In today's massively changing business environment, it doesn't pay to sit still. I've seen it happen before. The people with business skills and tools who know how to think will be the winners and the people who are relying on the market and past successes to bail them out will get slaughtered.

Despite the economy, I keep hearing many triumphant success stories from our students and I am happy to share one of these winning stories with you. I hope you enjoy our Keys to the Vault Success Series and look forward to sharing more with you in the future. Please call us at 512-231-9944 if you have a story that has resulted from your work with me.

Best,
Keith Cunningham


Jewels Marshon, Short Sale Specialist and Real Estate Broker

Colorado Real Estate Broker Jewels Marshon enrolled in our Business Mastery Business Mentoring course in April 2007 after losing focus and confidence in the topsy turvy real estate market. "I was about to be upside down and it was causing me unbelievable stress and fear," Jewels stated. After working in Real Estate since 2006, she had become unsure of the direction she wanted to take and her business and personal finances were suffering.

Jewels was facing a tough choice involving some of her property, but after attending the course and many conversations, she knew what needed to be done. She found clarity on her options and possible solutions to her problems. Jewels was able to face her fear of having her personal credit score take a dive and contacted the bank about conducting a short sale on one of her properties.

After her own personal property challenge was resolved by successfully exiting it with a short sale, Jewels realized that this was a potentially profitable niche in the real estate market which she seemed to have talent for. Like me, she used her "been there done that" experience to ease owners, investors, and buyers with their fears and stresses. The mother of confidence is belief and experience.

Jewels now works pre-foreclosure for the homeowner or investor who can no longer afford the mortgage on their property. She negotiates with banks to take a discount on what is owed verses having them take the property through foreclosure. The negotiating skills she has learned have helped her deal with some very tough asset managers. As of today Jewels has successfully completed 16 short sales with a bright and promising future ahead of her.

Since coming through our Business Mastery Business Mentoring program, Jewels has become successful in her field as a short sale specialist, even in today's turbulent real estate market. Jewels has learned numerous strategies from me that have been critically important to her and her success. Some of the things she uses on a daily basis are: 'Get in Line and Stay in Line, prioritize tomorrow by making your plan tonight and business is not rocket science but it does require skills.' There are tools, skills and formulas that make doing and maintaining a successful business a lot easier and many times more profitable.

With her focus and determination to succeed, Jewels has dug herself out of the hole and her profits have increased from zero to almost $100,000. "I have made more money in the last 5 months than I have in any given year of my working life," Jewels said. She has set a new goal for herself and her business that include the expansion into commercial properties and profits of $250,000 in the next year.

Jewels told me, "I now have a great deal more peace of mind and confidence in achieving the financial goals I have set for myself. Having been a late bloomer when it comes to financial gain, this has been truly amazing for me!" With her financial success, she is now able to financially contribute to many causes that are truly important to her.

"Business Mastery is worth 10 times the money! It's more than a business course. It's a Life/Business Skills program with heart and soul!" Jewels said.

Her story is inspiring and a reminder of what is possible in life. Like many that have entered our courses, she has taken what I taught and put it to good use and created the first of many successes for herself. I have always said that learning only happens when something changes. She said there were many ups and downs. "Did some of my problems almost eat me? 'Almost' is the operative word," Jewels said. She now has the skills and tools as well as the mindset to accomplish her dreams.

We are so proud of you, Jewels! Keep us posted on your future success!

Best,
Keith + Sandi


Kerrie Keeling, Building and Refurbishment Company Proprietor

Former investment banker Kerrie Keeling founded her own building and refurbishment firm, A Woman’s Touch, in 2003.  Kerrie was tired of the antics of workmen in the United Kingdom and knew if she offered home improvements without the hassle of missed appointments, shoddy work and inflated bill, she could succeed. To further differentiate her new company from everyone else, one of her strategies was to build a property maintenance company that included a large team of tradeswomen.

“The opinion of trades’ people was so low that to excel was actually very easy,” Kerrie said.

Kerrie developed a unique niche…. primarily female workers! No male tradesmen unless accompanied by a woman and everyone gets called if Kerrie’s employees are running late.

With this brilliant concept, Kerrie’s company has indeed flourished and the company now employs 40 people, including plumbers, carpenters, decorators, architects and builders. Women make up more than half of her workforce, which is truly remarkable since the construction industry in the UK consists of less than 1 percent women.
Since taking two of my business courses in 2007, Kerrie’s business has leapt from a turnover (revenue) of £200,000 to £800,000 and she has expanded her company from a small area of London to six national and international sites. She has been inundated with positive press on her rapidly growing company as well as a flood of many new customers.

“The fascinating part is that I work in the ‘declining’ property/construction industry and I am totally bucking the trend,” Kerrie said. “I have a new challenge of recruiting enough quality staff,” she added.

In my courses, Kerrie says she learned critical drivers for her business and some key tools and skills that have proven to be very valuable for her company.

“Your courses helped me get perspective. I learned how to assess what I was doing and why; and then you gave me the tools to do it in the best possible way,” she said.

Kerrie told me she learned the importance of knowing your competitors. “You told me that the size of my business is directly related to how much I know about and differentiate myself from my competition…. That I should know as much as I can about my competition, even down to the color of their underwear,” she joked. “I can now make a ‘crackingly’ detailed analysis of my competitors…and I’m close on knowing the color of their knickers!”
Upon going home from my course, one of my key strategies she put into immediate practice was that customers can never be number one….employees are her most important asset, not the customers. She said she learned that if her staff is unhappy, so are her clients and equally important, if her employees are happy, so too, are her clients.
“Just this one distinction alone has really seemed to help catapult my business forward… and the best part is that everyone, including me and my customers, are much much happier!”
She took the skills and tools and strategies I teach and executed them. Kerrie’s business has now quadrupled in size and is continuing to grow. 

“Rather than losing money like before, we are now making really good profits. A key milestone for me is that this year I have finally been able to pay myself more than I was earning in my previous job of investment banking. I can’t believe I struggled for so long when the answers were out there,” Kerrie said. “I am so grateful to have come across Keith!”

Kerrie is also actively planning the future of her company. She said her goals are continued national and international expansion of her company, working with the government to develop fast track, multi-trade training for tradeswomen and the development of an environmentally friendly alternative for every construction project.
Not only has Kerrie had amazing success in her business since my course, she also had opportunities that many could only hope for in a lifetime. She was invited to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen at a reception for women who have made an impact on their industry. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay hired Kerrie to refurbish his restaurant at the prestigious Connaught Hotel in London. Most recently, she was recruited onto a BBC TV series called The Last Tycoon. On this TV series Kerrie and a group of 11 other entrepreneurs will be flown around the world to compete in entrepreneurial challenges.
Kerrie’s business results have been so spectacular, but like a lot of people who choose to work with me, she also says that her personal life has dramatically changed for the better as well.

“Bottom line, the quality of my marriage and my life have improved dramatically. I live in a wonderful world of gratitude,” she said. “I’m not stupidly optimistic or annoyingly positive… just open, honest and grateful for the learning opportunities,” Kerrie added. “My life is richer in so many ways as a consequence.”

The advice she offers to other entrepreneurs or people considering taking my business training courses is “don’t wait… don’t procrastinate! Why spin your wheels and do it the hard way?”

“If you have ambition and want to succeed, you can’t afford NOT to study with Keith. You will come away with a tool kit and distinctions that will enable you to strengthen and then explode your business,” Kerrie said.

“You will also develop an amazing network of like-minded entrepreneurs who you will keep in touch with and they will continue to hold you accountable for years to come,” she said.

I am so proud of Kerrie and her incredible growth. She will tell you that this surge in her business is a direct result of what she learned at my seminars and business training programs. Her excitement is obvious and the reason is her growth….. Always remember: Growth is the Mother of Passion!

How big could your business be if you only knew what to do?
Congrats, Kerrie! You are a Superstar!

Best,
Keith Cunningham


Anita Vallati, CEO of ITAN Advanced Tanning Studios

Anita Vallati was once bored and frustrated with her business. When she first started her business with one tanning salon in 2001, Anita had dreams of expansion and profits and cash flow rolling in.

When I met her two years ago, she had grown to six locations but she disliked what she was doing and her business was struggling to be as profitable as she wanted. She also said she did not have the tools to unlock the potential and get it back on track.

“I was looking for the magic solution for business success and thought it was to work ‘on’ my business and not ‘in’ it,” Anita said.

Anita saw her business as stagnate and her belief was she needed to invest even more money into her business as well as hire a whole crew of qualified leaders to grow her business and make it profitable.

“Of course, I didn’t have the money to do this, so I felt that I had no hope except to either sell out or settle for the life I was living,” she said.

One thing Anita did know was that if something didn’t radically change, she was about to be eaten alive by a competitor.

“I felt like I needed to sell before the ship started to sink,” Anita said. “But I was lost and avoided being around the business in hopes that it would resolve itself.”

After her first day with me, Anita realized she had what I refer to as the “Shiny Penny Syndrome.” She was always distracted by some new idea or business opportunity which took her focus and energy away from her business. Many entrepreneurs have this Shiny Penny problem, which causes them to constantly have an affair on their business instead of taking care of business …. and then they wonder why their business isn’t performing they way they expected.

“Keith showed me that I could grow my business without putting in more money, but he stressed that I needed to commit the time and learn the skills to grow it,” Anita said. “I needed to get back into my business and stop running away from it.”

Prior to my courses, Anita would work an average of 20 hours a week. Now she invests 35-40 hours of her time weekly. It’s not just more time that is making the difference; it’s WHAT she is doing and HOW she is doing it. Anita now has the critical BUSINESS skills and tools to actually make her business financially successful. The rewards for her have been fantastic. Anita reports that since starting to work with me, her net income before depreciation and taxes has increased 150 percent! Her debt is reduced, sales have increased and cash flow is way up.

“My business would have been bankrupt in five years if I had not attended your courses,” Anita told me.

In my course Financial Literacy, Anita learned how to measure and always monitor her “score card.” Through this critical tool, she learned what to measure and how to anticipate and make changes before problems get too big.

“The results of this constant monitoring and correction have led us to higher revenues than we have ever seen in the past,” Anita said. “In both 2006 and 2007, we had our first years where I didn’t have to inject money into the company and we really celebrated! This year, I am taking money out and we are still cash rich,” she said.

Anita says she has started to enjoy her business again and is actually very excited to “be in it,” stay in it and grow it.

“I am very confident with the skills I have to grow my business,” she said. “Two years ago I never thought I would ever have the skills to produce these results. My only regret is that I didn’t start working with Keith earlier.”

After excelling in several of my programs, I invited Anita to participate in my exclusive Board of Directors group. This Board is not open to the public at large. I hand-select participants whom I feel have the background, experience and level of business success to not only benefit from the meetings but also contribute to the overall success of other board members.

Obviously, this type of group is designed for people who have a business and are focused on dramatically increasing their growth and profits. Anita was the perfect candidate for the Board and the results speak for themselves: Her business is continuing to accelerate and set new records in sales and profits.

Anita will tell you that had she NOT worked with me, she would still be injecting money into her business, not solving the core problems and her business would be worth far less than it is today. After working with me, she is excited and actively planning an even bigger future with projected growth and expansion, as well as a potential new brand for her company.

“I spent more than $25,000 with Keith in the past year and every penny was worth it. I say this because I personally got a check for much more than that last month,” Anita said. “Take Keith’s courses… borrow the money if you need to. I am so glad I did!”