MINDSET-MASTERS

Mindset Masters Association's Educational Foundation, head of the supplier council, public relations committee, sponsored the IFA's golf tournaments and brought NFL athletes to those golf tournaments. My company was also the only third Preferred Vendor behind Mass Mutual and IBM. We were on track to have over 30,000 machines if we kept going in a straight line. One morning I awoke to the newspaper headlines that the people who were raising money for our machine roll out was doing it illegally. In one instant, all our bank accounts were frozen, massive attorney fees were demanded and our business stopped in mid air. I had the opportunity to meet the FBI, IRS, DOC, SEC and any other group that had initials for its name. Thank goodness I never raised a dollar from an Investor, and cooperated from the beginning with every regulator that I met with. The principals at the firm raising money for us committed suicide, and it turned out I was last man standing. It began a very sad progression of events that took me almost 4 years to mentally regain my confidence, regain my footing and my self esteem. I was down so far that the bottom looked like up. I actually went underground and stayed under the radar. You can imagine what happens when your income source dries up and is tied up with legal fees. My path then crossed with Michael Gerber, founder of the E-­‐Myth series of books and the Thought Leader of Entrepreneurship. Michael and I had worked together in his very first company called the Michael Thomas Corporation and later in my career when I introduced him into the Franchise Community. Michael asked me to become his Chief Negotiator to handle his new business opportunities, speaking events and new business development. Michael gave me back my confidence, introduced me to leaders in Management, Leadership and Entrepreneurship. 139