Kennedy’s Introduction – July/August Issue

Welcome back to The Guidebook for the Successful Gentleman™! I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day and that your Summer activities with loved ones are keeping you busy and happy. As a Kennedy’s man, whatever you do, make sure you’re In Motion. Don’t be like so many in the “Mediocre Majority” with their heads buried in the sand like ostriches, hoping a piece of the sky won’t hit them. Hope is a terrible business strategy, as they say, and it’s damn difficult to make money while making excuses at the same time.

Summertime has a tendency to lull people into a slower state of being — probably all that humidity bearing down on us — which in this economy can be deadly. Push Forward. Keep taking action… adjust on the fly, if need be, but TAKE ACTION to keep your business afloat in these challenging times. Smart, hard work and self-reliance are some of the key virtues that have made America great – please join us in helping keep it so.

You hold another terrific issue in your hands, and I’d encourage you, after you thoroughly read everything in here, to pass it along to others you think might enjoy it, too. They’ll be glad you thought of them… and they’ll probably learn a thing or two from this lifestyle publication.

In this edition, you’ll read Tony’s restaurant review of Hannibal’s on the Square (owned by the much-celebrated chef, Vincent Gagliano); learn about our largest Club, Baldwin Park in our monthly Club Feature; be moved by a Tribute to a fallen airman; investigate one of the most interesting tech gadgets I’ve read about in a LONG time (Trapcall); look over Nick’s shoulder as he goes one-on-one with Tony Hsieh, the award-winning CEO of the online juggernaut, Zappos; get money saving ideas for your business from Jack; review the newest book on the Twitter phenomenon; learn from Inc. magazine Editor-at-Large, Bo Burlingham and Inc. magazine columnist, Norm Brodsky (yes, that Norm) in my interview with them on their newest book, The Knack: How Street Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up; meet five more of our Club Members; and we mustn’t forget Bryan’s latest college football piece – he’s penciled in the Biggest games of the upcoming season, so you don’t have to do any research on it. Whew!!! That’s a TON of information!

Oh, and by the way… we’ve launched our first-ever “Member-Get-A-Member” Contest for our Clubs (more details on page 27). THIS is something you’ll want to get involved with and actively participate in. Not only do you have the opportunity to help us grow our Club memberships and help make your friends look better, but you have the opportunity to reduce your Club dues, win great prizes, help your local Club win a fabulous party, and even compete for some very valuable Grand Prizes (worth thousands of dollars type prizes!). If you’re already a Member, you should have received a letter about this Contest from me or from your Club Owner/Director, but you might just want to turn to page 27 NOW to see what we’ve got in store for you. We’ll report the first several weeks’ worth of progress in these pages in the next issue. And if you’re not yet a Member… we can fix that too.

Our Clubs are phenomenal, not just because of our services, our Barbers, and the amazing value we deliver, but primarily because of our Members. A great Club deserves to have other great men become Members, too… so pass the word along and reap the rewards!

Until next time…be a Kennedy’s man and take the world by storm!

Chris

Chris Hurn is currently President, CEO, Cofounder and Board member of Mercantile Commercial Capital (MCC). His company was recently added to the 2007 Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing companies in America, number 245 with 951% growth over the past 3 years. Chris is well-known for his innovative marketing achievements and continues to coach and consult with various business owners and entrepreneurs. To date, MCC has closed commercial loans in 31 states for over $350 million in total project costs – one business owner at a time, and has been voted “Best Place to Work” by the Orlando Business Journal for 3 years running.

A few other business achievements Chris has received:

• Reader’s Choice Award for “Most Respected Executive in Central Florida” and “Best Small Company in Central Florida.”
• “SBA Marketing Guru of the Year.”
• NADCO’s Banker of the Year.
• SBA Financial Services Champion.
• Top Twenty Most Influential People in Small Business lending.
• Hallmark Award for Top Producer in Mortgage Lending.
• “Top Male, 40 Under 40″ in Orlando.
• One of the “100 Most Influential People” in Orlando.

Throughout his career, Chris has been in various leadership positions, including his background as business consultant and financier with GE Capital and as CFO for the NAI RealVest group of companies. Chris’ educational achievements are equally impressive. He graduated from Loyola University with two magna cum laude Bachelor Degrees; earned a Master’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Center (formerly at the Wharton School of Business); and only spent one year at Georgetown University Law Center before wising-up about becoming an attorney. Chris is a frequent speaker and writer and has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, LA Times, the Sacramento Bee, the Orlando Sentinel, Scotsman Guide and many other regional and nationally-recognized trade publications. He maintains a busy civic calendar as a Board member with the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Board and the Florida Hospital Foundation Board, as well his involvement with many other esteemed community organizations. Chris is married to his wife of 12 years, Shannon, and has two children, Reilly and Julianna.

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