By: Ken Bassman
President/CEO
BASSMAN BLAINE
Just hearing the word “challenges” evokes so many emotions. As a leader, employer, athlete, adventurer, entrepreneur, father, husband, son, brother, and friend, challenges are quite simply a part of my everyday life. I love a great quote or cliché, and so many come to mind as I think and begin to write about this. A few of my favorites are “that which does not kill you makes you stronger,” “smooth seas do not make skillful sailors,” “challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful,” and perhaps my very favorite “we don’t grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges.”
Looking back at my life from the vantage point of being almost 60 years old and wanting to believe that my experiences (good and bad) have made me the person and leader that I am today, I cannot help but to think that one specific life changing challenge has had the biggest impact. I tend to remember and focus on way more of the good than the bad, but there is no sugar coating what happened 47 years ago on May 31st, 1975, as a twelve-year-old boy. I will never forget answering the phone on this Memorial Day afternoon, handing it to my dad and standing next to him when he was told that my mom had suddenly died. It took about a week or so to learn how, but at 39 years old, my mom had a massive stroke. There were no warnings, no chance to say goodbye, and life as I know it was never going to be the same.
I have always prided myself on being someone who enjoys a challenge, the bigger the better. Not that it is always fun when you are in the eye of the storm, but coming out on the other side, whether successful or not is where the growth is. Challenge and change are inevitable; there is just no staying still, you are either growing or dying. I choose growing, and challenges and overcoming them are the fuel to the growth.
I have certainly made my very fair share of mistakes, both in life and in business. As a serial entrepreneur, I have started fourteen companies (and counting); it is from the failures and challenges and the process of overcoming them where the real growth and education has come from. In fact, one of the main reasons why I enjoy leadership, coaching and mentoring as much as I do is that the lessons learned from the countless challenges that I have faced have provided so much perspective and an ability to help others not make the same mistakes. I look forward to new challenges and new mistakes and only hope that I practice what I preach and not repeat the same ones. So far, so good, at least for the most part.
I grew up in the Los Angeles suburbs of the San Fernando Valley in the city of Northridge. Looking back on my childhood with the benefit of experience and hindsight, it was probably not nearly as idyllic as I like to remember it. But I like this about myself; a bit Pollyannaish, I tend to remember the good and let the not so good and/or the bad just fade away. I grew up in a typical (slightly just above) middle class neighborhood with my parents and one brother who is 13 months older than I. My dad was a travelling salesman, and although a genuinely nice man, not an overly engaged father. From losing my mom at 12, my brother and I were left largely to our own devices.
I often say that in my early to mid-teens I was a Straight A juvenile delinquent; nothing too bad, just finding trouble. I have often wondered how different things might have been had my mom not died so young. Tony Robbins, who is one of my mentors, says and teaches that “life is happening for you and not to you.” I have spent a lot of time contemplating and thinking on this and I absolutely love it. From an early age, I became extremely independent and selfsufficient. I learned how to advocate and look out for myself, how to plan, how to budget, how to motivate myself, how to get things done and how to make things happen. My mom was a doting and hands-on mother, and I’m pretty sure that she would have been doing most things for me through most of my teens, but obviously that was not the case.
Of course, many others have had similar circumstances, and many have been through far worse that losing a parent at 12, but this was my reality, and in reflecting, the first very major challenge of my life.
Another impactful challenge that I have contended with is one that I share with many Americans, and many all around the globe for that ma- tter. As I reflect on my career, the biggest professional challenge that I went through was the great Recession of 2008/2009. I live in Newport Beach, CA, and in 2001, my family stepped up to a bigger house in the beautiful neighborhood where we have lived since 1999. All was going well, we were enjoying a growing business and a growing family, and in 2008, things came to a standstill.
My wife had left a great corporate career in 1998 and was the full-time mom to our three (amazing) daughters. We were not necessarily living beyond our means, but it was close. When the recession hit, it hit our business and industry extremely hard. Quite vividly, I remember staring at my ceiling for several hours most nights from about 1:00 or so in the morning. My thoughts were usually relating to our expenses; we had cut out all non-essential expenses at home and for the first time in my post college adult life, were living on a strict and no-frills budget.
On the business front, we tightened some screws, and I went without a paycheck for over six months, but instead of leading from the fetal position and stopping to spend or invest, I decided that this was exactly the time to expand. Three opportunities presented themselves which led to three new business channels. Thirteen/fourteen years later, two of these are some of the best and biggest things that my company does. This was quite the balancing act, as our cash flow was tight and I was not taking a paycheck; we had payroll, commissions, rent and expenses to pay, but not enough coming in to get a good night’s sleep. Especially with the benefit of hindsight, I am so glad that I faced this huge challenge with a forward-looking attitude and mindset. Had I frozen (like a deer in the headlights) to wait out the tough times (of the recession) and did not create and follow up on opportunities, I am certain that my business would not have survived. Although I am not sure that this would have worked at the time as we were teetering on the edge, again, with the benefit of hindsight, I do like the idea of pay yourself first.
Years later, on my ever-expanding quest for personal and professional growth and development (thank you to my wife, Teri, for starting me on this), I have learned so much more. Tony Robbins calls this (or significant challenges) “Winter.” The truth is that winter is always coming; preparing for winter is something that I am always thinking of and constantly doing. Winter is where Kings and Queens are made. To me, this is facing challenges head on, almost relishing them, looking at them as opportunities and having the mindset that life is happening for me and not to me, as it is for you.
As Covid made its way to the US in March of 2020, and almost overnight, the country and the economy shut down, there was no panic. I was practiced and prepared to make tough decisions and take swift and massive action. Once again, the cash flow faucet was turning off, and we, like everyone were in unchartered waters. I am so proud of the fact that we acted with tremendous integrity as well as respect and understanding for our employees and did the right thing by our business and customers as well. We faced the challenges (winter) head on, found ways to reinvest in our company, shortened the necessary furloughs as much as possible. made key strategic hires and were ready to pursue and create new opportunities for growth. I am so proud to say that we were well positioned to have our best year ever in 2021, and of this writing, just over halfway through 2022, this will be our best year ever, or at least so far, as I like to say. If the country falls into recession, we will react from a place of Teamwork, Integrity, Growth, Excellence and Respect (our company’s core values), and take the challenges that come our way head on. As Winston Churchill said, “when you find yourself in hell, keep going.”
Wishing you much success and satisfaction overcoming (and appreciating) your challenges.
Sincerely, Ken Bassman
