Rich Von Learns What is Important in Life
Rich Von turned toward marketing when he found his work as a tradesman was limiting his life and career and growth options. Not only was his life in the trades financially thwarting, it was also preventing him from achieving the personal growth that he sought. The first step in building a real future for himself and his family started when Rich Von began his career in marketing in 1989.
However, once his marketing team began experiencing great financial success, Rich Von began to feel an even greater responsibility. Not only was he responsible for himself, Rich Von recalls, but he also had the responsibility of an entire team. One day, he sat down with some of the top representatives in his sales organization and just listened. Rich Von noticed their enthusiasm had begun to wane. The deeper he dug, the more unhappy he realized people were.
Rich Von began to look at his own life. While he’d joined the sales and marketing industry because he enjoyed it, Rich Von says that “the fire had gone out of things.” Further complicating the situation was his personal life. He’d been unable to spend as much time with his wife as he wanted and he felt he wasn’t able to be the father he wanted to be.
One day, Rich Von ’s wife told him what had been bothering her. He was no longer happy, and it showed. The passion Rich Von had once felt for what he was doing was gone and he didn’t seem like the same person anymore. He’d put on 30 pounds, Rich Von recalls, and he wasn’t the same person he’d once been.
According to Rich Von, he began to think about what his wife had told him and realized he felt as though he was serving a prison sentence. While he’d once loved what he did, that love was gone and he wanted to find a way to get it back.
After deep soul-searching, Rich Von realized the company wasn’t what it once had been. The company’s actions didn’t match what he believed, and the company’s actions didn’t even match what company management said they stood for. Even though they’d tell both present and potential workers and associates that they believed these things, they weren’t “walking the talk,” says Rich Von.
Rich Von learned something valuable. If someone isn’t enjoying his or her work and feels “stuck,” Rich Von says it won’t work. Just as it’s important to earn money to enjoy life, Rich Von believes it’s equally important to find something we love to do while earning that money. It’s a principle he lives by today.
Rich Von is a business owner and former marine technologist. Currently, he is a partner in Von Vesting, Inc., where he works alongside Tiffani Von, Mike Harman and Kale Flagg, turning distressed properties into successful investments.
