“If we come to know our story and then give it away, we will discover the deepest meaning in our lives.”
--Dan Allender, PhD
At eighteen years of age I instinctively understood that dreams are to be pursued.
I left my home in New Jersey and traveled 500+ miles south to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for the exclusive purpose of playing soccer and winning a national championship.
Four years later I had captured three national titles and secured a degree in Exercise Physiology.
Life lesson: Persistence and patience are two sides of the coin of success.
After a year of graduate school, the entrepreneurial bug bit hard. My best friend and I bought a local health and fitness center. What did I know about business? Virtually nothing. Why did I do it? Because I couldn’t undo the feeling that helping people live healthy and active lives was meaningful and honorable work.
During this 10-year experience I also determined that making a profit could also be meaningful and honorable—go capitalism!
Life lesson: Building a business and leading people is hard work.
Like most small businesses, capital for growth was limited. We solved this by merging with a local, successful businessman who could fund significant growth. After several other mergers and acquisitions, our wellness organization grew to 5 locations, over 300 employees, and 11,000 members. I had my first experience with corporate America at this point.
The rapid growth placed great strains on our commitment to hold to our company vision. As a result, our employees and the community became confused about our identity. On paper, business remained successful, yet our internal culture began to suffer—disengagement set in.
Life lesson: Commitment to vision and culture is a long-term responsibility and perhaps has the greatest impact on bottom-line results.
Our company vision was altered and I was no longer a good fit. After 15 years in the health and wellness industry, I was eventually fired from the company I once owned. Overnight, I was thrust onto a life path that I had never imagined.
Looking back, I am grateful this was “forced” upon me. This “failure” gave me the opportunity to begin my life as professional speaker and training and development consultant. I found that leveraging my business and life experience gave credibility to the teaching, coaching and presentations I conducted.
Life lesson: We often end up being most grateful for the times that challenge us the most.
In the years since I’ve been doing this work, I’ve been most intrigued by observing and studying the qualities that make organizations most successful.
What I’ve found is this: The organizations that cultivate an engaging workplace for their employees are the ones that not only survive, but thrive—regardless of the current economic climate.
This knowledge was the inspiration behind EXTRAordinary! Inc.’s movement to revive the American workplace one culture at a time. We enact cultural change by building and supporting engaging leaders. What an exciting time to be in this business—the opportunity for true, long-term, meaningful change is ripe.
Join us as we chase down our big fat audacious goal of changing the American workplace.
Life lesson: If you do the work that is in your heart and fulfills your purpose here on earth, you’ll never work a day in your life.
One of my innate strengths is that of a visionary. Future possibilities fascinate and captivate me. What I see is amazing. What I see can be attained by your organization—enhanced employee loyalty, world-class customer service, increased productivity, profitability and so much more. Let’s talk so I can understand where you are and together we can envision a future that is worth working towards…
Bloopers can act as a metaphor for life. My life has been full of them. Some have impacted me greater than others. All have helped shape who I am today.
The question is not if our lives will lead us to places we’d never planned; the question is when. Much of life is out of our control. What can we control? Our response.
I have determined that my response to the inevitable life bloopers will be to ask for help, try again, be better, be different and never give up. Whether in parenting, marriage, business, or friendships, my “bloopers” have given me an opportunity to learn, change, and grow…for that, I am truly grateful.
"We needed accountability to meet our goals consistently. Rich helped us communicate clear expectations, conduct effective meetings, and hit important goals. We now have accountability in a forum that is not abrasive."
--Tony Johnson, CEO
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