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(upbeat music) (inspiring music) (inspiring music continues) - Welcome to "Business Forward."

I'm your host, Matt George.

Joining me tonight, Glenn Bowie.

Speaker, author, trainer, consultant, all around great guy.

I got to meet him a few weeks ago, and I'll tell you, we've already become friends.

Welcome, Glenn.

- Hey, thanks for having me, Matt.

It's a pleasure to be here with you.

- Well, let's start off with you, because this is really, I've got your book here next to me, and I tell you, I read it, it is just an unbelievable read.

And I want you to talk about a few things, but growing up in Peoria, and then you're out in LA now, but you grew up in Peoria and the story is just unbelievable.

Take it away, let's talk.

- Sure.

Yeah.

I grew up in the projects in the Taft Homes, went to Irving School, and then my mom positioned us for middle class America, and then we moved to Peoria Heights.

And I went to Von Steuben, Woodruff, and ultimately Western Illinois University and got my degree.

So that was the humble beginnings for me.

- Humble beginnings, but Taft Homes to LA to being a successful author to being one of the top salespeople with a company.

And your career's phenomenal, but you actually give credit to not just your mom, but also how you grew up.

Talk about that.

- Yes, growing up in the projects and middle class America, I tell you, it really opened me up.

Humble beginnings starting in Peoria, Illinois.

Just building relationships as a kid, I had a vision and goal for my life that I wanted to make something of myself, Matt, and I started out with vision boards at a young age, even before I even knew what a vision board was.

And that allowed me to dream big, and now I'm dreaming even bigger with building relationships, contacts, and I knew that I could make it, and that if I just believed in myself that I could do it, and I was determined to make it no matter what.

- So you're here in Peoria.

How did you end up in LA?

- I'll tell you, it's a great story.

I was waiting tables since I was going to college in Macomb at Western Illinois University.

I'd come back every weekend, saving money so I could help my mom out and also help pay for my books and schooling.

And I met a gentleman named Mr. Ray Becker, and I was working at a restaurant called the Raintree Restaurant.

It was a continental regency.

He found out I was going to college, started sitting in my section every night at my table.

And next thing I know, we became really good friends and did some business together, as well as he invited me to Los Angeles, California.

And I was just so excited to be able to connect with Mr. Becker on his private jet.

It was literally my first private jet ride out to California.

- How old were you?

- I was 24 years old.

- 24 years old.

I mean, I don't know of any 24 year olds that ride on private jets.

But he was special in your life.

Because there's two people when I heard you speak, when you were here for your book launch at the Peoria River Front Museum, you talked about two people a lot.

Ray Becker, and your mom.

And we're gonna get to your mom in a minute, but when somebody that you don't know and you meet, they put your arm around you in a mentoring way, they can kick open doors for you, and I loved the story of that continued relationship and a special person that was there at your book launch.

- Yes, there was quite a few special people at the book launch.

Ray Becker's daughter had heard me on the radio the day before and she came to visit me, and a lady reached out to me privately on Facebook.

And I had been in search of a photo for over 60 years when I was a mascot at Irving School, she reached out to me and found that photo that I hadn't seen that picture in over 60 years, and she hand delivered it to me at the museum.

And that really, really touched my heart.

- You know what I love about you is you had such a diverse crowd there, and I'm talking diverse in so many ways, every way you can think of, but I brought my young kids there and a couple little leaguers there, and I know Hedy Elliot had her kids there.

And the message that you had was not only inspirational for me and for the adults there, but you actually catered a part of your speech to the kids.

And I think that adaptability is what made this special.

And you could have kept talking and talking and talking, and the kids weren't bored because you were talking to them, with them, not at them.

And I thought that was a special gift you have.

- Well, thank you, Matt.

I mean, it's real important.

I mean, kids and children are our future, and I believe that they just need to have a pathway.

'Cause all it takes sometimes in business and in personal lives is just one little thing to make a difference in the life of someone else.

And that's how I was able to get to where I am, is just one or two little things that made a difference.

And that's what I was trying to get across to the kids, that if I can make it out of the projects or out of my environment, you can make it too.

- I love that.

I mean, you wrote a book, I've got it right here, "The Art of Speaking into Existence."

It shares your journey to prosperity and how you created your best life.

When you were thinking of, "I think I'm gonna write a book," what was the process in your mind?

Did you think, "Someone wants to hear my story," or did you wanna just tell the story?

Where did this come about?

Because the book is not only successful, it's a great read.

- Well, thank you.

Well, I had my first keynote speech back in, I think it was 2014 or so, I was at the LA Convention Center, about 5,000 kids were there.

And when I finished my speech, a kid walked up to me and he said, "That was a great speech."

And he said, "But where's your book?"

And I thought, "Wow, what a great concept."

I hadn't even thought about it.

So someone shared that idea with me.

I started journaling and writing it down every day, and took about four years to put that book together because I wanted to put something out there in the marketplace just to share my story.

And I was able to get Blair Underwood involved, John Combs, the West Region president of the company I was with.

And just some great people came on board and saw my vision.

And I just wanted to share it to the world, that being positive and being inspirational, and that you can make it.

- Yeah, you know what I love is, it gives you the principles and the beliefs and the attitude to help you create the life of your dreams.

And so let's go back again to you getting out to LA.

And who would've ever thought?

You come from Peoria, you go out to LA, and all of a sudden now you're one of the top, if not the top salespeople.

Can you talk about that for a second, because I thought that was one of the most interesting parts of your talk.

- Thank you, well, what was driving me, Matt, was when I graduated from college at Western Illinois, in your mind you always assume or think that you got a job waiting for you.

But that's not necessarily the case.

I knocked on over 200 doors to try to get a job in sales, and no one would hire me because I didn't have any sales experience.

And so I always take a negative situation no matter what it is and I turn it into a positive.

And that's what I did.

And I said, "Whoever's going to hire me to my first sales job, they're gonna get something real special."

And I went on to become a top sales producer in the country when I launched in Pagenet back in the day.

And that was my first sales job, and then it just escalated from there.

- So that was when they had pagers.

- It went from pagers before there was cell phones, then the president of the paging company left and went to Nextel.

And Nextel launched here in Los Angeles back in 1994, and it went viral.

And so I became a top sales producer for Nextel all across the country.

And then I became known and sell phones to the movie stars, and it just started snowballing from there, Matt, and it just really took off.

But most importantly, it was all about just building really solid relationships.

- Yeah, I mean, you talk a lot about, to the kids about having grit and to have manners and do all those things.

And I just keep going back, and I love this.

I mean, it's my favorite part of the story, is out of all the places in the world, you pick Hollywood basically.

And it's like the biggest city of cities, right?

I mean, there's New York City and there's LA, and you go out to Sunshine and you're a Peoria kid, and you go knock on the door, you were trying to find Richard Pryor.

And you found him.

Tell that story.

- Yeah, that was pretty cool.

Well, after we landed in Southern California with Mr. Becker, he said, "Well, what are you gonna do?"

And I said, "I'm gonna head up north to Los Angeles, to Burbank area," and so forth.

And I went, I had a cousin that worked at Warner Brothers.

And so I called my cousin.

I said, "Hey, Cuz, can you help me out?"

He said, "What do you need?"

I said, "Well, can you get me on the lot of Warner Brothers Studio and get me past security?

I wanna meet Mr. Richard Pryor."

And so he said, "Sure, I'll get you on the lot."

And I knocked on Richard Pryor's door and he wasn't there.

But he really was.

And I was so excited when he came out from the back in his Mudbone character and came out and said, "Say, boy, who's your people?"

And I was so excited that he came out in character.

And so we started chitchatting and talking, and next thing I know, we started talking about Peoria days.

And we had a lot of people in common.

We shared a lot of the same people in common.

And next thing I know, he invited me on in his movie, "Jo Jo Dancer."

- [Matt] So you were actually in the movie "Jo Jo Dancer?"

- I got the last scene of the movie, which was perfect timing.

He said, "Glenn, we're at the end of the movie shoot, I'd love to put you in the movie."

And I asked if I could bring my sister along because I didn't think anyone would believe the story.

So I took her with me as well.

(Matt laughing) Yep, and he directed the movie and got some good closeup shots and got a chance to see him.

And then even after the shoot, he was so kind to me that we went in his trailer and sat there and ate Dove bars and talked about Peoria for another good 30 or 45 minutes.

- I mean, how surreal is that?

I mean, you're talking one of the top comedians to ever walk this earth.

And he's from Peoria!

- That was the reason why, Matt, I wanted to meet him.

Because when I came to Los Angeles, I knew my uncle used to babysit him when he was a kid, and my uncle had told me always, "If you get a chance to meet him, go and meet him."

But most importantly, I knew he would inspire me, and that's what was driving me.

I was like, "Here's a guy, Richard Pryor from Peoria, Illinois out here in Hollywood" and it just inspired me that if he could do it, I could do it.

And so that was really pushed me forward after I knocked on those 200 doors was when I met Mr. Richard Pryor.

- So you worked at a hotel too, and I know that was before the sales piece, but you met a lot of celebrities, and they trusted you.

And one of those was Muhammad Ali, and you've got a story about him where he's got his hands up and he is ready to rock with you, right?

- Yeah, that was fun.

That was a really exciting time.

Getting Muhammad up to his room and sitting and visiting with him and sharing best stories and practices, and he really inspired me so much that I even called my brother in San Diego.

I said to him, "Would you like to meet Muhammad Ali?"

He jumped in his car and he came up and I even introduced my brother to Muhammad.

But he was just a great guy.

And he says, "Let's shadow box in the room."

And I said, "Are you serious?"

I said, "I don't know if I wanna do this."

And he said, "Come on, let's take some photos and have some fun with this."

So I've got a treasured picture of Muhammad Ali and I shadowboxing in his room.

- Isn't that crazy?

Who else did you run into?

- Oh, man, it goes on and on and on.

I don't know if you got enough time on the show for me to go through everybody.

- Well, one of 'em was Michael.

- Michael Jackson, Oprah Winfrey.

I became best friends with Walter Peyton back in Chicago.

Steve Perry of Journey.

I've met ZZ Top Billy Gibbons.

It just goes on and on and on.

But yeah, Michael was a great, great experience spending three months with him as well.

- I mean, yeah, these weren't just brushes, it wasn't just you saying, "Hey, what's up Michael?

I work here at the hotel."

I mean, you took care of him.

- Took care of him for about three months while he was working on his "Bad" album and sneaking around the hotel, and built trust.

That was the main thing I wanted to build with Michael, was that you could trust me.

But I was proud to tell him I was from Peoria, Illinois.

Every person I've met, I always start out, when I introduce myself to 'em and gave 'em a firm handshake, I let 'em know that I was from Peoria, Illinois.

- So, let's go back to sales for a second, because you were so successful in it.

Gimme an example of what you do or would do now to seal a deal.

If you were mentoring somebody that was going into sales, what are some of the most important things to be able to get the deal?

- I would say it starts from the basics, from the basic fundamentals.

It starts with a firm handshake.

It starts with looking a person in the eye and building that trust.

Being authentic, First understanding their business, what their needs are, and then you try to fulfill those needs by making and offering different types of solutions that can benefit their business.

And that's how I built my brand one at a time.

I've never knocked on a door, Matt.

I never cold called.

I built my brand, one of the largest databases in Los Angeles, strictly on referrals by taking care of the customer.

And I felt like if I could take care of them and build trust and build a relationship, that they would refer me to someone else.

And that's how I did it.

- That's pretty cool.

So how important is it to actually master the sales conversation?

- It's really important because if you understand a client's needs, then you can tailor your presentation to their needs, and then you can create a solution, a sticky solution that they'll never wanna leave you.

But if you follow up, and your word is your bond, that's really critical is the follow up after the meeting.

- So, looking ahead, what does the next three to five years look like for you?

- Well, the exciting part is I have my own presentation now called "Rise to the Top," and it teaches sales executives how to become top sales producer and it takes you through eight modules.

I'm working on putting that online, but right now I'm actually going out, doing live presentations to corporate America, teaching them the Glenn Bowie way of selling.

- Yeah, so the focus areas are not just selling, but what else?

- Relationship building, building trust, of how to close the deal, how to cultivate the relationship, and how to gain referrals.

- You talk about that relationship piece, and I know it's so important, but you seem like everybody that I've...

I was watching you and I watched you- The next night, I saw you at a fundraiser and everybody that- You befriended everybody.

And is that a learned talent or is that just you?

Because not everybody can do that.

- Yeah, it's just me.

I have friends of all walks of life and all faiths, and I respect everyone for who they are.

And I just love people and I love networking, and I'm passionate about building relationships and I'm passionate about what I do for a living.

And I think that's the key, because if you're passionate about what you're doing and you love what you're doing, it's not work, you just go to work every day and have fun.

But building relationships, and just being open to whoever it is, is critical, I think, to making a world a better place.

And that's what Glenn Bowie Speaks is all about, is inclusion, diversity, about helping everyone get what they need.

And you've gotta be of service to others.

- You talk about in the book, or you ask the question, "Are you living the life that you desire?"

- Yes, yes.

- Yeah.

- And that's what you have to look at every day, and be happy and be passionate about what you're doing.

- You told a story about somebody that had read your book and changed their life.

Can you share that?

- Yeah, I sure can.

My book has changed a changing a lot of people's lives, man.

I'm so grateful and I'm so humbled and thankful, but a 13 year old girl reached out to me on LinkedIn and put it on there and got hundreds and thousands of hits right away.

She did a term paper.

And a 70 year old man was retired, enjoying the fruits of his labor, and he decided to come outta retirement after reading my book to make a difference in the community.

But the most touching story, Matt, came right out of Peoria, Illinois.

A lady reached out to me privately on Facebook and said, "Glenn, COVID had me down.

I was 20 pounds overweight.

I was about ready to divorce my husband and I was about ready to give up on life.

But after reading your book," she said, "I'm back in the gym now.

I reconcile with my husband and I got a whole new purpose for living."

And to me, Matt, that's what life's all about, making a difference in the life of someone else.

I learned at a young age, in order for you to get what you want out of life, you've gotta help someone else get what they need.

And that's my motto.

- I love it.

You showed me a picture on your phone of almost a toddler that would go and pick up your book every day at his mom's house, and I just thought that was just so funny because you really don't know.

When you look at a cover or you look at a book, the brand really is interesting.

And you chose, I'm gonna hold it up, but you chose you on the cover.

And a lot of times when people see a picture of, you think it's an autobiography or something like that, but this actually shows confidence.

And when you read the story, the cover couldn't be any more perfect.

- Well, thank you.

Yeah, I had a great photographer out of San Diego and a great marketing team that helped put that together, but I just wanted to just show myself in a positive light to make a difference in the world.

- Do you think that photographer can make me look any better?

- Yeah.

(laughs) Hey, when you come out to LA, man, we'll set it up.

But you're looking good here on camera, buddy.

- Oh, so one of the things that I appreciate, and I talk about it all the time too is you talk about Peoria.

And I think that's really, really important to not only you, but it's also important to Peoria and it's also important to middle Illinois.

- Man, it's big.

Peoria's always been in my heart, and I'm looking to get back to Peoria and make a difference in the city.

I know Peoria and all over the country there's a lot of changes going on, and there's a lot of good and bad and a lot of different situations.

I wanna change the narrative in this country and also in Peoria, and just let kids know that there's another way out.

There's an alternative to the lifestyle that you might be leading.

And so being a mentor and finding a good mentor can make a big difference in your life, because mentors see things in you that you don't see in yourself.

- Yeah, I like that.

And I liked our conversation we had, we went for coffee one morning and we sat there and said, you and I together probably could do some fun things to make sure that our kids are on the right track.

I'd love to do that with you.

- I would love it too.

I welcome the opportunity, Matt.

I think there's a need for it, and we just need to fill that need.

- So, I don't know if you want to talk about this, but you recently found your daughter.

- Oh, man, I tell you, that's amazing.

And it would've never happened if it wasn't for my book.

And so I'm really honored that my book was able to find my daughter.

After what, 45 years?

I never knew I had a daughter back in Peoria.

And because of the book, she reached out to me and we got together and she got a chance to meet my mother before she passed away.

And I have two grandsons and a son-in-law back in Peoria.

So Peoria's calling me back, man.

I just buried my mom there last year, and there's something special about Peoria.

Because you know the saying.

If it plays in Peoria... - [Matt] That's right.

- Plays anywhere.

- Well, I love that story.

I want to end the show about your mom, because you talk about her a lot.

She was the stability for all of you in your life, right?

- My mother was the one that inspired me at a young age to go for it.

We were one of the first families to leave the Taft Homes.

And so she wanted us to have a better life, but most importantly, she taught us to never, ever forget where you come from, 'cause that's part of your roots, that's part of your story.

And use that in a positive way and use it to spring you forward, not to spring you backwards.

And so that was the key to my mother, is that her inspiration, her positivity inspired me.

To be able to work three jobs to support her kids.

And I'm so grateful that I was able to move her when she needed me the most.

She came and lived with me in my home for 27 years.

So I'm really excited that I was able to take care of her before bringing her back last year to Peoria.

- Well, it goes full circle, because she took care of you and she actually guided you to become the man who you are, right?

- Yes, man.

And my faith is important to me as well.

And that's one thing that she instilled in all of her kids, to believe in something or someone that's greater than yourself.

- You know, I love how you touch on a few topics here.

You touch on mentors.

I think that's a topic that's brought up a lot on this show.

You talk about having that self-confidence.

If you read the book, there is a lot of self-confidence in there.

Not arrogance, self-confidence, because I think that's what made you who you were.

And I'm gonna give your mom credit for that.

But also you being able to have that discipline to stay outta trouble, because you could stray anywhere.

It's easy to say, "I could have done this or that in Peoria," but it's also easy to say that in LA.

There's other vices out there!

- That is so true.

That is true.

And I just believe that you can speak your goals and dreams into existence.

And not just speak 'em, Matt.

You can meditate on it, you can pray on it, you can speak it out loud.

Because life and death's in the power of the tongue, man.

If you say positive things, speak positive things, man, something positive's going to happen.

- Yeah, well, I appreciate you coming on the show.

The book from Glenn Bowie, "The Art of Speaking Into Existence."

What a great man, a great show.

Thank you.

You're always welcome back.

And hey, come back to Peoria!

We need you, man.

- I'm looking forward to it, man.

It's gonna be great.

- All right.

- Thank you for having me.

- Glenn Bowie, thank you for coming on.

We're proud to have you back in this awesome community.

I'm Matt George, and this is another episode of "Business Forward."

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