Having spent the majority of my professional life working in the field of marketing – specifically branding – I can say this without hesitation…the terms “brand” and “branding” are consistently misused, overused or completely misunderstood. This fact is one of…
Andy Katz-Mayfield earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2011. Jeff Raider graduated from the Wharton School of Business in 2010. They first met as interns at Bain and Company – the beginning of a very…
The Santa Monica pier is an iconic attraction on the Pacific Island shore in Southern California, due west of Los Angeles. There are shops, restaurants, rides and terrific people watching. In the 1950’s, the pier became a place where ‘muscle…
On March 13, 2000, sixteen Americans were taken to Tiga, a tiny Malaysian island in the South China Sea. It was a very eclectic group ranging in age from a 22 year old aspiring actress to a 72 year old…
As amazing as modern medicine is – there are times when routine procedures turn out to be anything but. Appendicitis is typically treated on an emergency basis, yet the operation boasts a extraordinarily high success rate. In the rare instances…
The American West of the 1800’s was a land filled with promise – not just of hope and great opportunity – but also the promise of diverse dangers and hard living. For one young man in his twenties, John –…
Jack Dorsey is without a doubt the most acclaimed alumnus of Archbishop DuBourg High School in St. Louis – though he didn’t distinguish himself there. The fact that it took some time to achieve a bit of renown wasn’t due…
In October of 1955, a banker and his wife welcomed their baby girl into the world in Madras (now Chennai) southern India. At that time it was generally accepted that a girl would follow a certain path to marriage and motherhood. This…
At the age of 24, Karl Elsener opened a cutlery store in the small town of Ibach, Switzerland with the help of his mother – it was 1884. He made and sold quality knives and surgical tools. Competing with other…
He was the middle child – number five out of nine. As a youth, he enjoyed reading books about heroic figures in American history. Being born and raised in Chicago, there was an endless list of local heroes in the four major professional…
Lives are filled with changes and twists – his was no exception. Early in his life those changes were driven by his father. whose various occupations included welder, shopkeeper and swimming pool manager to name but a few. His various jobs…
His career in sales began quite early – selling matches to neighbors when he was five years old. Later, he used his bicycle to expand his geography and diversified his line of products by becoming aware of his customer’s needs and…
While still but an infant – his father, who struggled with addiction, ended up going to prison for drug possession. When his biological father was released, he signed parental rights over to the boy’s stepfather – a sergeant in the…
His talent was seemingly unlimited. He had burst on the scene with the promise of being one of the best ever. He had an imagination which paired foods and seasonings never before seen – or tasted. He had a flair for creating…
They were born in Brooklyn – four days apart. That was March of 1951 but they didn’t know each other until they met twelve years later in seventh grade. They would forge a friendship that would last a lifetime. Fast forward fourteen years.…
This ‘overnight success’ began as an idea over a decade ago. The concept was spawned from a desire to capture on film, the energy and excitement of one man’s passion. An avid surfer, he wanted photos to document the action…
Helping people to understand the power of branding is at the core of my own brand – my value proposition – and I began writing my Friday’s Fearless Brand series to do exactly that. In my opinion, any effective learning…
He was a child vandal and later a thug. He was the white adopted son of Indians. He was wrongfully convicted of an IRA bombing. A gentleman lawyer, he was the heir to a prominent New York City family. He…
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