Success | Book Spectrum

Patrick Asare, The Boy from Boadua: One African’s Journey of Hunger and Sacrifice in Pursuit of a Dream

We talk with people who have overcome great adversity on the show and my guest today has had more than his share. From a remote village in Ghana, following his dreams to look for the life he wanted in America – Patrick Asare documents his trials and trail in the book: “The Boy from Boadua: One African’s Journey of Hunger and Sacrifice in Pursuit of a Dream”

Growing up in the jungles of Ghana and now thriving in suburban America, Patrick Asare defied all odds on his journey through life. In his incredible memoir, The Boy from Boadua: One African’s Journey of Hunger and Sacrifice in Pursuit of a Dream, he recounts his childhood, family, education, and the experiences that made him into the person he is today, in addition to reflecting on socio-cultural relations, race, and the social structures in the different countries that he has lived. Patrick Asare offers a new perspective as someone who has had first-hand experience in a variety of cultures, specifically within the education system.

Patrick was born and raised in Ghana. After completing secondary school, he attended university in the former Soviet Union, studying electrical engineering at Donetsk National Technical University in the then Soviet republic of Ukraine. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and also completed a certification program to become a Russian language teacher. Patrick resided in the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991, during the historic perestroika era, when President Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the reforms that ultimately led to the breakup of the Soviet Union. He traveled extensively throughout Eastern and Western Europe and became one of the few people with firsthand knowledge of ordinary life on both sides of the Iron Curtain. After graduating from Donetsk, Patrick immigrated to America, where he initially taught Russian and math in public schools in Buffalo, New York. He earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University in 1995 and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in 2003. Patrick is a principal at UGI Energy Services, LLC, a diversified energy services firm in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where he lives with his family. He previously worked as a senior electrical engineer at Caterpillar, Inc. in Lafayette, Indiana. Patrick has written extensively on social, political, and energy policy topics. He is a Democracy and Development Fellow at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development, an Accra-based think-tank. Some of Patrick’s energy policy articles have received attention worldwide.

Lifestyle Mental Health Non-Fiction Success

S4 E1 – Messed Up Like You with Rick Cullerton

We kick off Season 4 of Book Spectrum with Rick Cullerton, who tells the story of how he overcame mental illness, anziety and verbal abuse to become a success in life and prominent vacation hotel owner in his new book Messed Up Like You.
Rick discusses his family life, how he learned entrepreneurship, how he hooked up with the wrong crowd, wound up in jail and later finally took over his own life — losing several pounds, turning his career aronud and becomng the man he truly wanted to be.
Weaved in and out of the book is Cullterton’s tale of how he got his pilot’s license, which is no small feat for anyone let alone a man with ADD and anziety.
Rick’s life is kind of like that of a movie character who had a lot of things happen to him, yet it all took place in the real world with no cameras, directors or actors.
Come to think of it, we are all messed up in one way or more.

Business Inspirational Lifestyle Non-Fiction Success

S3 E05- Bew White Reveals His New Outlook on Life After Recovering From a Near-Fatal Disease

What does it mean to live a truly substantial life?
How does a visionary entrepreneur repeatedly overcome risk and rejection?
Is there more to a life well lived than the sum of a person’s successes and failures?
A Summer Classic: The Bew White Story explores these questions and more through the life and eyes of William Bew White III, the founder of Summer Classics, a manufacturer of luxury outdoor furniture.

“When you start a small business and grow it, you go through a lot of trials and tribulations,” observes Bew. “This really is sort of a modern re-telling of the Jimmy Stewart It’s a Wonderful Life movie.”

The biography, written by Christopher Taunton, delivers a detailed chronicle of Bew’s childhood, college years, early professional life, the successes and failures that got him to where he is today and how he overcame a health condition which nearly killed him as he makes the most of his life on Earth.

The high costs and sacrifices behind this success make A Summer Classic compelling and instructive, a gripping illustration of the saying, “One step forward, two steps back.” Bew’s career was beset with “hurdles, challenges, sleepless nights, poor health, things that didn’t work, (facing) the recession” and the twists and turns of a life spent doing business with a host of people. Trustworthy business partners were hard to find, and those who did not share Bew’s commitment to faith, character caused big problems along the way. At each obstacle, his creative thinking, foresight, and leadership helped the company to move forward with its vision that people might look at Summer Classics furniture and see “beautifully furnished spaces where they might share memorable moments with their friends, family, and loved ones.”

Bew White III is the Chairman of the Board of Gabriella White and its brands, Summer Classics, Gabby, and Wendy Jane. He graduated from Auburn University in 1972 with a degree in textile engineering. The phrase “outdoor living” had hardly been coined, as outdoor furniture was simply known as a table and chairs you would find on a basic patio deck
At just 28 years old, Mr. White left his job at his family-owned business, Avondale Mills, and started a sales representative company in 1978 called Vista Corporation, specializing in selling outdoor furniture. In 1987, Bew started multiple companies in an effort to expand from selling on the road to building a national brand. One of those companies was Summer Classics, which was created around Bew’s thought of designing and manufacturing products that he would want for his own backyard. With a business model based on creating products that were consumer driven, would stand the test of time, and would not go out of style, Summer Classics officially took off in 1987.
Born in 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama to William Bew White II and Gabriella Corner White, Bew is the great-grandson of Braxton Bragg Corner, governor and then senator for Alabama, as well as the founder of the Alabama-based Fortune 500 textile company Avondale Mills.

Business Non-Fiction Success

S3 E04- Jotham Stein’s Unique Guide to Negotiating Like a CEO

What does it mean to negotiate like a CEO? How important are employment agreements? How can you learn to protect yourself and your family if the worst does happen? These are all questions Jotham Stein addresses in his book Negotiate Like a CEO, with the goal of equipping employees, executives and entreprenerus with the tools they need to safeguard themselves.

A lively, engaging read, Negotiate Like a CEO outlines how employees, executives, and entrepreneurs have protected themselves in the past, and gives readers eye-opening advice on how to make sure they won’t get taken advantage of. The book describes best practices, common pitfalls, and sky’s-the-limit possibilities at any career stage, whether you’re just out of college or you’re gunning for that C-suite job.

Business Lifestyle Success

S2 E14 – Mark Lazar’s Pathway to Prosperity

Is it possible to change one’s financial destiny and legacy? Do get-rich-quick schemes work? Are there proven principles that lead to financial security? Why is good time management important in building wealth? Mark Lazar tackles these questions and more in Pathway to Prosperity: Your Guide to Money and Economics, a comprehensive financial literacy program that takes the mystery out of money.

Lazar knows this from personal experience, with a childhood marked by financial stress and uncertainty in a family that lived below the poverty line and struggled to make ends meet. While not a promising start, these early experiences gave him perspective, drive, and the motivation to change his future. He began working at age twelve, achieved financial independence early on, and was a millionaire by age 40. In Pathway to Prosperity he shares the common sense principles, values, and strategies that led to his success.

“The bad news is there is no magic formula or get-rich-quick scheme,” states Lazar. “The good news, however, is that by building your wealth the right way—by understanding and incorporating sound financial principles into your everyday life and doing a handful of things a little better—over time you will become financially secure.”

Business Lifestyle Self-Help Success

S2 E11 -Top Entertainment Lawyer Norman Bacal’s Advice for Young Professionals Post-COVID

What is the difference between an average career and a successful one? Why are stellar communication skills critically important? What is grit and why does it matter more than innate natural ability? How do some people pull themselves out of poverty and into the ranks of successful entrepreneurs and professionals? Top Entertainment Lawyer Norman Bacal, in his clear and insightful book Take Charge, faces these questions and challenges young professionals to build the skills which can empower them toward professional success.

“You can float along, hoping everything works out; or you can take charge of your future beginning right now. There are tools you need to survive and thrive,” says Bacal.

The founder of prestigious Canadian law firm Heenan Blaikie and an attorney, Bacal has decades of experience and learned wisdom to draw on. Across the span of his career, Bacal noticed a void between what he was taught in law school and the practical skills he later developed that actually made a difference in building a successful career. In Take Charge, he provides a guidebook which gives back to the world of budding professionals, helping students and young entrepreneurs find their way toward success.

Norman Bacal is a retired attorney and the founder of the Toronto law office Heenan Blaikie. While building and leading this firm, he also became a widely sought expert in tax law for the entertainment business. He has represented studios such as Warner Brothers and MGM, and served on the Board of Directors for Lionsgate while they were producing the Hunger Games film franchise.

Upon retirement from practice in 2015, he took up writing, authoring the Globe and Mail bestselling memoir, Breakdown, as well as his Amazon bestselling fiction novel Odell’s Fall and a soon to be released second novel, Ophelia. Bacal actively mentors young professionals and is a frequent keynote speaker at universities, firm retreats, and conferences. Bacall holds a third degree black belt in Shotokan Karate and is an avid golfer. He currently resides in Toronto with his wife, Sharon.
Visit his website at www.NormanBacal.com

Business Non-Fiction Success

S2 E08 -Leena Patel and Raising Your Innovation IQ

Leena Patel is an innovator, leader, philosopher, CEO and yoga guru who is also one of the nation’s most sought-after speakers.
Learning much of her ideals and principles from her grandfather. a direct disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, who mentored her from a young age, Leena offers insights in her new book, Raise Your Innovation IQ, far beyond what a normal business tome would. Drawing from her grandfather’s teachings, life lessons and entrepreneurial acumen, the founder of Sandbox2Boardroom and best-selling author will teach you how to tap into your own inner innovator.

Leena has trained and consulted for leaders from USA, England, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Scotland, India, Kenya, and Thailand.

We talk about all of this and her many talents on this episode of Book Spectrum.

Find out more about Leena and her book, Raise Your Innovation IQ, on her website: https://www.leenapatel.net/

Adventure Business Success

S2 E04 – Cross Winds: The Business and High-Flying Adventures of SM&A Founder Steven Myers

Our guest on this week’s Book Spectrum can not really be categorized.
Is he a businessman? He did found S-M-and-A, led several companies and is what we call a “serial entrepreneur.”
Is he an adventurer? In 1992, at the end of the Cold War, Steven Myers became the first American since Charles Lindbergh in 1931, to pilot an aircraft into the Russian Kamchatka peninsula – to do business.
A life-improvement specialist? His dealings in Post-Soviet territories have made lives better for their populations.
Steven Myers is also a Mathematician and served in the Air Force… that’s a short list.
We wanted to learn more about Myers after reading his book: CrossWinds: Adventures and Entrepreneurship in the Russian Far East, so we invited him on the show.

For more on Steven Myers and his book, visit his website: https://stevenmyers.com/cross-winds/

Inspirational Lifestyle Self-Help Success

S01-E13: Renae Baker, Defeating Scrooge and Christmas in July

We celebrate #Christmas in July with professional Caroler, Spreader of Cheer and Speaker Renae Baker, whose mission is to spread holiday cheer all year. In her book, Defeating Scrooge: How to Harness the Power of Christmas Carols to Revive Your Spirit Any Time of Year, Renae delves into the history of some of our favorite seasonal songs, their meanings and how they are relevant to what is happening today. Renae reveals why the joyous feelings and goodness of the Christmas season can help us all get through the pandemic, adversity and turmoil of the time. We also talk about Renae’s I S.M.I.L.E. Foundation.

Renae’s Book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/30mcBCK
Renae’s Website https://renaebaker.com/

#ChristmasInJuly #holidays #christmas #christmascarols #christmasspirit #GoodwilltoAll #books #authors #caroling

Business neuroscience Self-Help Success

S01-E06 – Jamie DeNovo: I-M-Possible Muscle For the Mind

Jamie DeNovo, a successful businesswoman and visionary who came back from a nightmare traumatic event which threatened to destroy her company, family and life tells her story. When all seemed lost, Jamie learned how to use the power of #neuroscience and Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland to physically adjust her brain to set her mind to get take her life back and become successful once again. Collaborating with one of the world’s top neuroscientists, Dr. Bryan Kolb, Jamie wrote I.M.Possible Muscle for the Mind: The Power To Achieve Success When Success Seems Impossible.
Jamie talks with host Chris Cordani about the book, how she developed the I-M-Possible Mind Muscle concept and how you can learn to adjust your own #brain to soon achieve #success, even if it seems impossible now.

Jamie developed I.M.Possible Muscle for the Mind, a precedent-setting brain change program that will give anyone the power to scale mental walls and achieve successes that now seem impossible. With humor, compassion and insight, Jamie now uses the findings of neuroscience to equip others to reach inside themselves and achieve great things even under the most adverse conditions.

Jamie’s Website: https://www.imakepossible.org/
Find Jamie’s book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3dNwkRU
The Companion Workbook on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3aDuotc