Yesterday, we were treated to two inspiring speakers. Charlie Plumb and Christopher Gardner. After hearing both of these speakers, one could not help but realize that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Here is a summary of the speakers:
Charlie Plumb:
BIO: Captain Charlie Plumb graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis and went on to fly the F-4 Phantom jet on 74 successful combat missions over North Vietnam. On his 75th mission, with only five days before he was to return home, Plumb was shot down, captured, tortured, and imprisoned in an 8 foot x 8 foot cell. He spent the next 2,103 days as a Prisoner Of War in communist prison camps.
During his nearly six years of captivity, Charlie Plumb distinguished himself among his fellow prisoners as a professional in underground communications, and served for two of those years as the Chaplain in his camp. Since his return home, more than 4,000 audiences in nearly every industry have been spellbound as Captain Charlie Plumb draws parallels between his P.O.W. experience and the challenges of everyday life. He has shared his message to an even wider public through appearances on Good Morning America, Nightline, Larry King Live, and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
My Summary:
Imagine being beaten, tortured and spending 6 years in an 8 ft. by 8 ft. prison cell. Not a modern cell, but a cell with a dirt floor, bucket toilet and exposed to the hot / humid conditions of a Vietnamese forrest.
Charlie stood on the stage on an illuminated 8 x 8 square symbolizing his 6 year home. After being released, people were amazed at how mentally stable he was. His message, "the reason I am the person I am today is the result of what I went through". Sometimes in life, it is good to be "blown out of the air" and face challenges. But it is important to know, as he states, that you have two choices in life. One choice is to survive and succeed and the other choice, which we do not like to mention, is that we have the choice to fail.
As I sat in the audience listening to Charlie Plumb, I could not help but think how fortunate I am and put a healthy perspective on how I should deal with future challenges. Of particular note, Charlie was in the same prison camp with John McCain.
To learn more about Charlie: http://www.charlieplumb.com/
Christopher Gardner:
BIO: The amazing story of Gardner's life was published as an autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, (Amistad/Harper Collins) on May 23, 2006, and became a New York Times and Washington Post #1 bestseller. Gardner is also the inspiration for the movie The Pursuit of Happyness released by Columbia Pictures on December 15, 2006. The movie was #1 at the box office its opening weekend. Will Smith stars as Gardner and received Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award nominations for his performance. Gardner is an associate producer on the movie.
Always hard working and tenacious, a series of circumstances in the early 1980's left Gardner homeless in San Francisco and the sole guardian of his toddler son. Unwilling to give up Chris Jr. or his dream of financial independence, Gardner started at the bottom. Without connections or a college degree, he earned a spot in the Dean Witter Reynolds training program. Often spending his nights in a church shelter or the bathroom at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Oakland, Gardner was the sole trainee offered a job at Dean Witter Reynolds in 1981. He spent 1983-1987 at Bear Stearns & Co., where he became a top earner, and then in 1987, he founded the brokerage firm Gardner Rich & Co. in Chicago.
My summary: Wow! This is the word that comes to mind after hearing Chris Gardner's story. One might think that his rags to riches business story is the most impressive attribute of Chris. However, that is secondary to his accomplishment as a father. Never knowing his own father, he was committed to his number one goal in life: "I wanted my son to know who his father was and that I would never leave him", stated Chris Gardner.
He made us all remember that home is where the heart is not the material things in life. As he stated, his son had more love living in shelters with him than some children have today from their parents while living in multi-million dollar mansions. On a business note, you could not help but be inspired by his work ethic and "focus" to succeed and "never giving up". To learn more about Chris, go to:
http://www.chrisgardnermedia.com/main/biography.htm
We are heading back to Las Cruces today. The next BLOG post will have some pictures from last nights closing party. It was a blast.
John, thanks for posting these updates AND sending the e-mail reminders. Sounds like a spectacularly inspiring day. We'll see you all on Monday, I think you'll be surprised.