A DIFFERENT WAY TO “MAKE IT”

Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next. —Jonas Salk

Raise your right hand if intuition plays a part in determining life-changing decisions such as where you want to live or what your career should be. I won’t bother telling you when to put your hand down, because you probably haven’t moved a muscle.

Most people don’t trust their intuition. They depend on facts to guide them—not feelings. Then there are people like entrepreneur Graham Backhouse who puts faith in facts and feelings.

As an example, I give you that classic cliché-tribute to intuition ‘love at first sight.’ To Backhouse it’s more than a worn out figure of speech. It was his first step on the road to happiness, a thriving business and a new home in a new country.

Bitten by the love bug

 As he explains it, “In 1987, when I first laid eyes on San Francisco, and later Southern California, I fell in love with both places and decided to make my home in one of them.”  This was a rather momentous decision since the home he would be leaving was a continent and an ocean away in Sheffield, England. So was his wife, Dot.

To further complicate matters, his spontaneous California love affair occurred during his first visit ever to the U.S. He knew no one here except a neighbor from Sheffield living temporarily in San Francisco as a participant in a U.K.-U.S. doctor exchange program. He would be going home soon, which did not in the least upset Graham or his plan to live and work in California. Clearly, the die was cast.

Once it was decided where he and Dot would live, the intuitive Graham yielded the floor to the practical Graham, whose research showed that the Southern California city of Long Beach offered a market with greater sales potential for his product than his beloved city by the bay.

Graham the poster boy

 So he rented an apartment in Long Beach and went to work importing artist-designed posters from England. The posters promoted concerts and other special events there and on our side of the pond as well. Some eventually became valuable collector’s items.

Graham teamed up with a woman in Los Angeles, supplying posters to her at wholesale prices. She, in turn, retailed them throughout the L.A. area.

Discussions with her soon convinced him that L.A. had the most to offer, with its huge population of young people and the possibility of success amid the glitzy, glamorous, free-spending entertainment crowd. Then, of course, there were sales to be made at swap meets and local stores.

 Made for each other

 Confident in the future, Graham decided that the time was right for Dot to leave England and join him. “Having her with me made life even brighter and still does,” he said.

Leaving Long Beach meant pulling up a few deep roots for Graham. In addition to his import business, he filled the then-vacant building manager position where he lived. Prior managerial experience and considerable expertise in home repairs, clinched the job. And with it came added security. But intuition backed by additional research convinced him it was best to move on.

It sounds like everything was coming up roses, but painful thorns came up as well. The most distressing one plagued the Backhouses for 10 years. That’s how long it took for them to be issued Green Cards. Without the cards they could not apply for U.S. citizenship.

The big, bad bureaucracy

“It was a decade filled with fear that one day we would be sent back to England,” he recalled. He noted that “coming here with hopes of becoming a citizen is not for the faint of heart, but for us it was worth it despite the bureaucrats.”

Once the decade of anxiety passed and the greatly relieved couple finally gained citizenship, they settled into a normal life. Dot and Graham have lived in Los Angeles for 25 years, giving Graham’s passion for Southern California plenty of time and plenty of reasons to cool. But he insists it never will.

No longer a poster salesman, he owns Graham’s Property Maintenance Company, which is doing quite well in home and building repair, renovation and remodeling. He also manages the 24-unit apartment complex where he and Dot live.

The good guy rules

Graham has indeed achieved his major goals in business, also in life. Along the way he followed four rules of the road that made getting there easier and a lot more fun. “Whether you’re an employee, a business owner or corporate executive, they’re worth checking out,” he said.

First “LOVE YOUR WORK. Don’t go into it with reservations of any kind. If you do, the job will eventually become drudgery. As a result, you will become unhappy and, most likely at some point, unemployed. If you take a job strictly for the money, you run the same risk.”

Next “KEEP LEARNING. These days, things change faster than ever—for better or worse—in virtually every field. Read everything you can that’s related to new developments and future plans in your field. Talk to co-workers and superiors about what’s happening in your own workplace. Keep pace so you will know exactly where you fit in and how to continue to fit in and prosper.”

Do unto others

Third commandment: “SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE WITH PEOPLE WHO MAY BENEFIT FROM IT. I find that people who are good at what they do quite often are more than willing to show what they know and how it’s done correctly. It’s a matter of taking pride in their achievements.”

It’s also a matter of good business, Graham believes.

“For example, suppose you’re a computer consultant. A customer calls complaining he can’t get on the Internet and hasn’t the slightest reason why. He needs you right away. Instead of popping over and charging for a service call, you ask for all the details; then patiently walk him through the solution over the phone. Result: Problem solved in less than an hour. And thanks to that free walk-through and explanation, your customer can handle the situation himself if it happens again.

Because of your thoughtfulness and generosity, you’ll most likely be the first person he calls the next time the computer gives him trouble. If it’s a major problem, the price will far outweigh what you would have charged that first time around.”

There’s always room for more

Finally “DON’T HIDE FROM THE WORLD. INVITE PEOPLE INTO YOUR LIFE. When I encounter a stranger who looks particularly interesting or is doing something that interests me, I usually walk up to him or her, introduce myself and strike up a conversation.

Carpenters, plumbers, electricians and handymen are among my favorite targets. I’ve learned a lot from them­–often things I use in my own business.

I see a friendly encounter with a stranger as a welcome change for both of us. That’s because of the polarization among so many people today whose so-called firm beliefs boil down to dogma. This often translates into ‘It’s my way or the highway’ and creates hard feelings.”

Act your age

Graham might have added a fifth commandment to the list for young people starting out—EXPERIENCE LIFE. Try different jobs to find, or perhaps sharpen, certain skills. Moreover, the interaction with a wide variety of people will be a valuable education in itself. An education in which Graham was an A-Plus student.

“I honestly believe I had Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) when jobs were involved. As a young man in England I was constantly bouncing from one to another,” he declared. His job history includes: men’s clothing salesman, bricklayer in a steel mill, fresh bread supplier to stores and a driver for the Sheffield police.

The job he looks back on most fondly was making and selling candy in his father’s store. “I started out at age seven washing the jars that displayed the candy and worked my way up,” he recollected.

Working his way up has become a way of life for Graham Backhouse. A happy, satisfying life at that.

ENTREPRENEURS—AN ENDANGERED SPECIES

 

How’s this for a sign of the times? Studies show that the number of 25-year-old and younger Americans planning on entrepreneurial careers has dipped below the levels of previous generations. And the downward trend continues despite a rise in the population of this age group.

Apparently many of our best and brightest young people are convinced that the current recession makes starting a business—or anything else that’s new, improved or innovative— too risky.

Risky, yes. Too risky? Not for Mike Shenk, who has been there and back and finds himself there again, trapped in a recession with the rest of us.

Shenk owns Watsonville, California-based Seascape Lamps, a thriving upscale lighting company offering modern, contemporary, retro style lamps and custom shades at his retail website. Seascape’s wholesale outlet meets the needs of a long list of business clients. These include hotels, designers and firms that serve production companies in the film and TV industries.

Not the best timing

Shenk opened his business in 1980 at age 24. Less than a year later, the country was mired in a recession that plagued us from July 1981 to November of the following year—a relatively short time but long enough to do some serious economic damage.

Holding things together required a combination of smart selling techniques, business know-how, and aesthetic sensitivity. Shenk measured up on the first two items thanks to on-the-job training at his uncle’s Long Beach, California waterbed store. The aesthetic part came naturally.

“I’ve always thought of that store as sort of a business school as well as a workplace. I learned a lot there, like different approaches to selling and marketing strategies, things I apply to my business even today,” Shenk pointed out. 

Weekend work pays off

  Added experience gained as a waterbed bedding salesperson at a weekend swap meet helped, too. More significant is the fact that this job provided a starting point on the way to establishing his own business.

It all began when he became friendly with a neighboring swap meet entrepreneur who was selling his own handmade ceramic-cast lamps.

Their meeting coincided with Shenk’s decision to move to Northern California. He appreciated the artistry his new found friend brought to lamp designs and decided to buy some, hoping to sell them in a flea market in San Jose. The plan was a success, and Shenk’s lamp-making friend joined up as Seascape’s regular supplier of lamp bases.

A do-it-yourselfer does well

To obtain lamp shades, Shenk hired a Los Angeles designer; an arrangement that lasted until he figured out how much overhead could be reduced by doing the job himself. So the firm’s self appointed shade-designer-in-chief set up shop in the garage at his home in nearby Santa Cruz. He later moved into a quonset hut.

When more space was needed to accommodate his growing business, Shenk re-located to a small shop where he offered custom designed lamp shades separately as well as complete lamp-and-shade packages. His client list included stores and other lamp designers who favored his custom shades.

Topping the list was a Chinese lighting company that signed on with Seascape in 1991. This bit of good fortune was worth sales of   up to 1,000 shades per week.

Boss plus lamp maker

 In the following year, the artist in Shenk surfaced again. Besides designing shades, he took on the job of making lamp bases. In the process he became a leader in the revival of the retro look. Soon Shenk was turning out about 30 designs a year while maintaining an inventory of up to 130 different styles.

If you’re thinking he held a non-stop ticket to success, don’t.  This master of multi-tasking was forced to navigate some pretty big obstacles. For example, after the first nine years of operation, Seascape was found to be a stagnant no-growth company. And its founder could not figure out a way to turn this unprofitable situation around.

In desperation he raised all prices 12 percent. “I figured the way things stood, I would probably go down anyway. And I had nothing to lose.” Actually he had plenty to gain. By hiking up prices he burnished the image of his lamps to the point where the Seascape brand became more desirable than ever. Business picked up, except for Shenk’s retail store in San Jose. It closed after three years.

A big “ouch”

These weren’t the only hits Shenk took. In 2002 he bought a second lighting business, one that dealt in imports. “Four years later I was on the verge of bankruptcy. For the first time in my life I had to borrow money. Eventually I managed to sell the import business and pay off all my debts.”  Such is the life of the entrepreneur.

Today, the wholesale operation is by far the larger part of Seascape. Hotels and design firms make up its top tier of clients.  Luxury hotel chains such as Marriott, Hilton and Four Seasons offer selected guest rooms enhanced by custom-designed Seascape lamps. Some Seascape creations were seen in the motion picture “Legally Blonde” and ABC-TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Among earlier wholesale customers were Neiman Marcus and Crate & Barrel.

All things considered, Shenk can point with pride to his company’s track record. But how does the future shape up? “It’s a good news, bad news situation,” he said. “On the good news side I look for a 10 percent increase in our business in 2012. And I think fabric lighting fixtures will repeat as our most popular product.”

Good news…sort of

 “Why the optimism? Because we’re among the very few lighting companies in America that still provides custom-designed lamps, which are highly popular. And that, in large part, is where most of the extra ten percent will come from—this year and for the foreseeable future.” That also leads him straight to the bad news.

“Customizing is fast becoming a lost art because the U.S. lighting industry as a whole is shrinking,” he stated “The problem stems from a growing demand for lower priced foreign-made lamps—particularly the ones coming out of China.”

“Globalism and recession are key reasons why our economy is on the ropes,” he continued. “But I didn’t laugh all the way to the bank in 1981, either. In those days, Globalism was more a topic of conversation than a reality. And, along with plenty of other people, I somehow muddled through that recession and prospered.”

American entrepreneurs—the real ones—have a knack for doing just that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOT A “CAN DO” GIRL…A “WILL DO” GIRL!

Some people believe in setting goals and keeping their eyes on the prize until they get where they want to be. Others are easily discouraged or simply lose interest and drop out along the way.

Elenda Flores is a believer.

This dynamic 18-year-old girl with an ambulatory disability is working toward a degree in Child Development at Santa Monica College. She is also a star pupil on the ski slopes of Southern California’s Bear Mountain Resort in Big Bear—and getting better all the time.

Teacher knows best

That’s the word from Ray LoCascio, a volunteer at Bear Mountain’s United States Adaptive Recreation Center. He should know. Now in his 16^th year as a skiing teacher at the center, he started working with Elenda soon after she signed up for lessons.

Elenda discovered USARC at the age of 12, while on a winter visit with a group from Orthopedic Hospital of Los Angeles. It was love at first sight.

As Elenda remembers it, “I was with a pretty big group, and all of them had been here before, so they knew what to expect. I was a little nervous, but when we arrived, everyone was so nice that they put me at ease right away even though this was my first time away from Los Angeles.”

 Down memory lane

Ray LoCascio remembers the early days, too. “When we first met I was very impressed by Elenda’s enthusiastic response to the idea of learning to ski. She saw this as a chance to experience something totally new and different. Elenda is an adventurous lady.”

One of her latest adventures is a change from a  “biski” sit ski with two skis attached to the seat of a single-ski “mono-ski” of the same basic design. “The mono gives me more freedom to explore the mountain. That feeling of freedom is why I enjoy skiing so much and why I come back to this place every winter,” she explained. Plenty of others also return annually for snowboarding as well as skiing.

Elenda is a summer time regular as well. That’s when the focus is on Big Bear Lake “and I get to explore almost the whole lake,” she stated. She covers the lake via jet and wild water skis. The rest of the summer offerings are kayaking, sailing, fishing and camping.

A popular haven

 Elenda’s passionately positive outlook and love of the outdoors reflects the general attitude among the hundreds of disabled children and adults who flock to these seasonal fun spots annually.

Countless groups of excited kids and adults stream in from Southern California’s schools, hospitals, rehabilitation centers and parks. Specialized healthcare facilities and service organizations are also well represented.

This very small sampling of past visiting groups illustrates the widespread appeal of these programs: Orthopedic Hospital of Los Angeles, Redlands Unified School District, Braille Institute of Anaheim, Orange County Special Olympics, San Diego Veterans Administration Hospital and Poway USD Visually Impaired Program.

Growing up

USARC has grown steadily since its founding in 1983. In those days it provided disabled skiers access to the sport. Nothing more. By 1989 it had become Southern California’s first full time on-site adaptive ski school, operating from January 10 to March 18. The July-August summer program was introduced four years later.

Today this Big Bear facility is recognized nationally and internationally as a model for adaptive outdoor recreation. As a result, its personnel have been welcome additions to training programs throughout the U.S. and the world.

The accolades are well deserved thanks in large part to a corps of expert, experienced volunteer instructors. To maintain their high performance standards, they attend training clinics conducted by USARC’s staff members and other specialists. The clinics are held prior to the start of the summer and winter seasons and designed to sharpen instructors’ skills and familiarize them with any innovations that might maximize their effectiveness.

Sweet success

According to the organization’s statement of principle, the success at Big Bear stems from USARC’s conviction that “people are empowered when they undertake and succeed at challenging outdoor recreation.” In addition, “after learning new skills and redefining their abilities, participants are able to feel the freedom of recreating with their families and friends. These experiences often result in increased self-confidence and greater success when facing academic, professional and personal life challenges.”

For Elenda Flores, that statement is a road map to the future. A future that includes plans to earn a degree in art, complementing her degree in Child Development. “My ultimate goal is to open an art studio for children. I like to use clay in my art. I’m into claymation right now,” she added. (Claymation involves the creation of clay figures that tell a story through animation.)

A recent issue of The Spirit, USARC’s newsletter, carries an interview that describes her as “a die-hard for the experiences offered by USARC, and she comes back year after year and just keeps getting better and better.

She is an ideal representation of the transformative programs at USARC.” And, we might add, an ideal example of someone headed straight for success.

There are plenty of success stories at this much-admired outdoor recreation center. And you can be part of it all. For details visit usarc.org.

THE STARTUP THAT WON’T STOP

When Arizona entrepreneur Marty Silverman launched Energy Savings Group, Inc. in July of 2009, the economy was headed in every direction but up. Markets were about as stable as a mine field. And calling startup companies a bad bet was an understatement.

Unfortunately this defines what’s going on today, except for a few bright spots that pierce the gloom and doom. One is in the greater Phoenix area, where Silverman’s ‘bad’ bet is beginning to pay off.

ESG is a provider of specially designed fluorescent lighting systems for refitting warehouses as well as industrial, manufacturing, hospitality and multi-family facilities, among others. The company is expected to do $450,000 worth of business in 2011. Projections for 2012 top $500,000.

Reason for optimism

“Our numbers may not be huge, but they show progress, signaling bigger things to come,” Silverman said. He may sound like a cockeyed optimist, but in truth he’s a confident realist—willing and able to make the sales calls and the cold calls, develop the marketing plan and promotions and to do whatever else it takes to create a winner.

In 2009 the general belief was that it would take a miracle. Silverman’s research on the ESG venture turned up plenty of facts and figures pointing to the futility of launching a new business while the economy takes a nosedive. That bleak, recession-based assessment came as no surprise. But it was no deterrent, either.

“You bet I was confident. I knew we had a good thing going once I understood how much more advantageous today’s fluorescent lighting is compared with traditional incandescent and HID (High Intensity Discharge) systems,” Silverman replied when the issue came up.

Demanding Clients

“We deal mainly with people who are refitting buildings that house their operations. Maximum economy and installation of the most innovative, efficient, energy-saving equipment possible are essential. Thinking green is another ‘must’ these days. We have all three bases covered,” he added.

The numbers back him up. As a result, so do his clients.  Commercial/industrial users of ESG’s fluorescent lighting systems can expect up to 50% lower lighting energy costs. Cost reductions climb as high as 75% at buildings serving the hospitality and multi-family fields. The good news for greens is that the sharp reduction in energy consumption also causes a considerable drop in the amount of hazardous carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Clients aren’t the only ones giving ESG thumbs-up for a job well done. A local utility firm recently crowned the company a winner of its Outstanding Top 5 Contributors Award. ESG earned the honor by saving the firm’s customers over 5.5 million kilowatt hours of energy during fiscal year 2010-2011.

Down memory lane

Clearly, Marty Silverman has come a long way in a short period of time. And attitude had a lot to do with it. He is a man who focuses on possibilities rather than obstacles. Establishing ESG is a case in point. Knowing what could be, he never gave another thought to what might stand in his way.

ESG was almost a replay of 1967, when as a newly qualified Master Electrician, he formed I&M Electric Company in Detroit—sure of himself and the ultimate success of his company. Eighteen years later the name was changed to United Electric Company, and the operation moved to nearby Ferndale, Michigan.

In 2003, after countless 7-day work weeks, 12-hour days and holidays spent on the job, Silverman closed up shop and retired.

Marty’s loyal following

During his 36 years of ownership, the company generated revenue in excess of $50 million. But more meaningful than financial success was the loyalty of United Electric’s employees and clients. Silverman noted proudly that “over 80% of our clients and 90% of the folks who worked for United stayed with us from the start until I closed the business.”

Two years after retiring, he and his wife, Barbara, relocated to the Phoenix area. Silverman dubbed it “a nice place to live, also a place to be easily bored.”

Just about any placid, unchanging place on the planet would soon bore the ever-energetic Marty Silverman. A man who doesn’t sleep past 5 a.m., avoids retirement like the plague and welcomes challenges with open arms—“especially the ones where the odds are against me. They optimize my thought process.”

The green scene

So how did this 70-year-old human dynamo wile away the hours in a Phoenix suburb where he was bored silly? Answer: “I went job-hunting, of course.” And in a short time he soon signed on as head of purchasing for a large electrical contractor in the area.

While there he became interested in what he calls “the Going Green Theory” as it applies to retrofitting existing buildings with the newest in energy-saving lighting fixtures and devices. It wasn’t long before the entrepreneur bug bit him for the second time in his life. A green bug, at that.

Marty’s passion for “Going Green, combined with his vast in-depth electrical experience, led him to specialize in solving energy conservation and retrofitting problems by designing customized lighting and other applications.

It’s one more part of his plan to build a large, loyal client base and make history repeat itself.

Don’t bet against him.

A STANDOUT IN THE BACKGROUND

This is show business?

Background actors (also known as extras) don’t get paid much. And the hours can be brutal. Nine-to-five clock watchers need not apply because work begins and ends when the powers that be say it begins and ends. And no one is surprised when a “workday” turns into the next day.

On the plus side, the food is always free and usually good. And background acting can be a home away from home if you’re a cell phone addict, an avid reader or a small talk fan, since many hours of waiting may go by before you’re needed on the set.

All things considered, background actors have good reason to ask whether it’s worth the effort, or lack of it.

Eight years ago, when she first got into the business, Rochelle (Shelly) Flexer’s answer would have been an enthusiastic “absolutely.” Today it’s a conditional “yes but…”

So easy to love

“I love background acting because it gives me a chance to share the special excitement that goes with being part of the entertainment industry. And the people I work with are both interesting and fun—a great combination.

“The big problem is finding work. We’ve been faced with that one for quite a while.  But for now at least, I’m going to ignore the situation and let my joy gene kick in.

“This means I’ll be able to make the best of things and be happy doing it. Joy genes run in my family,” she said, smiling.

Keeping things simple

After talking with this vivacious, positive-thinking grandmother of five, making the best of things doesn’t seem like such a chore after all. And joy genes sound almost plausible, even for background actors.

As you probably know, these people do exactly what the name implies. For the most part, they are briefly seen and never heard.

Without breaking the rule of anonymity, Shelly is seen in almost every episode of the hit TV series Rules of Engagement.  She’s the cute smiling blonde server at the coffee shop where the show’s stars hang out. Remember?

Irony, what a pain

She’s also the object of an ironic twist of fate—one chapter of a career that, in itself, could be movie material.

The story revolves around a comic scene in a Rules episode that contained a speaking part written specifically for Shelly. A speaking part is the answer to every background actor’s prayer. Unfortunately for Shelly, the gods said “Ha.”

Adding the scene was a last minute decision and, in keeping with the shooting schedule and budget, Shelly, would have to be at the studio for filming no later than an hour after it was finalized. Fat chance.

Here comes heartbreak

Before all this happened, Shelly had five days off between episodes.

When reached by cell phone with the news, she was already four hours out of Los Angeles, driving to Phoenix to be with her mother who had fallen and seriously injured herself. The schedule could not be changed. The scene was cut. “And I was broken hearted,” Shelly recalled.

It looked as if the story would not have a happy Hollywood ending until Shelly saved the day. Smiling through her tears, with hope in her heart, she predicted that “better days are coming.” And she was right.

Movie maker madness

It happened on the set of the movie Monster In Law. She played a nurse in a non-speaking scene with Jennifer Lopez and performed so well in rehearsal she was given lines to speak, thereby earning the coveted title of principal actor.  “I jumped from background actor to principal in seconds. I got a raise, too. How magical is all that,” she exclaimed.

This next chapter could be called True Grit, but that one’s taken. So let’s settle for Dedication to Her Craft.

The setting is a supermarket, where a commercial for a Sprint cell phone was being shot. Shelly was among the background actors booked for the commercial. The bad news was her broken right hand, the result of a fall.

What a trooper!

No way did that stop her from showing up and playing in pain. To pull it off, she had the doctor remove the regular cast she was wearing and replace it with a portable cast. The night of the shoot, when she arrived at the supermarket, off went that cast. And off to work went Shelly.

Shortly before shooting began—much to her surprise—auditions were held among the background actors for a featured role in the commercial. And bingo! She got the part.

The script called for her to hand out food samples to store customers—with her broken right hand—which she did on camera for the next four hours. To Shelly this was “a small price to pay for another principal actor credit and a fatter paycheck.”

A helping hand

What about the hand? “Because I was in the refrigerated section of the store all the time, it became numb. So it didn’t hurt too much.  Numbness also made handling the food easier.

Best of all, no one on the set ever knew it was broken,” she explained. Is that professionalism or what?

Working long and hard with a broken hand no one knows about; rocketing from background actor to principal in seconds; missing out on a major speaking role that was hers for the taking. Shelly Flexer starred in each of those dramas. But that was then. Now The End might be near.

The realistic Shelly, minus joy gene, sees it this way: “When I first got into background acting in 2003, I had no trouble finding work. Sure we had slow periods, but we knew that things would pick up. They always did. These days jobs seem to be scarcer than ever. And the worst of it is there’s no turnaround on the horizon—at least not yet.”

The bright side, maybe

Meanwhile, out-of-work actors, who are also victims of the downturn, are taking background jobs out of desperation, and idle “name stars” are being hired for commercial work ahead of background actors.

Although she’s prepared to walk away from background acting if there is no change for the better, Shelly characteristically remains optimistic.

“There’s still a chance that Governor Brown will back up his encouraging statements with a plan to offer tax credits and write-offs generous enough to bring more film projects to California—instead of letting them go out of state.”

Let’s follow Shelly Flexer’s lead. Let’s hope.

 

 

HE’S MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Meet Matt Gallant—times four. There’s Matt, the TV personality, Matt, the hero of sick kids and troubled adults, Matt, the sculptor and Matt, the teacher. Four “different” Matts rolled into one man committed to “doing what I can to make things better for people in need.” And he means it. All four of him.

Take Matt, the TV personality, who also is an accomplished emcee standup comic and actor in commercials. He’s best known as the host for five years of “The Planet’s Funniest Animals.” This Emmy-winning series, produced in conjunction with  “Animal Planet,” catapulted him to celebrity status.

It also put him in a position to solicit and organize show business luminaries in support of charities, which he managed to do on numerous occasions.

Enter Matt, the hero of sick kids and troubled adults. “One charity that has been a passion of mine for years is the Make-A-Wish-Foundation of Greater Los Angeles. These folks turn dreams into reality and bring happiness and hope to children with life-threatening medical conditions,” Matt explained.

Helping to make all this happen was Matt’s mission as a volunteer and fundraiser for nearly ten years. “The courage and positive outlook of the kids I met provided all the inspiration and motivation I needed,” he added.

Motivation reached a high point in 2004 when he founded Matt Gallant’s Bowling for Wishes and turned himself into a multi-tasker par excellence.

For the next five years he was one of the “multiest” multi-task guys around, doing just about everything that needed to be done to make this popular annual charity-bowling event a success. But hard work is no match for hard times. When the recession hit, donations dropped and Bowling for Wishes was forced to close down.

These days, a considerable amount of Matt’s time is spent counseling patients at Clearview Treatment Center in Los Angeles, a haven for adults 18 and older who suffer from psychiatric disorders and drug or alcohol addiction.

He describes the job as “humbling. I’m amazed at how deep their suffering goes and grateful to be able to help.”

Now let’s lighten up a bit with Matt, the teacher. He teams up with the best teacher of all—experience—to turn would-be television hosts into the real thing. His private classes focus on the unique challenges that aspiring hosts face, plus specific performance aspects of TV hosting itself.

Matt is certainly up to the task. In addition to The Planet’s Funniest Animals, he’s hosted Not Just The News, which earned him an Emmy as Best Host, plus: American Inventor; X-Treme Energy; Friday Night Videos; and Pranks.

Switching easily from teaching to learning, he emerges as Matt, the sculptor. This Matt practices his art with the noted sculptor Jonathan Bickart at The Sculpture Studio in Santa Monica. He specializes in contemporary figurative creations, many of which have been exhibited in galleries throughout the Los Angeles area.

Matt was quick to point out that “sculpting gives me another opportunity to help people by donating some of my pieces to fundraising events of the Circle of Care Foundation.” CCF is dedicated to obtaining financial and material assistance for worthy causes.

In 2004, Matt delivered the commencement address to undergraduates at his alma mater, the University of Rhode Island. At that time he received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree for his fundraising work with Make-A-Wish.

Throughout the ceremony, Matt displayed the wit and charm that brought him success on television, while the honorary degree attested to his most meaningful attribute:

Concern for people in need, from a man who walks the walk every day of his life.

SHE’S A GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

When I think of Midge Reisman, the words “serene” and “soft-spoken” come to mind. “Devoted” and “determined” pop up in big bold letters when I consider the fact that she’s supported charities as a volunteer fundraiser for nearly 40 years.  And the lady’s still going strong.

Her passion for helping others is rooted in childhood and nurtured in tragedy. “My parents were always interested in helping people less fortunate than they were.

“As far back as I can remember they were setting aside money for charitable contributions,” she explained. So in the natural flow of things, after she became a teenager they began to encourage her to go door-to-door collecting money for City of Hope.

Happily hooked

Years later, Midge became closely affiliated with this world-famous medical/research institution. However, her teenage wish list showed no desire to become one of its door-knocking supporters when the subject first came up.

“After a while I agreed to go along with the plan only to please my parents. I quickly came around to their way of thinking once I discovered how gratifying it is to know you’re helping others,” she said.

Fast forward to Midge 13 years into her marriage to Ed, mother of three and, along with Ed, a new member of a City of Hope chapter. After what she described as  “a period of helping out and gaining experience,” Midge volunteered to chair an upcoming fundraiser. It not only marked her debut; it was a first for her City of Hope chapter which had never staged this event before. How’s that for piling extra pressure on a rookie?

Sunday treat

Promoted as Lox Box Day, the event focused on the sale of boxed breakfasts to friends and neighbors of City of Hope volunteers. The boxes, of course, contained lox (cold smoked salmon for the uninitiated) as well as bagels, cream cheese and other breakfast specialties. On a specified Sunday morning volunteers delivered the goods to those who had ordered them. And plenty of people did. Lox Box Day was a smash hit.

“Because it was so well received, Lox Box Day was a turning point as far as I was concerned. The experience gave me confidence in my ability to organize and successfully run other fundraisers,” Midge recalled.

Another more meaningful turning point was reached when Midge and her 50-year-old brother, Milt, decided to take tennis lessons. Their teacher was Laurie King, a former nationally ranked seniors division player.

Sad stories

After a few lessons Milt was forced to quit. He was the victim of lymphoma, a form of leukemia, which ultimately took his life at age 55. The discovery of Milt’s illness forged a strong friendship between Midge and Laurie King whose 26-year-old son had recently died from leukemia. But the heartbreak didn’t stop there.

Mr. and Mrs. King belonged to Parents Against Leukemia (PAL), an organization that became affiliated with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Its membership consisted of families with leukemia-stricken children.

Their goal: Give financial support to researchers seeking a cure for leukemia. Their fate: By the 7^th year of Pal’s existence only one child of its families was still alive.

In 1981 PAL was on the brink of closing its doors.  “Yet Laurie wanted to continue raising funds somehow. With her feeling so strongly and me wanting a cure for my brother, I tried desperately to think of a way to help.”

Tennis anyone?

“It finally hit me. The obvious thing to do was hold a ladies doubles tennis tournament and luncheon. Laurie, as a tennis teacher, had lots of students and knew so many players that it seemed a no-brainer that a tournament was the way to go. She said she’d like to take on the project but didn’t have any help. I offered to work with her, and that’s how PAL was re-born.”

Guided by the team of Reisman and King, the organization gained importance as a sponsor of UCLA’s children’s leukemia researchers. To say the least, PAL backed the winners. Though a cure is yet to be found, significant progress has been made regarding treatment. As a result, the survival rate has steadily risen from 4% in 1981 to 80% in 2011.

In 2001 Midge and Laurie King turned over their duties to others at PAL. Midge, whose membership spans more than 30 years, served as Executive Director and remains active in the capacity of Vice President. Laurie King still helps organize the tennis portion of this popular tournament, which now includes a boutique and silent auction.

Sweet success

Clearly Midge has contributed much time and energy, helping to make PAL the success that it is. The same holds true for her earlier fundraising efforts at two City of Hope chapters. But don’t for a moment think that the caring and sharing begins and ends there.

For 12 years, she served both the Gail Cohen Leukemia Fund (of which she was a founder) and PAL until GCLF folded into PAL. Additionally, The Mountain Jewish Community Group of Lake Arrowhead has been on her work schedule, for the past six years. In each of these three organizations, she has been an officer, board member and key committee member.

Also, Midge is a widely respected watercolorist who frequently donates paintings for auction to a number of Southern California charities. Those that have benefited include:

The Boys and Girls Club of Lake Arrowhead; Couples Against Leukemia, Los Angeles; Guide Dogs of America, Sylmar; Herschel West Day School, Agoura; Parents Against Leukemia, San Fernando Valley; Mountain Bruins and the Mountain Jewish Community of Lake Arrowhead.

What drives this wonderful woman of charity? The answers follow straight from Midge, herself. And, characteristically, straight from the heart:

The more people can give in any way possible does make a difference. That’s why I’m always asking friends and strangers to help out if they can.

Today, people lead very busy lives and many are having trouble making ends meet, but we can’t forget about others who are in need. Whether one donates a monetary amount or gives their time and energy to work with a charity, these will all count in helping or saving lives.

I feel close to tears when I hear how much we, as volunteers, are able to raise each year to fund a researcher trying to find a cure.

How wonderful it will be to learn one day that leukemia and other cancers are no longer a death threat to anyone. Until that day comes, the fight has to continue. So, for as long as I can, I will work for PAL and other charities as well.

PAL and those other charities could not be luckier.