Home Grown: Retirement leads to a red hot business success

By Kathy Edwards McFarland, Special to the Reporter-News

Robert Gooch moved from a longtime family packing business to a highly successful sauces company.

Absolutely World Class built its business on its picante sauce, and now has expanded to barbecue sauce.

Robert Gooch started in the family business, Gooch Packing Company, at the age of 12, working part-time.

His business ethic and management style developed through his time as a commercial agriculture major at Texas A&M University, leading him back to the Abilene meat packing company and full-time work as one of Abilene’s major employers until 1986, when the plant was sold.

It was hard on Gooch. He knew the meat packing company, founded and owned by his father Burt D. “Pete” Gooch as a successful and profitable operation, only to be bought by a company in a leveraged buy-out. The parent company did not want to be saddled with a meat packing company, according to Gooch. So though it had been successful, employing about 550 people; it was the business was closed in 1990.

Gooch, now 72 years old, didn’t take to retirement, and began a new business in 1991, starting from scratch, as he puts it.

“I didn’t feel like retirement was a good thing and ran across a recipe developed by a professional cook that did great, so we bought it and refined it for commercial production,” said Gooch. “That recipe is our Absolutely Picante sauce.”

In 1998, the picante recipe won the gold medal at a picante cook-off in Weslaco, sponsored by Texas A&M. Gooch happily brags on the fact that the flavorful condiment is made with the freshest ingredients – vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh jalapenos and the best spices.

“Major companies use tomato paste and water in their production process to save money, we don’t,” said Gooch. “I’m interested in making the best product – not the cheapest.”

Gooch and his staff came up with the Absolutely Wild BBQ Sauce and its milder versions after a lot of experimenting.

“I think what makes it so popular is the three sources of ‘heat,’” said Gooch, who claims the secret is the chipotle. “I don’t think any other barbecue sauce use it as an ingredient.”

Though Gooch won’t reveal how large the Absolutely World Class Inc. operation is, he has described the enterprise as very small, employing about 20 people, and reports the company earns annual sales of less than $1 million.

But the distribution in grocery store chains throughout West Texas and brisk orders through the company Web site, www. absolutelyworldclass.com, are indications of the brand’s popularity.

Cindy Christy, Absolutely World Class plant manager, began managing the operation and developing expansion plans in June 2008.

“I have great expectations for the expansion,” said Christy, who has 25 years experience in production management, mainly in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “I would like to see our sales triple, maybe quadruple by the end of 2010.

Christy said a major part of the increased production may come from not only “expanding the brand,” but adding “co-packing” – meaning packaging the picante and barbecue under store brands.

“We have a lot of space in the building Robert owns, I’d say at least 25,000 (square feet), so we can bring in more equipment, possibly automate some of the production, and of course add more employees, so it wouldn’t be difficult at all,” said Christy.

Lana Zullo, Gooch’s youngest daughter, is currently in charge of shipping, and though married and raising three children, sees the new generation of Gooch family business as a source of pride and possibly further involvement.

“I saw my father and grandfather work, and how successfully they ran the packing company. I’d like to follow in their footsteps, if the opportunity arises at Absolutely World Class,” said Zullo.

Robert Gooch

Family: Janelle, wife of 49 years; three grown daughters and seven grandchildren.

Known for: Gooch Meat Packing Company, Absolutely Picante.

Developed/owns: Absolutely World Class, Inc. – producing Absolutely Wild BBQ Sauce, Mildly Wild BBQ Sauce, Absolutely Mild BBQ Sauce and the Absolutely Picante.

Employees: Less than 20

Product distribution area: Majority of grocery stores in West Texas and shipped to 36 states by special order.

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Rags to riches tale began with barely a scent

The Daily Journal out of PA reports on another up and comer ignoring the economy and making in happen!

Vincent Spinnato Jr. is either psychic or driven.

In 1992, he was the

quirky Vineland High School junior with a passion for designing perfume bottles.

"That kid's got gumption," said his former guidance counselor Pat Phillips, recalling the earnest teen selling his plans to launch a beauty line under the trade name "Vincenzo" to anyone who would listen.

Now, 16 years later, he's on the cusp of turning his vision into reality. He's hired an Atlanta-based public relations firm to start spreading the news about the spring '09 launch of his two unisex product lines.

V.S. Vincenzo, priced from $34 to $150, will include 25 high-end skin, bath and body products. His Aegean Skin Care line, targeting the mass market, offers 35 items, ranging from $9.99 to $40.

To reach this point, Spinnato had to learn the cosmetics/fragrance business inside and out, build up a bankable reputation and then convince financial backers to invest millions in his vision.

"I'm very aggressive when I want something," Spinnato said. "I haven't slept since 1982."

Growing up near Atlantic City fine-tuned his gambling instincts.

"I'm a hard-core dice roller," he said. "I don't get nervous -- it's exciting more than anything."

The pending launch is no surprise to Phillips, who plans to be first in line -- cash in hand -- for Spinnato's products.

"I knew he was going to make it," she said, well acquainted with his fierce self-motivation. "It's rare -- you don't see it too often."

When he made up his mind to apply for admission to Dickinson College, Spinnato would leave VHS at the 2:10 p.m. dismissal and drive three hours to the campus in Carlisle, Pa. He'd sit in on classes and hang out at the registrar's office, introducing himself to everyone.

"He had professors pulling for him to get in," she said.

And he did.

But once on campus, Spinnato still wasn't happy.

"I felt stifled, it was so frustrating," he said.

Instead of wasting time, he picked up and moved on.

"I had no money, I didn't even know where I was going -- Beverly Hills, Atlanta or Miami -- I got in my car and stopped when I hit the Pacific Ocean. I slept on the beach that first night."

Some predicted Spinnato would be home in six months.

But his mother, Henrietta Spinnato, knew better.

"I told them, 'I don't think so,'" she said. "He's just so determined."

When he was 13, Spinnato would tag along with his mother when she went shopping at Macy's, gravitating to the skin care counters.

"He would check out what was new," said Henrietta, a Vineland resident. "We would come home and I'd see him with a sketch pad. He really has never wanted to do anything but this."

Starting from scratch, Spinnato got to know the right people and always managed to be in the right place at the right time.

On his drive west, Spinnato picked up a Harper's Bazaar magazine that featured Riquette Hofstein, a pioneer in the kitchen cosmetics industry, which uses organic ingredients in skin care products.

"I called her," Spinnato said. "I said, 'You don't know me, (but) I want to work for you.'"

Hofstein hired the 20-year-old as an apprentice. He immersed himself in the industry, learning everything from product development to marketing strategies.

"I starved," he said. "I worked for free."

Spinnato got a little apartment and pieced together his rent with a hodgepodge of side jobs.

"I would do anything to keep a roof over my head," he said. "I wanted to work for this woman -- no major cosmetics company would take me on with no experience."

Eventually, he worked with wealthy clientele who commissioned personalized skin care products.

Spinnato's resume includes work for Estee Lauder, L'Oreal, Chanel, Procter & Gamble and Victoria's Secret.

"Now I have my foot in the door," he said.

It's taken 15 years to build up the professional reputation and financial backing to greenlight his personal line of products.

It's not makeup.

"Women, in general, are naturally beautiful," he said. "I'm trying to educate and encourage women to learn how to treat and correct their skin or skin conditions rather than cover these areas up with makeup -- in other words, how to bring out their natural beauty."

And in this teetering economy, he remains optimistic about his entrepreneurial success.

"Historically, the cosmetic industry seems to grow in spite of down time," Spinnato said. "The need for women and men to always clean and take care of their skin, or wash or condition their hair, or brush their teeth never goes away."

These days, Spinnato is down to the wire -- selecting brand colors and that all-important package design. He'd also like to woo a celebrity endorsement.

Life is good.

He's doesn't sleep on California's sandy shore. He has a trendy Laguna Beach address.

There are two Mercedes in the driveway -- a G Wagon and a convertible.

No longer an unpaid intern, Spinnato holds the top spot in his own business. Those letters that appear after his name in the company directory show how far he's risen.

"CEO," he said, with a chuckle.

Bracing for a new era, Spinnato is grateful to the people who invested both time and money to help make this lifelong dream come true.

"I want to pay them off in full," he said. "They don't expect to see it. They will get it.

"My parents have been phenomenal, remortgaging their home," he said. "They believe in me."

Next up?

He'll focus on generating some product buzz in major fashion magazines.

His fingers are crossed for a Vincenzo shout-out in Vogue.

"That would be the holy grail," he said.

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3 Lessons Kids Teach You About Business Success

Great article from the Exchange Morning Post.  It's a little different that what I usually put on here since it's not really about something that happened, rather more instructional, but it put a smile on my face, inspired and motivated me.  That's my 'smell-test' and it passed so here it is!

By Brian Sullivan

"My see," were the words my two-year-old daughter Maggie used last week as she extended her arms toward an older woman sitting in the window seat on a spring break flight to Mexico last week. The adult translation of those words is, "Excuse me ma'am, your window seat is better than my middle seat. I would really love to climb over this armrest, jump on your lap and hang out with you for a few minutes so I can look out that window. You good with that?" This woman was obviously well-versed in the ancient language of baby babble, and knew exactly what Maggie was saying. She pulled up the armrest, held out her arms and without hesitation, Maggie plopped onto her lap. They then began cloud gazing while getting to know each other.

My first reaction as a parent was one of hesitation. After all, I was a product of the "don't talk to strangers" era, and not only was Maggie talking (I think), she was bouncing on the knee of a complete stranger. My second reaction was as an adult; thinking there was no way that woman could want my drooling two-year-old climbing all over her. After several minutes of visiting, Maggie waved bye-bye to the woman and happily scampered back to her Barney video. And this was only the beginning. Throughout the week Maggie sat in several more laps, high-fived countless strangers and waved kisses to a dozen or more people she had gotten to know. As I watched, I began thinking at what point and at what age will Maggie become weary of new faces, put her guard up and perhaps stop trusting people she doesn't know? At what point will strangers stop randomly smiling at, waving at, and openly trusting her?

Then I thought … what a shame. Why does it all have to end? Well maybe it doesn't. While I don't expect strangers to randomly pinch our cheeks and blow us kisses walking down the street, maybe there is something we can do that will make people want to open up to us more. Because if they open up to us more, we can then learn more, influence more and serve more. So how do we do gain access to the hearts and minds of as many people as possible?

Kid Lesson #1: Trust others as you did when you didn't know any better!

Trust others, and they will trust you. It's a nice little game of give and take. If your defenses are always up and are skeptical of other's intentions, other's defenses will be up, and they will be skeptical of your intentions. So this week, let's think of one person who you are reluctant to trust and trust them. Make the first move. Might you get burned? Yep! But when you open your doors, more good than bad will enter. And surrounded by more good than ever, you can be taken back to a time when, like Maggie, people felt even more compelled to smile at you, laugh with you and let you know that their day is better because you helped them "look out the window and into the clouds" for just a bit.

Kid Lesson #2: Put yourself "out there" by being fearless.

Sure, most kids are afraid of things like green beans and cough syrup, but like Maggie, most have no problem "cold calling" people they don't know. Why? Because they don't yet have a fear of rejection. Even without a psychology degree, most people can tell you the most successful salespeople, entrepreneurs and business leaders attack opportunities that average performers deem outlandish.

So this week, think of three business opportunities or potential clients who others think you have absolutely no chance of getting. Then identify the highest person in the decision-making chain and make the call, pay the visit, send the creative e-mail or deliver the singing telegram. Regardless of how you do it, just put yourself out there. And take comfort in knowing the top is not crowded. Most of your competition is too scared to take the risk that you are about to take.

Another way to put yourself out there is to by identifying one smart person who you are dying to learn from. Not your buddy in the office, your manager or even your current mentor. Think about somebody big such as the author of your favorite book or a magazine writer you love, the host of that business radio show you enjoy, the speaker at that last seminar …whomever! Why not? Most people, regardless of their VIP status, are willing to help anybody gutsy enough to ask.

Cameron Johnson, a well-known author at age 23, has sold more than a dozen Internet businesses, and is now a contestant on Oprah's Big Give. He talked about a time when he was an eight-year-old kid, sending a letter to Donald Trump, Plaza Hotel, New York City. It was addressed just like that … no street number, street name, zip code - nothing! He didn't tell his parents he was sending it, but in the letter he asked Mr. Trump if, when he came to New York, Donald would give him a tour of the room where Macaulay Culkin stayed in the movie "Home Alone - Lost in New York." When his family arrived at The Plaza for their vacation, the hotel manager's first words were, "You must be Cameron!" Not long after, Cameron and family got a five-star tour of Cameron's favorite room by none other than Donald Trump. So what's the point? Because Cameron was eight-years-old and didn't know any better, he put himself out there and his high-profile prospect, Donald Trump, responded by giving him access.

Kid Lesson #3: Give access to expect access.

Kids will not only talk to anybody, but they will let just about anybody talk to them. How about you? Will you give access to just about anybody? Let's face it, we are all crazy busy and don't have a ton of minutes to burn every day. But if you expect people to call you back (access), you better be somebody who calls others back. If you expect that high level decision-maker to let you in, you better let that salesperson calling on you "in." If you expect advice from that VIP, you better be willing to give advice to that rookie. Those who get to the top in business and in life are those who are the most selfless. And because it is so natural for the top performer to give help and access to others, it is easy for them to ask for it from others.

So there you have it, kids. Let's turn back the clock by trusting more, fearing less and by opening ourselves up to those who need our help. And by acting in this childish manner, you are about to find yourself with a lot more customers, contacts, mentors and friends than you ever dreamed possible.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sales coach and business consultant, Brian Sullivan, is author of "20 Days to the TOP - How the PRECISE Selling Formula Will Make You Your Company's Top Sales Performer in 20 Days or Less." As president of PRECISE Selling, Brian helps improve sales, customer service, leadership, and presentation skills through seminars and Internet training programs. He also hosts "Entrepreneurial Moments," a radio show on business and personal development. For more on his speaking, consulting or book, visit: www.PreciseSelling.com or email: bsullivan@preciseselling.com. To view Brian's inspiring video, "Trust Like a Child," go to: www.preciseselling.com/trust.htm.

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Transforming Art Into a More Lucrative Career Choice

New York Times Reports 'Starving Artist' Concept a Thing of the Past

Alex Quesada for The New York Times - Alexander Niles, 14, plays guitar on his mother’s dock in Miami Beach. He owns a business that creates custom-made guitars.

Some artists have begun to figure out ways to make money and make art — aiming to end the notion that “starving” and “artist” are necessarily linked.

Tristan Hummel, a senior at the Art Institute of Chicago, exhibited the works of various artists on the city’s El train.

Rather than seeing art as something to pursue in the hours when they are not earning a living, these artists are developing businesses around their talents. These artists are part of a growing movement that has caught the attention of business experts and is being nudged along by both art and business schools.

Living in the Internet era has certainly helped.

Claudine Hellmuth, for example, said that when she graduated from the Corcoran College of Art in Washington in 1997, career options for artists were limited. “You could teach, or do outdoor festivals, maybe get into a gallery,” she said.

At the encouragement of her mother, she took an intensive summer course in Web programming and design at George Washington University and then returned home to Florida, where she found work as an online designer. All along, she continued to paint on the side, thinking that her day jobs would support her. A layoff in 2001 proved to be a turning point.

“I now had the skills to use the Internet to my advantage,” she said. “I am so thankful that I left the art world for a little while.” With a little Web savvy, she says, it is relatively easy for artists to reach a global marketplace for their work.

In a blog post on the American Express Open Forum, Steve King, a small business expert with Emergent Research, cited Ms. Hellmuth as an example of trends that are creating new opportunities for artist entrepreneurs.

Mr. King said he discovered Ms. Hellmuth after her name kept coming up in interviews with artists for research his firm was conducting on artist entrepreneurs. Ms. Hellmuth’s success stems in part from the way she has created multiple revenue streams. She has an online store on Etsy.com, a Web portal where artists sell their work. She does custom illustrations for customers using photographs they provide. She licenses her artwork for greeting cards, calendars and other products. She has written two books about her techniques and has a third one coming out. She tours the country teaching both business and art workshops. And last summer she partnered with Ranger Industries to manufacture a line of products including paintbrushes, paints and canvases.

“When I am making the custom artwork for people, there are only so many pieces I can make in a week, so it really limits the amount of income I can make,” she said. By expanding into books and licensing deals for products, “then you have the potential to make a living.”

Through her business, Ms. Hellmuth said, she contributes an equal share of the household income as her husband, who works on the technology side of newspaper publishing.

Art schools, too, are starting to step in. At the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla., students can now major or minor in a program called “The Business of Art and Design.” Larry Thompson, the school’s dean, said he was inspired to create the program when he read about Dan Pink’s book, “A Whole New Mind,” which popularized the notion that artists, especially those who can marry left and right brain skills, the analytical and the creative, will be in high demand in the coming years.

“I am committed to destroying the myth of the starving artist,” Mr. Thompson said.

Alexander Niles, 14, a high school freshman in Miami with dreams of making it big as a musician, is young to be focused on making a living. But he has already become an entrepreneur.

It all began by accident, he said. He was late in handing in his choices for elective classes and landed in a course on business. For an assignment to write a business plan, he turned to his passion, guitars, and decided to create a business building custom guitars for other people, something he had already done for himself.

After refining his idea in class, Mr. Niles entered his business plan into a local competition sponsored by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship and captured the grand prize for South Florida, which allowed him to compete in a national competition in New York this fall.

The price for his guitars starts at about $2,000, and he expects to make a profit of around $700 a guitar. So far, he has made four, including one for a former instructor, Alex Fox, a flamenco guitarist who has endorsed Mr. Niles’s company. Mr. Niles has set up a Web site, but he does not plan to start filling orders until he has lined up other endorsements, finished his YouTube video and started establishing his brand through an advertising campaign.

Though Mr. Niles has years of school ahead of him, he said he planned to tend to both his music and his business along the way.

“If I make it as a musician, then my guitars will go for way higher than I planned,” he said, citing the example of Brian May of the band Queen who built his own guitar out of firewood with his father.

Mr. Niles and Ms. Hellmuth have learned on their own what Elliot McGucken teaches in his course, Artist Entrepreneurs, which he developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a grant from the Kauffman Foundation. Mr. McGucken’s course, now taught at Pepperdine University, rests on the principle that those who create art should have the skills to own it, profit from it and protect it.

“It’s about how to make your passion your profession, your avocation your vocation, and to make this long-term sustainable,” he said.

Tristan Hummel, 22, a senior at the Art Institute of Chicago, said he wanted to help create a world where artists could do art as their primary practice and still make a living. Three years ago, after reading that Chicago’s El trains were available for rent, he got the idea to bring artists together to create an art show on wheels. This fall, his idea came to fruition with “Art on Track,” an eight-train car on the orange line that traveled Chicago’s loop while displaying the work of more than 200 emerging artists.

Mr. Hummel now has several other proposals in process, including one to turn a 16-story garage into a sod-covered hanging garden art fair. “Hundreds of artists I know are working hard to cope with the fact that art is traded and sold in a medieval way where artists don’t get to determine the price and what kind of work they create.”

So are these artists selling out by turning to business for the answers?

Absolutely not, Mr. Niles said. “Yes, playing music is mostly about the art. But it’s important to think about what you’re going to do with it. You can play it in a bar, or you can be striving to take it to the top.”

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John Agno Helping Businesses Come From the Heart

Business Coach gets personal:

As a former corporate executive, business owner and recovering management consultant, Agno understands that in the business world, we don't speak much about the heart. Yet, since all businesses are ultimately people serving people, our life's work should come from the heart. Long after your products or services have been delivered, the feelings and knowledge shared during the business relationship remain.

Coach Agno believes that people need connection, belonging and meaningful contribution. They need to know that their life and work matter. Many people find that personal or career transformation is an excellent time to better understand their life purpose and direction. Coming from the heart makes sense in life and in business.

He holds the designation of Certified Executive Coach (CEC) by the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (the highest designation available to business coaches) and is a Certified Business Coach (CBC) by the International Consortia of Business Coaches.

A past member of the International Coach Federation (ICF), member of the National Association of Business Coaches and a founding member of CoachVille, he is also the founder of the Coach to Coach Network, a virtual community of over 1,300 personal and business coaches from around the world. He enjoys working with coaches, executives, professionals and management teams to help them flourish in their professional and personal lives.

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