In
October 2013, I published a blog about my second year college basketball coach,
a coach who ultimately served as the impetus for my leaving Wabash College.
Prior to being hired as head basketball coach, he was a janitor at a college in
Pennsylvania, as confirmed in the following article Twilight
on the Wabash.
Such an ironic title, as Snowy’s hiring turned out to be my twilight on the
Wabash!
Recently,
I had the pleasure of re-uniting with Rusty Nichols, the coach that initially
recruited me to Wabash, and whose departure was ultimately the catalyst for
Snowy being hired. Rusty visited and toured our facilities, followed by lunch,
during which time I related how his departure from coaching after my first year
at Wabash triggered a series of events that changed my life and career path as
described in the The
Destiny of The Devil at Our Doorstep.
Rusty was incredulous by what had transpired, but was complimentary of the path
taken and the accomplishments achieved. He agreed it is a story that America
needs to know and that The
Devil at Our Doorstep: The Movie
would be appropriate. Now, as the story goes…
As
a pragmatic businessman I have never believed in coincidences. As a religious
person who believes in God I have always believed each of us are placed on this
earth for a purpose. An event occurred this past week that solidified my belief
in both.
At
the engagement party of a friend’s daughter, I happened to meet a former local
sports writer for the Indianapolis Star newspaper. As we were conversing, I
mentioned to him that I played basketball in high school and went to Wabash
College on a basketball/academic scholarship and transferred after my second
year. The coach who recruited me left after the first year and I was
dissatisfied with his replacement after playing for him for one year.
Consequently, I went back to the school that was my second choice and ask them
if they would still honor the scholarship they had initially offered. The
school, Tri-State University, agreed.
Unfortunately,
due to the transfer, I had to change my major to pre-med as Tri-State did not
offer degrees in education. In essence, I went from preparing to be a teacher
and a coach -- my life’s dream -- to preparing for life as a doctor at the
advice of my counselor. I received a B.S in Biology and went to Ball State
University where I received a Masters Degree in Micro Biology. I applied for
Indiana Medical School and was place third on the waiting list due to the fact
my grades at Wabash my first semester were just average. I subsequently went to
work for Central Soya Company headquartered in my home town of Ft. Wayne,
Indiana. I started in its experimental feed mill and eventually became a plant
turn around specialist. I was able to accomplish this through creating a team
atmosphere and treating employees fairly. Interestingly enough they were all
union facilities! I held this position for about eight years, and the position
required several transfers around the country. When I ended up back in
Indianapolis, Indiana, I decided to reject the next request to move yet again,
and to leave the company. I eventually become the Indiana General Manager for a
regional janitorial company, a position I held for three and a half years before
I left to start my own company.
Upon
relaying my story to the writer, he mentioned that he knew the coach Wabash had
hired, and understood why I decided to leave. He then mentioned that this
coach’s background was kind of unclear. Being the inquisitive person I am, the
next day I did a search for this coach on the internet to learn more about his
background. To my surprise when I found his information I learned more about my
destiny than I did his. Prior to being hired as the varsity basketball coach at
Wabash he was a janitor for a college in Pennsylvania!
How
ironic is it that a man who became my coach and influenced my decision to
transfer from one college to another, and in the process forced a change of my
major from being a teacher to a doctor, was a janitor! A profession I migrated
to as General Manager for a regional janitorial company and a position I would
assume myself when I left and started EMS in 1989 where my first account was my
insurance agents 5,000 square foot office, which I cleaned myself! EMS grew from
that small account to a national company that today provides services in 36
states. We have constantly strived to stand as company that does the right
things for it employees and its customers.
Ultimately,
due to our growth, we attracted the attention of the SEIU who attempted to force
unionize EMS employees as well as other employees of janitorial companies
throughout the Midwest with its patented Death
by a Thousand Cuts
and Corporate
Campaign
tactics. Tactics designed to force me to sign a Neutrality
Agreement,
which would have eliminated my employees rights through a secret ballot election
to determine if they wanted to be represented by the SEIU, and instead allow the
SEIU to use the intimidation tactics of Card
Check
to force unionize them.
As
a religious man and a firm believer in American freedoms I could not morally
give up my employees’ rights and allow this to happen. My company and I fought a
4-year war with the SEIU to preserve our employees rights and defeated them!
Subsequently I wrote the two books, The Devil at My Doorstep and The
Devil at Our Doorstep, which have been instrumental in the passage of “right
to work” laws in Indiana and Michigan, and have provided hope and support for
employees across the country in extricating themselves from big labor abuse. In
fact, my first book “The
Devil at My Doorstep” Was Recently Introduced to the
Supreme Court
in defense of an employee who was subjected to the awful intimidation tactics of
a Corporate
Campaign.
I
sincerely believe all of us are placed on earth by our creator for a purpose.
Some destinies are more subtle than others, however it appears mine through
divine intervention, was to expose the atrocities of big labor’s Gasping
Dinosaurs
and help preserve American freedoms! Ironically this was preordained years ago
through my Lord and Savior’s message delivered through a coach, I mean a
janitor! The lord in his infinite wisdom recognized years ago the course of
history would have to be changed, and The
Devil at Our Doorstep
revealed. Simply put, without a new coach (janitor), there would have been no
college change or career change, and in turn, no EMS janitorial company, no SEIU
attack, and most importantly, no win for employee rights! Ironically he used a
janitor to begin the chain of events to allow me the opportunity to expose big
labor’s agenda and start a movement to protect employee
rights!
