Troy White In Search of
Entrepreneur Heroes Interview
Ralph Zuranski: Hi, this is Ralph
Zuranski; I’m speaking with Troy White. Troy is the
president and founder of “The Fresh Idea Company” and is
an internationally known expert in turning your words
into wealth. If you run your own business or are
planning to, then the ability to market yourself and
your business is critically important.
Ralph Zuranski: From direct mail
sales letters, postcard campaigns, press releases, cover
letters, attention grabbing mail outs, new product
promotional rollouts, classified adds, space ads, faxes,
scripts, web pages, email marketing…anything you need to
communicate to your clients Troy can do it for you with
the right words.
Ralph Zuranski: Troy works with
people all over the world in creating marketing programs
for them and is one of the best copywriters around. How
are you doing today, Troy?
Troy White: I’m doing great. Thanks
for having me on.
Ralph Zuranski: Well I appreciate
it. You are definitely one of the wonderful people I’ve
met going to the different seminars. I appreciate your
offering to help with the heroes program.
Troy White: Oh, it’s a great cause
and I’d love to help.
Ralph Zuranski: I really appreciated
you including me in your
Entrepreneurial Spirits book
Troy White: Thank you for your
fantastic contribution as well.
Ralph Zuranski: Thank you. It’s
always interesting to go back and read what people had
to say.
Troy White: I’ve met a lot of people
who have read what they said and say, “Did I say that?”
But yeah, it’s always nice to get the first thoughts
down on paper because usually when they go back and
re-read it they usually edit it a little too much. But
it’s from the heart.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s absolutely
true. What is your definition of heroism?
Troy White: To me heroism really
means that you put other people’s best interests first
before your own. I think that the most important thing
is that you put other people before yourself. Also, you
need something to aim towards and aspire to.
Troy White: A lot of people go
through life and they really don’t have a big picture
that they go after. A real hero is someone, to me, who
shows them how to find that big picture and how to bring
that into their own life.
Ralph Zuranski: So do you think that
it’s important for people to follow through on what they
say where their actions speak as loud as their words?
Troy White: Yes, definitely. And
that’s a big thing in this day and age. With the
internet, it’s easy to say a lot, but what I have found,
and I’m sure you have too, there are very few people out
there who say one thing and deliver the same thing. It’s
usually two very different things that you get.
Troy White: It’s quite unfortunate,
but it’s true. The ones that do deliver what they
promise are the ones, interesting enough, that are all
in your “In Search of Heroes” program. They’re the ones
that do deliver.
Ralph Zuranski: Well, I chose them
very carefully and definitely was looking for people who
had integrity. That’s what I think really shows the
person’s integrity is what they do when you are at the
lowest point in your life, whether they still follow
through on what they said they would do. When was the
lowest point in your life and how did you change your
life path to overcome all the obstacles?
Troy White: I think it probably hit
me just over three years ago. I had spent eleven years
in sales in the computer industry. I worked for some
very large companies like Hewlett Packard. It was an
industry that paid very well but I did not enjoy.
Troy White: Right now my twins are
four, so three years ago they were one. I came home from
work one day bummed out because I was not enjoying my
day and not enjoying my life and the direction of my
life. Every time I came home my kids seemed to be
getting bigger and I wasn’t seeing any of it, and I
think to me that was really when I hit rock bottom.
Troy White: I decided I was not
going to live the rest of my life hating what I do for a
living and missing out on everything that is so
important to me. It was right then and there that I made
a fairly quick decision. I talked with my wife, Kari,
and we decided that it was time for me to go off on my
own and start following the dream.
Troy White: I have always had
businesses on the side but it was time to commit fully
to one. So I kind of took my low point and I said,
“Well, what do you really want to do? Who do you really
want to be?” And I just started following that dream and
never looked back. It’s been the best journey of my
life.
Ralph Zuranski: So what is the dream
and vision that sets the course of your life?
Troy White: I have what is called a
“vision board”. I put pictures up at my work, right in
front of my desk, visions or dreams of what I want to be
and where I want to live.
Troy White: So I have a definite
mission on using words to help other people build their
businesses, to help people realize their dreams with
strongly worded messages that get the point across and
to help entrepreneurs do what they are really supposed
to be doing which is helping other people.
Troy White: So my dream is to use
the power of words to create an entire network of
businesses that I’ve helped to improve their sales and
help their customers.
Troy White: Ultimately where I’m
going is I want to create a foundation that helps young
entrepreneurs with the marketing side of it and getting
their businesses going quickly. Helping them get a
business off the ground and getting money in the bank so
they can continue to run the business. That’s my
ultimate vision is to have a foundation that helps young
entrepreneurs because there’s not a lot of good programs
out there that do that and they need it.
Ralph Zuranski: That is one of
visions for the “In Search of Heroes” program is to help
them with just that same thing, so I really appreciate
your help in the program itself. I know you had a fair
amount of setbacks and misfortunes and made some
mistakes. How important is it to have a positive view?
Troy White: I think it is a must.
Right on top of my computer screen I have a little card
that says, “Believe in yourself. If you think you can,
you can.” To me, that’s kind of how I run my life. I
believe in myself. I know where I am going.
Troy White: Right under that I have
another little card that says, “Whatever it takes.”
Those two things kind of drive my direction. They keep
me up on the down times. The entrepreneurial journey is
definitely not always positive. There are some negatives
you run into, some down times. You’ve been through them,
too.
Troy White: But the main thing is
you just have to keep that belief strong. Whatever it
takes to keep that belief there and empowering you, then
you can get through anything in life. If the belief is
there and the passion is there for what you want to
accomplish then you can make it through anything.
Ralph Zuranski: How important was
courage to pursue new ideas? When you were doing the job
for the computer company, it could have been fairly
frightening to make that big change and get into
copywriting. How much courage does it take to pursue new
ideas?
Troy White: It takes a lot. Back to
that day when I decided to quit my job, my wife was not
working and we had twin one year old girls at home, but
the passion was there and the dream was there and I had
the support and I just took the plunge.
Troy White: A lot of people will
question you, too, when you do make that bold move. The
majority of the people are going to question you and try
to deter you because most people are scared of following
a dream. They are scared of taking action.
Troy White: The way I look at it is
that the top five percent of the people in the world,
the most successful people in the world, have as one of
their strongest traits the ability to take action
despite what everyone else says, because usually you
have to trust your gut instinct above anything else in
the world. And when it says to go and go hard, then you
are much better off following that than any other piece
of advice you can get from people.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s true. Do you
think that a lot of people don’t want to pursue their
dream because it’s uncomfortable and that they
experience a lot of pressure from people to not make
that change?
Troy White: Yes. That comfort zone
thing is one of our big problems in society. We get so
caught up in being comfortable that we don’t strive for
being more, for being better. I hate to say it but a lot
of our schooling these days teaches us to be mediocre.
It doesn’t teach you to strive for bigger things, better
things, to visual yourself doing the ultimate dream. And
most people are very scared of stepping outside the
comfort zone.
Troy White: I don’t remember the
exact percentages, but a prime example is public
speaking. A large majority of the population in North
America would rather be in a casket lying dead than up
in front of a group of people because that is far out of
their comfort zone.
Troy White: That amazes me that
people would rather lay in a casket and have nothing
else than to get up and push yourself a little bit just
to get up in front of a crowd. Public speaking used to
be a major fear for me. I enrolled myself in Dale
Carnegie and did that as a student and as an assistant
trainer for many, many years and it is the best thing I
ever did. I still get nervous up there, but I have to
push myself. That’s just part of life is that you have
to push yourself.
Ralph Zuranski: How important is it
to be able to believe in your dreams that they will
actually become reality?
Troy White: I almost look at it that
you don’t have to believe in them but you just have to
know it. I really think you have to know that your
dreams will come true, as long as you keep that dream
there and in front of you at all times.
Troy White: That’s part of the
reason why I use my vision board in front of me with
homes and cars and boats. Whatever it is that you want
in your dream you have to keep that in front of you. I
just know that my dreams will become reality. Maybe not
in two months and maybe it’s not even in two years.
Troy White: But as long as I keep
that vision there, and anyone who keeps that vision
there on what it is they want to do and what they want
to be, it’s a given. It’s the way the universe works.
Troy White: When you visualize
something and believe it as being true and know it is
true and just trust that it will happen, it will happen.
You have probably seen this happen many times, Ralph,
and I have too. When you believe something, no matter
how impossible it may seem, it can happen and it will
happen as long as your belief is there.
Ralph Zuranski: One thing that
fights against belief is doubts and fears and everybody
has those on a daily basis. How do you deal with the
doubts and fears that come into your life?
Troy White: I do a couple of things.
Doubts and fears are always there, you can’t get rid of
them. Things will just happen. You can’t turn on the
television or open a newspaper without getting fearful
about something. One of the ways is I eliminate as much
of that as I can; I don’t read the newspaper every day.
I don’t watch the news every day because very rarely is
anything good in there.
Troy White: So one of the things I
do to overcome my doubts and fears is I’ve become a real
advocate of just taking action. When I have an
inspiration to do something, no matter how scary it may
seem, I just do it and try it and see what happens.
Troy White: This is another thing
with schooling. I wish schools would teach kids that
there is no such thing as failure, but yet schools pound
that into their head. It’s all failure. You would think
that after all these years they would have learned their
lesson in the education system but they still continue
to do it. But there is no such thing as failure in my
eyes. You just have to try it and see if it works. If it
doesn’t work you just look at it as a lesion.
Ralph Zuranski: So you believe that
it’s just a learning experience of how things don’t work
rather than being a failure. You’re only a failure if
you just don’t get up and keep on working at it.
Troy White: Exactly. There are some
prime examples of that. People like Harland Sanders of
Kentucky Fried Chicken. He went to 1001 restaurants
before somebody finally said they would carry his
recipe. And here’s somebody in his 70’s. If that’s not
an inspiration on overcoming fears and doubts and just
keeping at it, what is?
Troy White: Pounding on that 999th
door, I’m sure he probably felt like that’s enough. But
he kept at it and he finally got it. I think no matter
what your situation in life as long as you keep after
your dream it is going to happen. There is no other
alternative. As long as you keep at it and don’t give up
on it, it’s going to happen.
Ralph Zuranski: Who do you feel are
the real heroes in our society today?
Troy White: The real heroes to me
are a lot of entrepreneurs because they go through a lot
to get to that stage where people look at them as
successful. A lot of people call it overnight success,
but it was never that case. So I look at them as heroes
because they are willing to do whatever it takes to keep
on going. They fuel our economy. They provide jobs for
people. It’s amazing when you really look at what
entrepreneurs do for the worldwide economy, how they are
the fuel for it.
Troy White: The second are the
parents and friends and family out there who help young
people learn more about themselves and more about the
universe and more about how to make things happen and
more about beliefs and visions.
Troy White: I really think that
there is so much opportunity out there now and the
people who are working with others, be it children or
adults, and showing them how important it is to keep
that dream alive and to keep at it, to me those are the
real true heroes.
Troy White: They are the ones who
will fuel generations of creative thinkers and
successful people and amazing success stories, too.
Ralph Zuranski: Why are heroes so
important in the lives of young people?
Troy White: Everything in a young
person’s life is big, and if somebody is not there to
bring it back home, it doesn’t mean that it is
insurmountable. Superheroes make it seem like anything
is doable and achievable and that’s why I think it’s
important because young people need to understand that
anything is achievable and heroes can help them see
that. They can help them learn that because kids and
adults get frustrated and want to give up, but a true
hero can say, “Try it again. Try it this way; try it
that way.”
Troy White: I really think that the
heroes are so important to kids for that reason: they
can just teach them that so critical trait of keeping at
it. To me one of the most important things you can have
in life is tenacity. There are very few people who have
a strong tenacious attitude to keep at it no matter
what. But those are the people who succeed, the ones who
develop that tenacious attitude, and it can be built at
any time in life.
Ralph Zuranski: Are there any heroes
today who are not getting the recognition that they
deserve?
Troy White: There are a lot of them.
And a lot of them are educators. We’ve all had one
teacher in our lives, be it at school or a friend or a
family friend of something. And it’s funny how all it
can take is just one little thing that will stay with
you for the rest of your life and drive you to achieve
great things.
Troy White: I had a teacher in
university that taught me the power of preparation and
visualization and it was because of her that I got a job
at Hewlett Packard. I was up against 500 people in the
first round and I made it to the final two and got
hired. It was because of what she taught me on how to be
prepared and then how to visualize that final agreement
when they hired me.
Troy White: It’s people like that
who are the true heroes in our lives and it doesn’t take
a lot for them to inspire and lead you and take with you
the rest of your life. I wish there was some way to get
more credit to those people because there’s lots of them
out there who have done amazing things for kids.
Ralph Zuranski: Hopefully through
this program they will get the recognition they deserve
for helping so many young people in their lives. There
are some people who just help tons of kids and change
the universe just because of their consideration and
strong leadership and integrity which I think is so
important in these days and times. Do you think that is
what it takes to become a hero: having integrity and
following through and thinking about others?
Troy White: Yes. I think first it’s
getting the big picture. What is your dream? Who do you
really want to be? If you had nothing holding you back,
unlimited powers, who do you really want to be?
Troy White: Then, having the will
power to just keep going, having a tenacious attitude
and following through when you promise things to people,
too, and making sure you deliver what you promise. To me
those are some of the most important skills anybody can
develop, and which I would consider a necessity to being
a hero.
Troy White: One other thing I think
that a hero always has is they know their legacy. They
know that there is some kind of a legacy that they want
to leave to people. It’s a conversation that a lot of
people don’t like to talk about. But I’ve thought about
this for a long time: what do I want to leave to my
kids?
Troy White: I think if you can think
what you want to leave as a legacy to the world, that
that is a true hero, because all true heroes have
something they want to leave. And your “In Search of
Heroes” program is a true legacy that will live on
forever.
Ralph Zuranski: Let’s hope that it
does in the hearts and minds of all the people that help
and are helped through the program itself.
Troy White: Oh, it will. I know
that. Definitely.
Ralph Zuranski: If you had three
wishes for your life and the world that would instantly
come true what would they be?
Troy White: Probably number one
would be that everyone in the world could realize that
no matter the situation they are in right now that if
they put their mind to it and used their inner powers as
they can, that they can achieve anything. A lot of
people don’t know that because they’ve never been taught
that.
Troy White: I would love to somehow
get the word out there to everybody and show them how to
do it. That would be number one because if everyone in
the world knew how much power they really have with
their mind it would not be in the state of affairs it
is. I think that would be number one.
Troy White: Another wish would be
for my life and the people I know and work with, I wish
they all could understand the power of pigheaded
determination.
Troy White: It’s something that
very, very few people have and I really wish I could
give what I’ve got to the people I know. A lot of people
can’t figure Troy out because Troy is like that
Energizer bunny that just keeps going. That ability to
just implant that determination to keep going, keep
after it.
Troy White: Lastly, on a world
scale, it would be to eliminate all the garbage that is
going on all over the place. And it happens no matter
where you live. I’m in Canada and we have some amazing
garbage going on in our politics right now.
Troy White: It doesn’t matter where
you are, if we could just eliminate that and people
would finally clue in that it’s very unnecessary and
that to create a good, solid, advancing society you
don’t need that.
Ralph Zuranski: I totally agree.
Sometimes you think the politicians are a part of the
problem rather than a part of any solution.
Troy White: I think they cause a lot
more problems than solve any problems.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s absolutely
the truth, isn’t it? So what do you think about the “In
Search of Heroes” program and it’s impact on youth,
parents, and business people?
Troy White: I think it’s an
absolutely wonderful thing you are doing, Ralph, and I
look forward to helping spread the word because this is
what the world needs. Kids especially need more heroes,
and not the video game heroes but real life heroes who
having something to teach kids and to share with kids
and to leave with kids. It’s an amazing program you’ve
got here. It’s going to change a lot of lives.
Troy White: For those listening,
there are some amazing people in this program. Listen to
their interviews and listen to their stories and most
importantly put into action some of the ideas that they
give you.
Troy White: One thing I do is right
next to my vision board in my office I have a sheet with
a thousand squares on it. It is my goal to become one of
the best writers in the world, so every hour I spend
writing I mark an “X” off on that sheet. It’s a painful
process to start with a blank piece of paper, but does
it ever feel good when you fill up that 1,000th
square.
Troy White: And that can apply to
anybody no matter what it is you are trying to do. In
1,000 hours you can become very proficient in something.
It’s that simple. Just mark off an “X” every time you
spend an hour in whatever it is you are passionate
about.
Troy White: And when your 1,000
squares are filled up, start a new sheet because I
guarantee that your second sheet will fill up quicker
because now you know how good it feels. So that would be
something I would like to leave that has made an amazing
difference in my life.
Ralph Zuranski: What are the things
that parents can do that will help their children
realize that they too can be heroes and make a positive
impact on the lives of others.
Troy White: As parents it is our
responsibility to help our kids understand this; it’s
not the school’s responsibility, it’s your
responsibility. They don’t have to be difficult things,
but simple things such as having your kids take money
out of their piggy bank and buying toys for
underprivileged kids and then being the ones that
deliver the toys to those kids and seeing the look on
the faces.
Troy White: When they see it
firsthand you can see the light bulbs going off in your
own kids. It’s an amazing thing when it clicks that that
little bit of good that they just did brought that other
child tears of joy.
Troy White: Simple things like
helping people or helping animals, or helping them
understand things like what we’ve been talking about
like keeping at it and keep trying. I teach my girls to
keep trying. They get frustrated and give up so I show
them different angles or different ways to try it just
so they get that in their head that there is no failure.
They learn that if that way didn’t work, try a different
way.
Ralph Zuranski: If they learn that,
that would be one of the most valuable things that kids
could learn.
Troy White: It’s one of those things
I wish they taught more of school, too, so they would
have it at home and have it at school. By the time they
got out of high school they would be unstoppable.
Ralph Zuranski: Well, Troy, I really
appreciate you taking your time to answer some of these
questions because it’s always interesting to hear
insights of people that I’ve met on the internet that I
recognize as heroes for the good things that they are
doing. I just really appreciate you taking your time and
wonder if you have one parting shot that you wanted to
share with us?
Troy White: First, I just want to
say thank you, Ralph. This is a wonderful thing you are
doing here for the millions of people across the world
who will be impacted one way or another through this.
Ralph Zuranski: Thank you, Troy, for
being a part of it.
Troy White: One thing I will leave
is a quote that I just found but I think it sums it all
up for me. It says, “And now here is my secret, a very
simple secret. It is only with the heart that one can
see rightly which is essentially invisible to the eye.”
It’s by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
Troy White: Basically what it says
is that you have to trust your heart. That will lead you
in the right directions. What you see out there is not
the way to go. You have to follow what your heart feels.
If you follow your heart and your intuition and your gut
feelings you will go far in life.
Troy White: But if all you do is
follow what you see in the papers and what you see your
friends doing and your family doing and everyone else
doing, you are heading in the wrong direction. You have
to follow yourself, your true inner feelings. If you
follow where those are taking you, you will go far.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s great.
Troy White: Thank you, Ralph. Thank
you again. This is fantastic.
Ralph Zuranski: Thanks again, and I
really appreciate your time.
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