I have talked many times about my wife and how supportive she is. I have shared with you how awesome my kids are and that I truly feel blessed. I have many people in my life that believe in me and support me, even cheer me on no matter how crazy the idea.
Every Entrepreneur should have in their life one good mentor. It is priceless to be able to seek advice from someone who has gone down the path you are going before you. This is true in any endeavor whether it be sports, business or relationships.
This seems to be obvious for me but, I see people all of the time asking the wrong people for help and advice. If you wanted to run a marathon, you would not ask your overweight uncle for training advice. If you wanted to learn how to have a long successful marriage that lasts a lifetime you would not ask someone who has been married 5 times. The same holds true for business. If you want to learn how to be successful you don’t go to the guy in line at the welfare office, you find a successful mentor that is willing to help you.
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 years ago I met a very important man in my life. We were a young family and I had just become a Christian. We landed at a small Foursquare church and that is where I met Ron.
Ron and his wife Tina were the first couple we met. They were ten years older than us but, we had kids the same age. They invited us over for dinner and we started to get to know them. I know that is a concept that may seem weird by today’s standards just remember that I will be 45 in a couple weeks, we did things like that in the old days.
I was immediately impressed with Ron. He really seemed to have things figured out. He had a great marriage and family, he had a heart for God, he was intelligent and witty (just ask him), and he was an entrepreneur. Ron had started a string of coffee shops in Japan. I think he had around a dozen shops before Starbucks even imagined going to Japan. He had created a brand that was very popular and it seemed that things were really going well for this guy.
Ron is the epitome of an entrepreneur. He has been in the trenches for a long time and I have had a first hand seat not only to his success but, also to the challenges and lows. It was during a couple of his lows that I really began to respect him even more than I admired him. I watched as everything he had worked for years to create was taken from him and destroyed. He was put in a situation that no one, including myself, would have blamed him for just throwing in the towel. Instead, Ron rolled up his sleeves and started over. In just two years he created and started ecobrew. That product is in roughly 35,000 brick and mortar locations, and he employs about 20 people. He leads by example in every aspect of his life. He is not afraid to be open and show his imperfections, in fact he will even make fun of them. Facts are facts and anyone who knows Ron knows he is a man of integrity.
Most of or relationship over the years has been Ron pouring into me. He has helped me in so many areas of my life beyond business. He gave me my start in the coffee business giving me a job working at a local espresso stand and taught me everything. He and his family opened up their home for about two weeks while we were homeless waiting for a home to be ready to move in, he has given us money in hard times, and helped me through one of the darkest times of my almost 25 year marriage. It has definitely been a relationship that has always been tipped in my favor.
I got to spend about an hour with Ron the other night and I walked away again so blessed to have an example in my life. I truly cherish this man and hope in some way to repay him for everything he has done for me.
365 Days To My First Million. 