Southwestern Company

The Ferré family has three generations of family members living with type 1 (or “juvenile”) diabetes, the most severe form of diabetes which is caused by an autoimmune attack of the pancreas. David Ferré was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 28 in 1963. At that time, the tools available to manage diabetes were extremely limited. David and Virginia Ferré had three boys that they raised in Summit, New Jersey, just outside New York City. In 1974, at age 13, the eldest brother, Paul Ferré, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, followed by Peter’s diagnosis just four years later at age 15. In 2000, Paul’s youngest daughter, Brittany, was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age seven.

Peter worked with Southwestern for 12 summers.  He was a District Sales Manager for 6 years and is responsible for going to Europe and developing our International Division.  In 1987 Peter recruited a 47 person personal team from two continents that sold 49,000 units.  Whitney sold books for four summers, recruiting two 20 person, Wall of Greats teams.  You might say both Peter and Whitney were triple threats at Southwestern – top salesmen, top recruiters and top managers.  Peter’s son, Dane, is carrying on the family legacy; he had a spectacular first summer in Southwestern’s summer program in 2010.

Whitney and Peter Ferré have lived in Nashville for over 16 years with their four children (Dane, Jordan, Riley & Mason). Peter is the President of Legacy Financial Services a division of Family Heritage – part of the Southwestern family of companies.  Family Heritage is a national provider and expert in the field of supplemental health insurance. Whitney is the founder of Creativelyfit.com and author of “The Artist Within” and “33 Things to Know About Raising Creative Kids.” The Ferrés have been perennial supporters of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Middle Tennessee Chapter and its annual Promise Gala.

The Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is proud to be honoring the Ferré family at their 11th Annual JDRF Promise Gala. The black-tie event, being chaired by Judy & Stephen Price and Joanie & Karey Witty, will be held at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel on Saturday, April 16, 2011 and is expected to draw 500 guests. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which is leading the way in funding research to find a cure for type 1 diabetes.

You can make a donation to “Fund A Cure” in the Ferré’s name or purchase tickets online at www.jdrfpromisegala.org.

many of my readers know that i sold books door-to-door for the southwestern company for 3 years while in college.  anyone that knows me personally is also aware that i considered this experience to be one of the most challenging of my life.  it was also remarkably gratifying, humbling, and immensely educating.

ironically, all these years later, i now work at southwestern again.  only this time - in a different capacity.

last week i attended their great recruiters seminar in nashville, tennessee.  since my days on the bookfield, i’ve met many successful businesspeople, physicians, entrepreneurs,  musicians,  lawyers, professors.  you name it… 

but i must say, that spending time with these tenacious and hard-working young book sales men and women … had me exceptionally inspired.

one of 2010′s top salespeople, jenny nut, said the following:   “success is not easy; but it is simple.  keep a positive attitude, believe in yourself, believe in others… find a purpose …  you will never go anywhere if you don’t move your feet.”

this is a 21-year old girl who spent the summer slinging books door-to-door.  getting told “no” more than 40 times a day.  working tirelessly toward a goal which she adamantly considered to be well worth the effort.  this is a person who has the gut and the determination to go after what she wants.  this is also a person who made over $20,000 in 90 days. 

and no, the business is not only about money.  money is not the sole measure of success, here or anywhere for that matter.  but i can testify (based on experience), that if one person makes this much of it through the program – they had an undeniably strong work ethic, a positive and resiliant mental attitude, and a mission to succeed.

so here’s to you, bookpeople.  here’s to  the grit, the gumption, the humility, the fortitude – and all other great things it takes to do this job well. 

you inspire me.

It is not the great food that makes you take a step back when you enter the room, it is the incredible caliber of student that fills it.  Each week as Dan Moore announces the winners I am inspired by their accomplishments off of the bookfield.   I recall telling the students I worked with as a Sales Manager that they were most likely going to be successful with or without Southwestern.  Southwestern is merely a catalyst to get you where you want to go faster with better preparation.   These students have learned to overcome challenges and live by Spencer Hays’ motto, “There are two kinds of people in the world: Some find an excuse, and others find a way.”

Last Thursday we were honored to have Southwestern alumni Sam & Cynthia (Dishman) Kirk join us at the President’s Club dinner.  Their son Eugune is going on his second summer with Southwestern and was enjoying some well earned steak.  As the dinner was winding down, Sam recalled how he was with Southwestern for seventeen years and built a tremendous organization.   Sam and Cynthia started Youth About Business, a non profit organization, ten years ago to provide entrepreneurial training to young people in America’s cities.

Sam mentioned to the students headed to the bookfield that one of the greatest lessons he learned at Southwestern was the meaning of success.   So many of us have trouble feeling successful even when we accomplish amazing things.  Sam reminded us that success is doing your best every day.  There are so few things in life we can control, but when we lay our heads down at night we know if we did our best – and that is how we should measure success.   I am so blessed to still work at Southwestern where I have wonderful mentors that surround me and remind me of these lessons.  For those of you who are not so lucky I thought I would include a poem that I think you will recall from your years on the bookfield.

The One in the Glass
by Dale Wimbrow, ©1934

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that one has to say.

For it isn’t your Father, or Mother, or Wife
Who judgment upon you must pass.
The person whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

He’s the person to please, never mind all the rest,
The one with you clear up to the end.
And you’ve passed your most dangerous and difficult test
If the one in the glass is your friend.

He may be like Jack Horner and “chisel” a plum
And think you’re a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartache and tears,
If you’ve cheated the one in the glass.

(Slightly edited to make it more genderless – this is all about doing one’s very best – and no one knows what that is except ourselves!)

One of the challenges that I encountered when recruiting college students for the Southwestern Company summer program, was conveying to a non-business major how sales experience would benefit them.  Most of us quickly learn once we leave academia that everything is some form of sales.  That statement has been validated every time I talk to a Southwestern alumnus that is not in sales. 

This year at the Southwestern Great Recruiters Seminar (GRS), Whitney Ferré spoke about how valuable her Southwestern experience has been in her everyday life. 

“In my current roles as author, artist, restaurateur, and mother, not a day goes by that I do not draw on the skills I learned both selling books and recruiting a team.  I am constantly having to convince someone about something.  It is ALL sales and it is ALL about how well I can communicate with people.”

Whitney sold books with Southwestern for four summers (1992-95).  She was a top salesman, top recruiter, and a top manager–a triple threat.  Fourteen years after leaving the bookfield, Whitney came back to share how tapping into your right brain can positively impact your success.

“The right brain voice is completely present, while the left brain is thinking past or future. The left brain gets frustrated with specific details, while the right brain looks at the big picture. I think you have to be in your right brain to be open to ‘coincidences’ or trusting that even though you’re not in your comfort zone, that things will be provided for you.”

After leaving Southwestern, Whitney began helping hundreds of people find their creativity as founder of the Creative Fitness Center. The Center first gained national recognition on HGTV.  Today she continues her outreach leading corporate seminars, teaching art classes, and as a creativity expert on television & radio.  Whitney is also an artist, a wife, a mother, and a co-owner of Rumours Wine Bar that builds communities around food, wine, and art.  Whitney recently published her first book, The Artist Within: A Guide to Becoming Creatively Fit (Turner).  In Whitney’s book she discusses the principle of tapping into your right brain in order to use all of your resources in everyday decision-making.

“I had a blast speaking at GRS because I know what it takes to be successful as a recruiter and I have had 14 years since my Southwestern career to gain valuable hindsight that I was excited to share.  I feel all of my experience has led to this moment when I am busy selling and promoting my book.  The message in my book is so important because it proves that our right brains have a powerful voice that we are not hearing, a powerful perspective that we are not seeing and that it has access to valuable mental skills that we are simply not using if we do not access this voice!  My last summer on the bookfield was my “right brain summer”.  I went from 5000 units to 8900 units and from a 35 person team that sold ZILCH to a #3 team.  How?  I accessed the RIGHT side of my mind that did not get caught up in the details or frustrated at individual results.  I was completely tapped in to my vision of selling a TON of books and having a top team.  Because of the strength of my vision and the right brain voice inside my head, I trained my team more effectively and I hit steak EVERY single day on the field.  It did not matter what temporary circumstances tried to trip me up, I knew it was all going to work out and it did!  That is a ‘right brain performance’.”

It seems that the sales experience can benefit the artist and the artist can also positively impact the sales experience. 

Learn more about tapping in to your right brain at creativelyfit.com. 

Whitney was also featured in Her Nashville.  Click here to read the online exclusive. ]]> http://www.southwesternalumniblog.com/southwestern_company/find-your-artist-within-and-find-success/feed/ 2