While on a cross-country flight, I met a man who turned idealism into financial reward in the most unlikely of places—high-rolling Las Vegas. (Continuing the Conversation…)
At this point, Jack turned away from me and put his head on Cindy’s shoulder. He was clearly tired of talking, and I needed a break too. I opened the newspaper and my eyes scanned the day’s articles, but I kept thinking about how Jack had made an effort to increase his chapel-operation knowledge to better identify and separate primary from peripheral issues. This helped him to focus on decisions about operational issues such as whether to move his chapel or to fight it out with the competition. Jack paid attention. He learned as he went along, and not from books. This was old-fashioned on-the-job education—he earned a blue-collar doctorate in the celebration of matrimony. He made people happy, and they made him rich (and happy too).
It occurred to me that Jack’s actions and philosophy could be replicated and would work for almost anyone building their own businesses or networking relationships for potential dividends. The wedding business, like most businesses, survives on promotions. Jack Thunder knew he needed to always keep that in mind. Letting people know who you are and what your business does are essential. Jack saw it as nothing ventured, nothing gained, and he worked to promote his chapel with casinos, economic development groups, and the media. He made certain that he and Cindy communicated with each other and with other people in a warm and helpful way to build credibility.
Hearing Jack’s story and thinking it over on that long flight inspired me. Jack’s personal journey demonstrated axioms that applied to all people in any economy or political system.
His axioms, or Secret Success Standards, came up like water from an underground spring—from his private and unique self. Jack interpreted and applied what he learned in his own way to carry out his mission that was a journey of love.
Jack Thunder interacted with people in a way that could work for anyone. There are millions of species on earth, and they all are dependent upon each other in some divine way. Humans have a natural need to belong. Some people seek to fulfill this need through acceptance in counterculture groups or gangs. Large companies exploit this need by hyping brands as means to acceptance that are worth any price.
Understanding that people seek out safety in groups with share values and beliefs is what gave Jack a tremendous opportunity to hone his craft—which was selling ceremony to create a marriage.
Some might say he was shrewd, but that is a term that conjures up images of practices that force people into buying things they don’t want. But everybody sells something, even if it’s not for money.
Jack’s unique business had a strong root in the human need to depend on one another in a most intimate way—in situations where the customers were, indeed, in an altered state of mind. But Jack believed he had something people needed, and his service provided extra value that they may not have been able to define. He kept up this practice of giving extra in business negotiations, managing employees, and navigating regulatory issues with the city council. Being comfortable with a multitude of personal transactions—and knowing that all of them had to be based on integrity or love—became part of his business model for success.
Anyone can do what Jack did by working hard, solving problems, and managing all events on the business’s spectrum with a loving consciousness tempered by smart awareness, and repeating the process every day, just as Jack and Cindy have decided every morning to be happy in their marriage together to keep their marriage strong.
The captain announced the flight’s final descent into Philadelphia.
“Why’d you fly from LA to Philly?” I asked Jack, who was now sitting up straight, as Cindy was tucking her pillow into the bag under her seat.
“We went on a road trip down the coast from Lake Tahoe after visiting one of my chapels during a change in management,” he said. “Now we’re visiting Cindy’s brother-in-law Charlie and his daughters for a few days. We’ve done it every summer since Cindy’s sister died in 2009.”
“I’m sorry. How old are the kids?”
“Older now, and they’re doing well. The oldest daughter just announced her engagement. They’re coming back to Lake Tahoe over the December holidays. She’s getting married in the chapel we own there—she wants a Christmas wedding. The other daughter just graduated from college in interior design, and I plan to pick her brain on remodeling and redesigning our chapels.”
“You have other chapels?”
“We bought other chapels and transformed them from the ground up. We have one in all the major cities in Nevada. We even have one that was built on the site of an old saloon in Carson City.”
As we landed, I marveled at this man and his story. Jack knew to treat others the way he wished to be treated. He was in the love business, and even though love is a spiritual concept, he recognized its earthly characteristics to master his business. Tapping into his own divine free will allowed him to reach for his purest potential.
Read the complete success story in the book, The Quiet Rich: Ordinary People Reawakening an American Dream.
Kevin J. Palmer, Author
The Quiet Rich
