan in place, are finalizing an equity partnership and are ready to add
several new clinics over the next 24 months.
And, I am very excited to begin The Next Chapter!
And The Journey continues……………………….
