Heather Seitz
Heather Seitz: I think that it’s phenomenal, because it gives people, there are a lot of different people that have a lot of different experiences and I know a number of them personally and they’re good friends of mine. They’ve all got things to contribute.
Just one piece of advice or just a word from one person can make a huge impact I and stick with you. I just mentioned briefly about this comment that my friend had told me years ago. That one statement stuck with me for years, so you’ve got some just absolutely incredible people from all walks of life, different backgrounds, different goals and I think that it’s just a phenomenal program because its bringing all these different things to people all over.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah. It is amazing, some of the answers that the heroes that I’ve interviewed had and just some of the nuggets of gold that they’ve presented to the world are incredible. I know that I’ve been changed just by the brilliance of some of those lean gems that they’ve presented in the heroes interviews and you had no idea that they were just going to pop right out of their mouths.
I know that they were very grateful to not to have to be asked questions about Internet marketing or a product conversion. They just really enjoyed the opportunity to just have a say about things that are really important just like you.
Heather Seitz: Knowing the people that you’ve interviewed I can absolutely imagine some of the things that came out of people’s mouths and just how much fun and how interesting that can be.
Dr. Asa Morton, MD
Dr. Asa Morton, MD: I like your idea, Ralph, of using the internet. A tool that can now spread images just as fast as it could share words in years past. To share stories of others, and by increasing viewership and maybe enticing others to learn about different career paths and different opportunities, we can grow these types of projects to a level much greater than they are today.
It sort of gets back to your question before about how we can do the greatest good for society by enticing people at an early age to become involved, to reshape how they think and how they care for their fellow man, we can make a difference before the tree is grown.
Jennie Armato
Jennie Armato: “I think it’s an awesome program. I think the concept of being able to reach out and give people something that they might not even know that they’re in search of comes and it’s like something I’ve been looking for, I think it’s powerful.
I think it’s much needed and I take it from the people you’ve had before me that these people are people that are willing to affect other people in the right kinds of ways. And how could that possibly be anything but good.
I hope everyone that’s answered your questions have been realistic because it’s one thing to say that life’s wonderful and there’s all these good things but it’s not always that way. So the Hero’s Program and the format that your doing here that’s allowed me to say the truth about the situation.
I haven’t necessarily painted a perfect picture here. So from that point of view I think they way the program is put together is perfect.”
Ray Edwards
Ray Edwards: Well, I think that I have said it already and I will say it a couple of more times. I think what you are doing is admirable. I think it is very important.
We were talking just a few minutes ago, Ralph, about how it is one thing to look around at the world and say, “Wow, this place is messed up and somebody needs to do something about it.” We are all able to do that. Most of us probably do from time to time.
I think it is a lot more rare for someone to stand up and say, “I’m doing something about it.” I think that this program that you have put together is exactly that. It is a case of somebody standing up and saying, “I’m going to do something about this.”
This is my task that I can do to contribute to a solution.” I think it is interesting that you started this venture as an idea that was in your head, just one person. Look at how it has grown and look at the people that have become involved in it.
I was looking over the list of folks that have been interviewed and that you have been talking with and some of the things that you have put together. I realized that I am truly humbled that you asked me to be interviewed. I feel like I am in the company of people who are much more accomplished and probably are more worthy to be talking about these things than I am. I think this can serve as an example.
I think people should get involved. Business people, you have a powerful way of influencing people because let’s face it, what gets people’s attention, especially young people is money. You have a powerful avenue for influencing the world for the better.
I hope that many people will be inspired by and I know they are inspired by what you are doing with the In Search of Heroes Program will be inspired by what you are doing with the search of heroes program and what you are doing. I know they are and will contribute to it in whatever way they possibly can and will be inspired to go out and take more action of their own.
Terri Levine
Terri Levine: Well first of all, I’m delighted to be here, so I want to thank you because I really believe that if people could understand and really get away from focusing on what’s not right in the world, and focus on the great things, focus on the potential people have and the greatness, we’ll all enjoy a better life experience. And if our young people can get out there in our community and do some service, it can be something really small, maybe planting a community garden or walking the dog of an elderly person,
I just think we can change the planet one thing, one day at a time. And as our young folks begin to do this they’ll enhance their self esteem, they’ll see what an impact they make on the planet and it will just be a different experience as we go forward as a human race. So I want to thank you for doing the work that you do. It’s important, it’s extraordinary, and you are a hero as well.
Richard Merbler
Richard Merbler: I think it’s a great idea. The idea of being able to help people in the community who are in need of help and blending professionals with kids who are at a very impressionable age and can maybe really can gain some kind of an inspiration. Or begin to realize that the problems they experience are not that overwhelming.
And people that maybe since the beginning of time have faced begin to realize that ‘oh well if they can do it then maybe I can do it.’ Hopefully that’s what this program will do is maybe be able to give these people the ability and the energy to do something with their life. I look at everybody as being a very precious seed in this world. If we can just nurture that seed the best we can I think things will be great.
Debra Berg
Debra Berg: I think your program is a valuable concept because it brings together the hero role models of parents and community leaders with kids who are our future. Through role models they learn important life and vocational skills.
Many kids are missing both good heroes and the skills. The result is that they end up floundering throughout the rest of their lives. It’s tough enough out in the real world, even with the best training. Many schools are lacking what the In Search of Heroes program offers.
Willie Crawford
Willie Crawford: I love the whole concept because, because the youth of today are going to be our leaders of tomorrow, and anything we can do to shape their minds to set positive examples. There’s… is television is too willing to provide negative examples and that is partly because of what people want.
There is this side of humanity that you know when you drive past an accident we rubberneck and gawk and see well who was killed or whatever you know. There is a part of us that wants to see that… but there is a part of us that wants to know that man is basically good and wants proof of that.
And so the greatest impact that I can have and most of us can have is too provide positive examples, positive role models. Showing that a future spokesman helping others. If you help enough people get what they want you will get what you want.
If we just focus on helping others life will work out in your favor. It will.
Craig Garber
Craig Garber: I think it’s a great program, any time you raise awareness about children’s needs for heroes is fantastic. Getting people talking about those things is great.
Like my son yesterday, he came home from the bus, and he said kids were arguing about the war, or the presidency, and I said look, even if you guys disagree, at least you guys are talking about it, being aware about it. Either way if you and these kids vote at least you’re getting involved in a positive decision in your life. So, raising awareness is important.
Look, you’re trying to save people’s lives, especially young people, as I said before you’re the hero here, not me. You’re the one setting all this up, and making a positive approach to things. I think it’s fantastic.
George Callens
George Callens: What I think it will do is set a benchmark that people will have to achieve on say the adult level, in order to become a hero. Anytime we raise that benchmark, we will never be able to raise it for everybody.
But, the more people we can get to think about it and strive to raise that benchmark the better it will be for our youth because they will see holistically a change.
Even though there will still be bad people out there, they will look at the world as a whole and say, “Boy there are still a lot of good people out there.”
There are a lot of people who do good things because it is right and I think your program goes a long way to getting that recognition to people who are the unsung heroes and doing things right.
Greg Writer
Greg Writer: I am excited about this and I think that getting these stories and these things in front of the youth today is going to be inspiring and motivating and going to be very beneficial to kids and I am supportive of it.
I am very excited to be able to say whether it is five years from now, ten years from now, two years from now; “I remember when, I remember when, I remember when Ralph had that dream, he had that vision, we helped implement it and look what it did.”
Seeing the testimonies of the lives that it touches and the lives it changes by this whole program so I want to commend you. I pray right now in Jesus’ name that this all be accomplished through his perfect will and his guidance and that million of kids and millions of youth and millions of people are blessed with what you are doing.
Alan Bechtold
Alan Bechtold: It’s immeasurable. It is good beyond measure. I think people need the message and I think more people need to meet real heroes and recognize the real people with values that matter and can change the world. That is what makes this program immeasurably valuable.
Dave Kekich
Dave Kekich: Oh, it is empowering, especially to young people. And by going through a program like this, Ralph, especially with young people, it can shave years of painful trial and error from people’s lives.
It can set them on a positive track they might never have discovered on their own. I stumbled across these ideas, mostly late in life, and I wish I could have had something like this when I was young. It could have changed my life dramatically.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah. That is the reason I created the program.
Dave Kekich: Yeah, my hat is off to you; this is a great program. I just hope you can spread it far and wide.
Ralph Zuranski: Well, with people like you helping out, there is no reason why we can’t and just spreading the knowledge that has been around for all of eternity, as it seems to be the same all the time: personal responsibility, believing in dreams, seeking a different path rather than one that is well-traveled.
Dave Kekich: In this there aren’t many new ideas; there are new slants on these ideas, but the core values have been there for thousands of years, and for some reason they are not passed on. They are not learned early in life. I think people get so busy working in their lives that they just don’t have enough time to work on their lives or on their children’s lives.
Sharif Khan
Sharif Khan: I think it’s the greatest thing Ralph! I’m so glad you were able to find me on the web somehow.
When I took a look at your “In search of Heroes Program” and what it’s doing for the youth, as well as for promoting local heroes, and helping their businesses, which will allow them to further give back to their communities and further be mentors to the youth and students, who in turn can learn more about writing and more about becoming heroes.
It’s a wonderful positive cycle that you’ve created and I really admire what you’re doing and respect you. You are a hero in your own right.
Carl Jeffrey Wright
Jeff Wright: The In Search of Heroes program is a tremendous program in part because it is doing a good thing, but mostly because of its accessibility through the Internet, putting a positive message out globally through this resource will change lives.
I believe that positive visions disseminated widely may be perhaps the most important use of the Internet. And your work with this resource will certainly bear much fruit as we hear testimonies of people who perhaps aren’t even alive yet about how their lives have changed because of the content that they encountered in In Search of Heroes.
Jeff Dedrick
Jeff Dedrick: I think it can have a huge impact. As I understand, Ralph, you are going to be expanding this into other areas, or possibly people are listening to this it’s already expanded into a lot of different areas.
If people can find a hero that they can relate to be it outside of Internet marketing, it it’s in different businesses, if it’s in different areas, if they can relate be it if it’s a female or a male of different races, that’s what’s going to be great.
To expand this to include more and more people it’s just a better chance that people are going to be able to relate and they are going to be able to realize that they can change or they can make a difference in their own lives.
Ralph Zuranski: Hopefully the program will go to every local community and people will go in search of local different individuals for making a positive difference in the lives of others.
As opposed to the people that are the sports’ stars and the movie stars, the rock stars who don’t have any real value to society other than how much money they make and how screwed up their personalities are. Laughter! Maybe people like them so much because they don’t feel so bad in their own lives because these people’s lives are so messed up.
Jeff Dedrick: Yeah, they don’t realize that. I don’t want to name celebrities but some of them are so messed up but people are hanging on their every word or looking at People magazine or Us or whatever the magazines are in the newsstand as though these guys are experts on anything. All they are doing is maybe singing songs or making movies and that’s it. Otherwise they are screwed up.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s the reason for the heroes program is for other people to realize, especially young people that the real heroes are the moms and the dads and the next door neighbors and the coaches and the teachers that are making a positive difference in their lives.
Jeff Dedrick: Totally, I 100% agree again, Ralph.
Alex Mandossian
Alex Mandossian: For those who want to have it impact them I think it’s fantastic. For those who haven’t recognized it yet, I trust you will do your best to put it in front of them so that they recognize it. So if that part of us recognizes the greatness of this program we will embrace it and hopefully spread the word.
Jay Conrad Levinson
Jay Conrad Levinson: I think it’s so valuable, Ralph, because it’s not one of the things covered in the curriculum of the educational facilities of the world. It’s not one of the things covered by all the parents and aunts and uncles and grandparents that teach the kids.
It’s something that is very important, but it takes very special people to single out that message and to single out the people who need to hear it. I think that’s what makes it unique and very important. You and your programs are one of the only sources that exist on earth that show people that role models are all over the place and all you have to do is look.
Your father may be a role model, your mother may be a role model, and people who you don’t read about in the newspapers also could be role modeling you. There are lots of heroes out there and they don’t all wear ribbons and badges and uniforms.
Carl Galletti
I think this is a greatly needed program and it has been a long time coming. It needs to be spread out there to people who need it and want it. I think it is an integral part in bringing people who are not normally known as heroes and put them in contact with people who need heroes and can be greatly inspired by them.
Randy Charach
Randy Charach: I think it is absolutely wonderful, I really do. I’m happy and honored to be part of it. I know that other people that you’ve categorized as heroes and have invited into this program who are participating.
I am fortunate and blessed enough to be friends and acquaintances with many of them and I know that they are well-meaning people who are successful who are going to have a great impact on the lives of others. I am really happy about it and I fully support you and your efforts and the entire program.
David Hancock
David Hancock: I think it’s incredible. I think the fact that the In Search of Heroes program reaches beyond just a targeted niche of this one group over another, I think it’s going to be huge. It’s something I think the parents can share with their kids. It’s something business people can share with their employees. I think it’s something the youth can share among each other.
Joe Polish
Joe Polish: Here’s the truth, Ralph. I don’t know much about it. Although from the times that I’ve met with you and when I see what you’re doing, knowing very little about all you’re doing, I think it’s fabulous.
Whenever you can sit down and have conversations with people that can encourage others and give them direction and your motivations are to help children, to me, that’s very positive.
I think everyone that would pursue anything along those lines is adding a lot of value to the world and is doing a lot of great things. And I really hope that your “Heroes Program” does help a lot of people and gets a lot of messages out that, you know as well as I do, aren’t being broadcast by the news media.
Ralph Zuranski: I think the world needs hope. People like you that are successful, that have such great wisdom are important. The foundation of the program is based on Earl Nightingale’s teachings.
He said that the true success in life is somebody who pursues a worthy ideal and does it with every ounce of their strength and with every bit of excellence within them. If they can achieve a level of service and create a quality product that is so valuable to society they will achieve their financial dreams. Each person’s dreams are unique. As long as they are willing to have a goal and pursue it with excellence they will succeed.
Joe Polish: Absolutely. I really like Earl Nightingale, too. It’s just cool that you said that. I’ve listened to a lot of improvement programs. “Lead The Field” is one of Earl Nightingale’s programs. It is still produced by “Nightingale-Conant.” Everyone would get a lot of value out of just listening to that. Earl is great. The whole “how-to world” owes him a lot.
Ralph Zuranski: They do…”The Strangest Secret Of The Mind Of Man.”
Joe Polish: “The Strangest Secret” is great.
John Assaraf
John Assaraf: It is about time someone takes them serious and does something for the youth. We have got to start with our younger children.
See, you and I get to change our mind, with our children we have to help them make up their mind and so when we can give them the information no matter what backgrounds they come from, no matter how much schooling they have had, no matter what kind of errors they have made in the past, no matter what kind of hurt they have got in their hearts or in their minds, they can overcome them and they can do something worthwhile and meaningful, caring and spectacular starting with their life right now.
Lorrie Morgan Ferrero
Lorrie Morgan Ferrero: The way you got it going, it will have a huge impact. My only concern is that it’s only online, and while I am always online and a lot or most people are online I think, there are other people it won’t reach.
But, as it grows online hopefully it will be taken out in a bigger way as well and people will know there is a place for them and get some support. It’s a great program you’ve got going and it’s a heart-felt need that you’re filling.
Michel Fortin: Well, that’s the point. This is exactly what it is. What do you think it’s doing? It’s educating. This is exactly why I love this program and I was one of the first people to actually be fully aware of it and fully aware of my potential contribution to this program because I do believe that this program is not just a point of going out there and being heroes.
It is going out there to teach other people the power of being a hero and it educates them and then makes changes in their lives, who will then change the lives of the people around them, who will then just grow exponentially, and that’s, you know, this is – Ralph, you’ve seen the movie “Pay it Forward”?
That’s my point. You don’t necessarily have to be a hero or you don’t necessarily have to get somebody to become a hero. All you have to do is to educate others on what, how powerful it is to become one and if they do become one then they do it to others and then they do it to others and then they do it to others. It’s one huge multilevel marketing process.
David Garfinkel
David Garfinkel: I think that it’s such a great idea and I know that you’ve had this idea for a while. Until you sent me these questions and I had a chance to think about them, I didn’t realize how important it is and why it’s important.
One of the most important things is that we don’t talk about heroes that much as a society in general. I know that there are programs, leadership things, organizations that do, but I mean as a society as a whole.
To go out to schools and tell kids, “Hey, you don’t have to turn on the T.V. set or go to the movie theater, or open the newspaper to find heroes. You can find them right in your own back yard, in your own school, in your own community. You can find business people who are heroes.”
I think that is terrific. I also want to say that there is so much negativity these days. It’s almost cool to be cynical. It’s been that way for a while in our society. It seems to run through the course of the fabric of everyday life. I think that you are doing something to offer an alternative to that, Ralph.
That’s great.
Bret Ridgway
Well I think what you are doing is extraordinary and if you can spread the word that people fully understand the meaning of the program and why the real heroes of our society aren’t the ones in the tabloids and that our youth can begin to recognize that and see that there are positive examples out there outside the public eye then you will have created a very positive influence for a lot of people and I want to do my best to help you and wish you the best in spreading the word because spreading the word is such a positive examples of people can be there for them to see.
Perry Marshall
Perry Marshall: I think if you are asking these kinds of probing questions of business people you are certainly bringing out a whole dimension in business. Business people hardly ever get asked these kinds of questions.
You are trying to create some air time so younger people are hearing from business people and different leaders and getting the inside story. I think if the inside story gets heard it can only help.
Ralph Zuranski: The good thing about these questions in the heroes program is that it’s based on the philosophy of Earl Nightingale and his program “The Strangest Secret of the Mind of Man.” It’s the realization that people will only achieve the level of success that they desire until they actually become the type of person who has excellence and integrity. Until they begin providing a service to humanity that is worth the financial gain that they desire.
By letting people listen to these individuals like you who are very successful in the business world they are given role models. They learn from listening to the interviews.
They learn what type of people you have become and what you think about. They learn how your mind works and about testing those areas with difficult problems.
They learn how that will give them the role model that they need to basically become the type of people that will allow them to achieve the level of success that they desire. It’s going to be a lasting success.
Like what you were talking about earlier regarding those people who take the short cut and anything that is expedient. Rather than being like those people they learn to be like those who do the right thing when nobody is looking.
To be like those who provide quality service and that are always seeking to provide a service that goes above and beyond everybody’s expectation.
They learn that this is the true model for success. And they learn to not only to follow this in their personal and financial life, but in every area of life.
Perry Marshall: I think it is possible to be successful in a whole bunch of areas of life. I think a lot of people have this idea that they can be successful in business or help poor kids somewhere or do whatever but that they certainly can’t be successful in all the spheres.
Well, you certainly can’t do everything. But at the same time I think you can be successful in all the arenas of your life, at least in some measure. It’s not like I have to be a loser in this department and a winner in this other department.
Chuck Daniel
Chuck Daniel: I really like the concept behind the program, because, first of all, it teaches young people a set of valuable skills and it does it by providing them with role models who are already successful and so those role models can give them a great education and also opportunities to use what they learn.
If they can successfully learn the skills and use them to either help a business or create a business of their own, they can see how to provide valuable products, and they can also see that by providing that value that they can be compensated for that.
That’s fantastic, because they don’t teach this in regular school classes. You learn some valuable stuff in there but you don’t learn about entrepreneurship. You don’t learn about building a business. You don’t learn about how to figure out what is valuable in providing that value and it’s that value that you get compensated for.
So I think it has a wonderful effect on the students involved, because they can actually see it work and then they can take those skills forward with them into whatever they ultimately decide to do.
And parents gain confidence because they can say this is something they can help encourage their children to do and this particular avenue is something that is probably more positive than if their time was occupied in other ways.
And of course, business people get the benefit of these student’s enthusiasm and they can get help to accomplish their business goals for probably a lot cheaper than they could if they actually had to hire the experts and the business people themselves can give back their expertise.
So it’s a nice big circle where everyone benefits from everyone else. I really see that as the impact that it has on all of those people.
Frank Deardurff
Ralph Zuranski: What do you think about the In Search of Heroes program and its impact on the youth, parents and business people? You were one of the first people to offer to help with logos and web creation and I really appreciate your help on that. What do you think about the program in general?
Frank Deardurff: I think it is a great program and I’m surprised how many people have put forth an effort to try to help you out.
Ralph Zuranski: Yea, that’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?
Frank Deardurff: People that you know are very, very busy and that have taken the time to step aside and take a few minutes to help you out or give of their abilities.
Of course all the time and effort that you are putting into it, the countless hours and the interviews and the preparations and the mind-mapping and everything that you have got into it I think is overwhelming.
Ralph Zuranski: It’s really a lot of work. That is for sure. But making the world a better place is something that God has put on my heart to do and no matter what I am going to do it.
Frank Garon
Frank Garon: Well, Ralph, I think it’s great what you’re doing. I think it’s a celebration of the average person and a reaffirmation that doing the right thing has its own rewards, that you’re not alone. You can find heroism, fulfillment, enjoyment, and satisfaction just in day-to-day events because I celebrate the average person.
Jason James
Jason James: I think it’s tremendous because you are just sort of spreading the right message and that’s the message of having heroes, people to look up to, staying positive, making the right decisions in life. Your web site, InSearchofHeroes.com, is just unbelievable.
There is so much great information on there. It is so motivating to go to your web site and listen to interviews and see the difference you have made in people’s lives, especially young people.
In business, you have been to these conferences and seminars and put up the pictures and take down the interviews and there is just tremendous information there for people to take and it’s all free. It’s unbelievable what you have done. I’m so glad to be part of it so thank you so much for having me in your heroes program.
Jason Potash
Ralph Zuranski: What do you think about the In Search Of Heroes program and its impact on youth, parents and business people?
Jason Potash: I think it’s a great idea and I commend you for putting together the program, because no one has tried to make that blend between business, youth and also family and tying it all together, and having role models that children can follow.
I was fortunate enough early in life that my father was an entrepreneur. He had his own company for many many years and I was exposed to that environment. Strangely enough, I still decided to become an entrepreneur.
I’m just joking! Because my dad was never home, he worked weekends, he worked during the summer. When all the kids were out playing basketball, he was at the office.
Obviously, he had to sacrifice. I learned that you have to sacrifice to come ahead. He did very well and was very successful and got to a point in his life, I remember one point where my dad was on the couch in the afternoon for most of the summer.
I was like, “Dad aren’t you working?” He was like, “I’m just going to watch a ball game on T.V. and take it easy.” He didn’t do much at all but he put in the effort to make it happen. Again, I was fortunate I had a role model and a Hero in my life who was an entrepreneur.
I think that in the school system, they don’t teach entrepreneurialism, they don’t teach people to have the desire to want to be a creator, be a visionary, to want to go out on their own.
You usually just learn the 1-2-3s of being involved in a business or accounting, history or geography, whatever it might be. Even in high school and grade school, I know that no one really struck me as a Hero. Even in the academic system that inspired me to want to become self employed or an entrepreneur, or to let me know there were options out there.
I don’t have to work for the man, punch a time clock and like everybody, go to grade school, graduate high school, go and get a job. You work for that job about 10 years, get another job and that’s it. You are there for 20 or 30 years and you retire and whatever. Then it’s moving down to Florida to enjoy your retirement.
That does happen. But as you know Ralph, small business fuels the economy. Most of the jobs created right now are created through small businesses. Entrepreneurs, they fuel and drive the economy as well because they are the visionaries, creating the ideas. They are creating companies today with one employee that become the companies that have 5,000 people tomorrow.
Without those entrepreneurs and those visionaries and those people that are willing to take the chance and risk it all to make it happen, no matter what negative circumstances and consequences may lie ahead of them, those are the ones that are making a difference.
I think it’s great you are getting to the source, as we talked about changing society as a whole, it all begins with the children, it all begins with those that are impressionable, those that are young, those that are going through the school system.
I think it’s great you are trying to appeal to them, to get them to share some of the views and the beliefs that you have as it applies to being an entrepreneur. I think that a lot of good will come of it, by giving people those Heroes they can latch onto to hopefully aspire to bigger and better things in business and their careers.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s funny that you say that, because most of the other Heroes that I have interviewed, they all considered that it was the entrepreneurs, the people that made a choice to follow a different path, to strive to be the best they could be, to provide services that would be so valuable that people would actually pay them money for that, they are the real people that would transform the world basically in a good way.
Most of the school systems are geared just to turn people into employees. It suppresses their creativity, their ability to think. All they come out are people that are dependent upon the system. Do you think that’s true?
Jason Potash: I think it’s very true. Again, my wife is a teacher so I have to watch what I say.
She agrees too. The school system, academia, is not geared toward grooming and molding entrepreneurs. It’s grooming you to hopefully find a skill, an area that you would think you would enjoy working within and basically take you down the path so you can become a good and effective employee.
I’ve been through university, dropped out of university, been to college, luckily made it through college. In terms of what I learned in college and university, I think one of my bosses early in life said it best. He said, “You go through grade school and then once you go through college/university, all it really becomes is an exercise in stress management.”
You look at business. There are constantly curve balls thrown at you. I don’t care if you are self employed or work for somebody else. You’ve got projects, deadlines, you’ve got things to do in an amounts of time you think that can’t be done. You are juggling multiple projects. Companies are downsizing, they are outsourcing. You’ve got more stuff on your plate than ever before, and in many cases, you are making the same money, if not less than you were several years ago.
It too, is an exercise in stress management. I really think that getting essays in on time, your thesis, working on projects, presentations and studying every night that just really develops the foundation for you having the skills and the stress management skills to survive in the business world. But it is not teaching you how to survive as an entrepreneur.
In many cases, it’s totally doing the opposite. It’s grooming you to become a cog, a wheel in the machine, a spoke in the hub of an organization to do your role and that’s about it. It’s a totally different world when you basically cut the apron strings.
You cut the parachute off and you survive without a net as an entrepreneur, knowing that there is no paycheck, no benefits, there’s nothing. And obviously you have a gun to your head every day of the week because if you don’t produce, you don’t eat, you don’t pay the mortgage, you don’t pay the car payments and everything falls down like a house of cards.
I totally agree that the school systems have really not done anything to address this, to encourage it. It’s kind of a shame, because as I said, we all know that small business is really what fuels the economy. It fuels job growth, and that starts with entrepreneurs.
It’s developing that fertile soil in the school system and planting those seeds at such a young age. People who do venture off into entrepreneurialism are doing that by accident or stumbling on it by mistake, or they happen to aspire towards or have an influence in their life.
But there are probably so many other people, if exposed to even Heroes early in their high school years, would maybe take a shining to some of the things you and I talked about and hopefully looking at being an entrepreneur as a “career choice,” just like being a doctor, nurse, fireman or firewoman, whatever it might be. It’s very important.
Kevin Hurley
Kevin Hurley: I think you’re doing a wonderful job like I said, Ralph. I hope everybody is listening up. I hope it’s inspiring you to become a hero. Again, you don’t have to go out and make a million dollars; you don’t have to be on TV. You could go to the local food bank and help put some stuff together for the holidays. I’ll be down at the Salvation Army Christmas Day serving up some stuff.
Len Thurmond
Len Thurmond : Ralph, when you first told me about this I thought it was an unbelievable idea. I was completely honored that you asked me to be part of it. I’m sure I’ve gone into a lot more detail than you wanted me to, but I do appreciate the opportunity. I’m a very outspoken person when it comes to things like this.
I’ve heard some of the other interviews that you’ve done and if we can find a way to get these interviews to people who need to hear them, we can change the world. It’s amazing how you’ve interviewed people who were mostly my peers, people whom I know, people who’ve been successful. A lot of people who’ve had similar stories to what we’ve done. Everybody has had their own crosses to bear and their all different, but they are all equally as upsetting and they’re not unlike millions of other people out there.
If we can find a way to get this out to people, to let them know that it’s okay to be them, to let them know that not only is it okay, but it’s good to be them and that they can move on and be whatever they want to be. They can become the success stories that they want to be.
As I said earlier, success has nothing to do with money; it has to do with being happy. Then we can do a world of good with this. I personally will do anything and everything I can to help get this out there. This is an amazing project, one that’s long overdue and I think the only trial ahead of us is figuring out how we can get this in front of the people who need to see it and need to hear it.
My hope for this is that anyone listening to this will pass it on to those who need to hear it or those who have the ability to give it to those who need to hear it. If my story can help anyone, that’s incredible. That’s my life’s goal is to help anyone.
As I said earlier, if you can help make a difference in one person’s life, I honestly believe that that is the definition of success. But with all of the other interviews you’ve done, with all of the other testimonials that you have, with all the other affirmation of life that you’ve got on here, I can’t see how this could be anything but an incredible life-giving project; one that could save literally millions of lives.
Right now it’s a matter of getting to the right people. It’s a matter of getting it to the schools. It’s a matter of getting it to the churches, to the suicide centers, to the people who are really hurting who really need to hear these things; who need to know that it’s not over, that there is hope.
Not only is there hope, but that they can do whatever they want and that it’s time to stop listening to the crap that’s been filled into their heads. That’s not what life is about; they can do whatever they want. I applaud you.
I can’t think of a better way to help the world than with something like this. I want you to know that I will do everything that I can to try and get this out to the people who need to hear it because I think it is the most heartfelt and important project that I’ve seen in a long, long time.
Ralph Zuranski: Well, Len, I really thank you for that, and it’s been a project I’ve worked on for 14 years. I’ve sacrificed my life for it because God put it on my heart to make a difference in the world for good.
There’s no reason why kids have to go through the mistakes I made and that you made and just the self loathing and all the ways that we tried to destroy our own lives.
It’s my dream to have people like you who are my heroes to help make this product and this program successful, and to help the up and coming generation so that they can make the world a better place; that we truly can have love and peace without war and prosperity and feed the masses. I really thank you for taking your time and I appreciate your offer for help. Thanks again.
Paul Colligan
Paul Colligan: You know, I think this is a great program. I was peeking around the website. You’ve got to think bigger than yourself. It doesn’t matter where you are, and because you know, then you aim for something. If you are just aiming for what’s already there, there is no real reason to get up, no real reason to do much. And look for something bigger.
Cameron Johnson
Cameron Johnson: I mean, just imagine if every single person in this great country and in the world could hear all of these interviews, and what they would take away from them. You know, the people that we can touch are really the people who are normally seeking out help.
They are actually the ones who have the ambition and motivation to take the first step, though, and actually go and find positive influence such as the “In Search of Heroes” program. But I think its impact on youth, parents, and business people is only positive. I think that anything that is positive is good.
I think positive cash flow is good! So I think positive impact is so powerful, and I think that I am thankful that you have spent so much time doing these interview and creating this program, because there is so much value in it. So many people can learn so much from all the different people you have interviewed.
Mike Filsaime
Mike Filsaime: I think we are blessed to have people like you in this world Ralph that get heroes together out there to work and speak and to help young kids. We need more things like that in the world and I’m so glad to participate in a program like this. I know that you’ve created some butterfly effects that will change people’s lives and young people’s lives.
They’ll look back and one day they’ll do an interview with a successful radio show or television station. Someone will ask “What was it that changed your life?” They’ll say it was a program called In Search of Heroes and they’ll talk about it.
I think you are leaving a legacy here Ralph and I want to commend you and applaud you for what you are doing for young kids. It’s the most selfless act a human being can do. I am very proud of you.
Donna Fox
Donna Fox: I think the In Search of Heroes Program is truly phenomenal. That you are able to see the hero in everyone and allow that heroism to trickle down and seed of heroism gets planted at a very young age.
Whether that seed gets the water and the soil and the nutrients it needs to grow is really up to the lessons that we teach young people as they grow. The seed is there but do we feed it? Do we nurture it?
The In Search of Heroes Program is going to do exactly that by telling every story of every person who is phenomenal, and every person is phenomenal. It builds and it grows.
If there is one person out there who hears this interview and thinks, “Donna is not all that special and look what she did. Now she is pretty successful. I can do that, too.” That is priceless.
Tom Beal
Tom Beal: I was real excited to hear about it in March 2005 when you first told me about it. I was really excited to hear that you were putting these things together for years. The wisdom that’s going to be shared I think is going to dramatically impact people’s lives.
Similar to when Napoleon Hill studied all the top experts of the 1900’s. I think the wisdom you have captured and are willing to share with the youth and society as a whole will positively impact future generations.
DJ Dave Bernstein
DJ Dave Bernstein: I think it’s amazing. I think it’s absolutely amazing. I think that anything that motivates people to be the best person they are, to do the best job they can is just incredible. And you’re doing with the In Search of Heroes Program exactly what I’m doing with my www.DaddyDays.net site.
I mean, I’m trying to show single fathers how to not be negative, but to make a negative lemon into lemonade. In Search of Heroes Program, you are making heroes out of regular people as well.
Single fathers, single mothers, right down to the people who need it the most. People who’ve been abused and ridiculed. and been told that they’re never going to succeed and it’s just so nice that there are people out there like yourself that are telling people, “you know what, you can make a difference. You can make a difference in your house, you can make a difference in your city, you can make a difference in your country!”