Ivan and Alvina are in their early 20s.
Ivan was born and raised in Bulgaria. Alvina, in Siberia.
When Alvina sees Ivan playing keyboards in a café on the Black Sea, they become pen pals. And then they fall in love. And then they get married. They dream of moving to the west.
Canada says it will accept them as immigrants if they will learn to speak French.
Self-taught piano players in cafés don’t make enough money to pay for dreams, so Ivan and Alvina sleep in their car so they can pay a tutor to teach them French. They spend long hours every day for a year learning and practicing their nouvelle langue étrange. There is no money for anything else.
Ivan and Alvina step onto Canadian soil with bright eyes, big smiles and 4 thousand dollars; exactly enough money to pay the first and last month’s rent to live in a landlord’s unfinished basement. There is no money left for food or transportation.
But they have each other and they’re living their dream. This is the west! So Ivan and Alvina never quit smiling, never quit laughing, never quit feeling grateful.
Ivan gets a job as a construction laborer for an older man who can’t always pay Ivan all he is owed. But he is an honest man, so he pays the balance of Ivan’s unpaid wages by giving him tools. After many months of working for this man, Ivan has the knowledge, the tools, and the man’s blessing to go into business for himself.
Ivan and Alvina arrived in Canada exactly 11 years ago. Last year their business did more than 20 million dollars. It appears they will do 30 million next year. Neither of them is 40 years old.
I share their story to encourage you, and to tease Ivan and Alvina a little. None of this delightful true story appears on the About Us page of their website. Not a word of it. Not even their names.
Do you remember what I wrote to you in last week’s Monday Morning Memo?
“Inspirational stories are never about accumulation. They’re about sacrifice. What have you sacrificed and why? Are you willing to tell that story?”
Here are some final thoughts for you to ponder:
- Never quit smiling, never quit laughing, never quit feeling grateful.
- You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.
- The only safe thing is to take a chance.
Oh! I forgot to mention 2 tiny details in this wonderful story of poetic, home-made destiny.
Ivan and Alvina finish unfinished basements.
And they’ve never needed to speak a word of French since the day they arrived in Canada.
Have a great week.
Roy H. Williams
BIG NEWS: Scientists Test and Refine “Theatre of the Mind.”
Radio People love to talk about “Theatre of the Mind.” Most of them can give you examples of it. A few can even create it. But none has ever been able to explain – step by step – exactly how to do it, and then back that explanation up with published clinical studies using evidence-based scientific process.
Until now.
Jeff Sexton, one of the partners of the Wizard of Ads, followed Roy H. Williams out of Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Monday, August 21, the day of Nashville’s total eclipse, and fell into step beside him.
Jeff said, “I can tell from what you’ve been writing lately in the Monday Morning Memo that you’re following the same trail of research I’m following.”
Roy smiled and said, “Doesn’t surprise me at all. That’s why we call you The Professor.”
“That stuff about paratextual confidence is pretty mind-blowing, isn’t it?”
“Para-what?”
As Jeff began to explain, Roy realized that his partner had been following an entirely different group of cognitive neuroscientists on an altogether different trail.
What Jeff Sexton shared with Roy Williams during the next 20 minutes will soon be major news for advertising professionals around the world.
Radio ad writers, in particular.
Join Jeff Sexton, Roy H. Williams and Eric Rhoads for the historic unveiling of this scientifically-tested and proven method for creating Theatre of the Mind, employing specific techniques to transport listeners into an alternate reality, resulting in significantly increased levels of listener trust in your advertiser.
Sexton will speak during the opening hour of Radio Ink magazine’s Pre-Radio Show Event on September 5, 2017, in the Tower at Wizard Academy, Austin, Texas.
This is going to be like Woodstock. Thousands of people are going to claim they were there when this game-changing information was revealed, when in reality it was only 30 people.
Very few seats remain. And we’ll be taking a photo of who was really there. – Aroo. Indy Beagle
Last week, KIND Healthy Snacks dumped 45,485 pounds of sugar right in the heart of Times Square. They were highlighting the mountain of sugar (20-feet tall and 30-feet wide) that American kids consume every five minutes. This audacious move won instant global recognition for the company’s new line of no-added-sugar fruit snacks. It was a publicity stunt ripped straight from the pages of Roving Reporter Rotbart’s Buzz Snatching course at Wizard Academy. Listen in as Drew Nannis shares his recommendations for your company – any company – that is considering a similar Buzz Snatching event. We be keepin’ it real and hearty and healthy and hot at MondayMorningRadio.com! Uh-huh.
NOTE to VICE-CHANCELLOR WHITTINGTON: You haven’t had a buzz-snatching course in quite awhile. Might you coordinate with Rotbart to set one up? (Put yourself on Brittington’s “First Call” list by emailing him at Daniel@WizardAcademy.org )