Behind the Sparkle-MAVILO's Legacy: An Inspiring Conversation with Jeweler and Entrepreneur, Mark Oliva

Transcript

Ernestine 0:00

Welcome to Bon Vivant Chic-Life Well Lived the podcast. For anyone who wants to cut through today's noise and just listen for a few minutes to meaningful conversations on the human experience and the power of connectedness. I'm your host Ernestine Morgan, an advocate for kindness with a passion for showcasing human interest stories. If that matter today, I'm delighted to be sitting down with Mark Oliva. Mark is a notable award-winning jewelry designer and a third generation entrepreneur. He is the president of MAVILO Wholesalers, a family owned business established in 1983 as a Tampa based diamond wholesaler and jewelry manufacturer so let's get started. Mark, thanks so much for sitting down with me today.

Mark 0:47

Thank you.

Ernestine 0:47

Can you please share a little bit about where you grew up and what life was like?

Mark 0:52

I'm proud to say I grew up in Tampa with a very strong Cuban Spanish, Italian heritage, which is common for most of the people originally from Tampa. Life was all about family. And there were friends that make you feel like family. In those days there was, no place you went that somebody didn't know you or know your family. Tampa is very much a small town, not like it is today, but I think that's part of, most of the people you speak to from Tampa have that in common. Some of us from that heritage tend to have many, many things in common. And in Tampa you've just felt like anybody and everybody was family,

Ernestine 1:23

Is your father the first generation

Mark 1:25

actually my great-grandfather. My grandfather came from Cuba. But my great-grandfather was already here. And that's how he met My grandmother. He immigrated from Cuba and, he met my grandmother and that's where he started in the tobacco business. Our heritage is definitely here in Tampa.

Ernestine 1:41

Tell me about some of your fondest memories growing up here in Tampa.

Mark 1:46

Tampa was all about traditions. The fondest memories are cousins birthdays, summers in Anna Maria Island, Sunday Church Traditions, Big Christmas Eve which is the Noches Bueno in the Cuban family, which is supposed to be all family, but it's family and friends and everybody coming for that night. That's where traditionally, the men. Cook a pig.

Ernestine 2:04

Oh, you do a whole pig.

Mark 2:05

A whole pig. You cook the pig in the ground. It's an all day event. You're smoking cigars, cooking the pig. And then, the party could start at 11:00 AM and it doesn't end till two or 3:00 AM so in the. Cuban tradition the Nona, the Christmas Eve, there's really, you don't get up the next day. It's food, it's family, it's music, and it's just everybody coming together in a tradition that most of the Cuban culture and Latin culture. And what's great about Tampa is that all the cultures. Whether you were Cuban, Spanish, Italian, almost kind of took that tradition and brought it together. And I'm a great example of that, where my mother's Italian, Cuban, Spanish, my father's Cuban, so everybody comes together.

Ernestine 2:43

Are some good meals in your family gatherings.

Mark 2:45

It's what it's all about those memories really are the foundation of who you are as a person. I think the ability to connect with everybody in different cultures and, just that security as a person that when you have that family and those friends, you can't take that for granted. We grew up when it was actually a small city.

Ernestine 3:00

Ah.

Mark 3:01

But it was very connected in its way. We've been lucky, I guess, to see the city expand and grow. It's not the city it was, but it does have some of that DNA that really makes it what it is today. You can't come to Tampa, not think of Ybor City. Think of the great Cuban culture. The Italian culture. If you look around all the historic buildings, those were all cigar factories. I think that draw to Tampa. And what makes Tampa really, really unique is that it's probably the only place in the world where the Italians, the Cubans, the Spaniards, the Jews and the Americans all came together. And that's the flare. That's the draw. Of course. We had great ports. Great weather. But it just really, Tampa it was a special place. I

Ernestine 3:40

know they're trying to revitalize Ybor also, aren't they?

Mark 3:44

They have for many, many years. Ybor has always had its, struggles back and forth. But I think now finally, as the downtown moves closer. To Ybor City and now Tampa General's building a hospital there's a lot of development that sort of organically will feed off of the new development there. I think anybody and most people that come to Tampa, when they go to the Columbia restaurant, that's

Ernestine 4:04

yes. Oh, that salad, the 19

Mark 4:06

Yes.

Ernestine 4:07

Oh four

Mark 4:07

salad, 1905 salads. Or

Ernestine 4:09

1905

Mark 4:10

Uhhuh

Ernestine 4:10

wrong year.

Mark 4:10

Yeah, it's okay. Close enough. There's, of course us, having lived in, being raised here. It's almost like I had a customer in the showroom the other day. They started to talk and I asked him, I said, are you from Tampa? He said, how'd you know? I said, there's just something about a Tampa person I could tell.

Ernestine 4:22

Is that right? I

Mark 4:23

said, what is your background? He says, my mother's Italian. My father's Cuban. I said, there you we always tell everybody this is the Cuban sandwich. You have the roast pork from the Cuban the pickles American, the ham, the Spaniard if you look at what a Cuban sandwich is, the culture is thrown in a sandwich and

Ernestine 4:37

Oh yes, that's clever.

Mark 4:39

The memories are family. And the memories are the gatherings and. That's again, our culture for most of, if you speak to anybody born and raised in Tampa you're gonna just get that sense.

Ernestine 4:48

Have you carried that through with your family too? Things are so different today, aren't they?

Mark 4:53

They are, but they're not. A lot of what we do is very similar, just done in a more modern way. surely the parties aren't as big as they used to, although they, depending on who wants to carry the ball that year. Then they are, but the tradition itself is exactly the same.

Ernestine 5:05

Oh, thats wonderful.

Mark 5:07

Maybe it's not done as bigger in a different location, but I think if you ask my children they would say absolutely. And I think most Tampa people, even Italian, Spanish Cuban, they're still running the same traditions. Just go down to, west Tampa, two or three days before Christmas and ask 'em how many pigs they're cooking.

Ernestine 5:23

Oh.

Mark 5:23

So it's definitely that night, has a special place in everybody's heart, that Christmas Eve night. And definitely it surrounds around family and food and a great time we're all the generations, whether you're, the great grandparents. The grandparents, everybody is just celebrating together.

Ernestine 5:38

Yeah. What are some of your fondest memories of being a kid? Growing up in Tampa, you have the gatherings at, Christmas Eve. What was it like growing up as a kid?

Mark 5:47

For me, obviously the family is, the understanding and the importance of the family business. You couldn't get away from it. My grandfather Came here, immigrated with a third grade education. So for him, education for everybody was really, really important. They were in the tobacco business, which Tampa was the cigar capital of the world. They were blessed to have, a good business, with that being said, I spent a lot of time with them and I got the opportunity at 12 years old to travel to Central, south America. With them. and that was a game changer because to see those countries at 12 years old is, I think for anybody, I think all children should go to a third world country at a young age. And see how that transforms their life and how they really believe that this is the greatest country in the world at that young age. It also allows you to understand different cultures. Probably one of the greatest gifts my grandfather and grandmother gave me is that I learned to speak Spanish.

Ernestine 6:34

Oh, wonderful.

Mark 6:35

And even in today's, I think it's probably one of the greatest things that I ever did. Not only understanding the culture, being able to communicate with different cultures that speak Spanish. 'cause when you speak Spanish, you can speak to Central South American, even sometimes Brazilian, even Italians. So it really opens up your mind

Ernestine 6:50

and that certainly has helped you in your business, right?

Mark 6:53

Absolutely.

Ernestine 6:53

Yeah. Who had the biggest influence on you when you were young

Mark 6:57

My grandparents, and of course my parents and family in general. I spent a lot of time with them. I have to say that, he was self-made, very much. Whatever it took for him to succeed and to, his relationship with my grandmother, they were married 68 years.

Ernestine 7:11

Wow.

Mark 7:12

Help his family. He was a very, very wise person. He's very, very intuitive I have to say that, when I look around, I look at his intuition and I look at things he did, and if he hadn't done what he did none of us would be here today. I wouldn't be speaking to you. Even my father would say in business, he looked to my grandfather, Hey, what's the next step? That's, that wisdom or that intuition.

Ernestine 7:31

What was your first job and how do you think it shaped you?

Mark 7:34

I have to say, I'd never worked for anybody in my life. My first job actually was I started a small landscape company with my cousin.

Ernestine 7:41

Did you?

Mark 7:42

Yeah, and probably 13, 14 years old. We borrowed his grandfather's truck

Ernestine 7:46

Uhhuh,

Mark 7:46

and we went around the neighborhood and we did landscaping. I knew this wasn't a long-term plan, but as that kind of got old near our house there was a jeweler, so I just walked in one day. I just walked in the store and said, Hey, Tampa was small. He knew my family.

Ernestine 7:58

Yeah.

Mark 7:59

He kind of needed some help so I said, well, let me help you in the store and let me take this and sell this and that and the other. So I felt like I kinda had a knack for it. I kinda liked it. It was exciting. It had creativity in it. But at that point, I wanted to expand more. I wanted to do more. And at, 14 years old, I asked a customer of mine, she was a travel agent, I said, can you book me a trip? I wanna go to Miami and start to buy some merchandise.

Ernestine 8:19

Oh my gosh.

Mark 8:20

So, I went down to Miami family down there. They picked me up at the airport. I stayed at their house. I had a couple thousand dollars. I spent it and, came back and sold it all.

Ernestine 8:27

Wow.

Mark 8:28

Most of all of those, people that I sold to back then are still customers today. That was kind of the start of something that ignites in you. And said, I have an knack for this. I like it. Throughout Jesuit and University of Florida and St. Thomas University, I continued the side hustle. School was never a hundred percent my thing. Since I was 12, 13. I just wanted to work. I did school because I had to do it and I went to grade schools and got average grades. And I was at a, your early age, I was what they would diagnose as, dyslexic. You have reading disabilities later, come to find out some of the most brilliant people in the world are dyslexic.

Ernestine 8:59

Mm-hmm.

Mark 9:00

And, you know, it wasn't anything to hold you back. It was just something that you. Really didn't think much of you just did what you did.

Ernestine 9:05

Yeah.

Mark 9:05

Yeah, I've really never worked for anybody. I don't know if that's an advantage or disadvantage, but it's a plan that God had for me.

Ernestine 9:11

How did you get into jewelry making? You are so talented, creative, amazing. I've seen some of your work at the store and on people, and it's absolutely gorgeous.

Mark 9:22

You have to have a love for it. And I think you have to have a connection with people if you don't really understand somebody's style or understand how they're gonna wear something, or what they're comfortable with. Can't design in your own space. You have to design in everybody's space. But you have to do it right. And it comes over time and learning. And of course, technology has changed our ability to design today because we can use computer-aided design, 3D modeling. But at the end you can have all of that. But if you can't connect to a customer, then the design's not gonna translate. If you have access to, materials, whether it's diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds. First and foremost, we had to travel the world. We had to go find the material. And in today's world, you can kind of produce things, but you have to be able to produce them in a way that are attainable.

Ernestine 10:04

Mm-hmm.

Mark 10:04

So we all love Harry Winston and we love all the Masters, but are we walking in and buying that every day? Not really. So what we try to do is make things accessible. And, make things that really become heirloom in a way that you really see people wearing them.

Ernestine 10:17

Mm-hmm.

Mark 10:17

And of course we have our hoarders that just love to buy, buy, buy. They just want the treasure chest.

Ernestine 10:22

So you started out selling wholesale diamonds and jewels to jewelry makers. And then you got into making jewelry yourself,

Mark 10:31

When I graduated from Florida. And then went to the Gemological Institute of America. When I came back, I had been trading with a gentleman for years. He was a great guy. But he wasn't a business person. But he was very smart and when I came back I asked him, would you wanna start a business together?

Ernestine 10:47

Oh, okay.

Mark 10:48

He was very intelligent. He knew diamonds, he was somewhat well connected. Didn't have the business savvy.

Ernestine 10:54

Mm-hmm.

Mark 10:55

How to run the business. So I got a partner. And, we actually started to buy liquidations from home shopping Network. That's how we initially started to build. We would buy the liquidations. We came to my father's office in Igor City. Clean all the merchandise, retag it, and take it back out on the road and reell it. So we were one of the first companies to have laptop computers on the road with the salespeople. We were one of the first people to have barcoding, online. But what happened was, that dried up. We had nothing to sell at some point. We had to go to Thailand, we had to travel, we had to go around the world to start manufacturing. 'cause we had built a market in the wholesale.

Ernestine 11:29

Mm-hmm.

Mark 11:30

That's where it all began. I actually took my wife for the first trip, we weren't even married yet. We got on a plane and flew to Thailand. She goes, what are we doing? I said, we're gonna go travel and we're gonna go explore. I said, we're gonna have a great time, but I'm also gonna spend three days at a trade show. We had a blast. And it was an eye-opener. The people were so nice. The craftsmanship was unbelievable. The gems were beautiful. And they wanted to do business. I was young, energetic, and, I came back with $20,000 in gems

Ernestine 11:57

Wow.

Mark 11:58

Worth of things that I thought were beautiful and the value, and, we took it to the road. We sold it all in a week.

Ernestine 12:02

That's amazing.

Mark 12:03

That's where, we started to expand from there, Thailand, Hong Kong, India. Japan to really 35 years of travel and just expanded our accessibility to different merchandise and, different craftsmanship. That opens up your mind and many times if you've come in, oh, I know where that's made. Oh, I know where that craftsman, who's gonna do that? That's 90% of trying to execute a piece of jewelry is knowing who's gonna make it, how it's best assembled, how it's made, where the material comes from. And you couldn't do that without the experience of the travel. From there, we expanded. We eventually had five salespeople traveling all over the country. We were full fledge in the wholesale business. And back then there was no online. Most of the things were bought at a trade show. We had an unbelievable staff, many of which are still with us today, that, were servicing those customers and so we coexisted in wholesale and retail. We're from Tampa, we had a built-in customer base, but we were pretty much 70 30, 70 wholesale, 30 retail. But we always did, one thing that I wanna say is still today, a cornerstone of our success. We really focused on value and I don't like to use the word often, but we kind of took the playbook from Costco.

Ernestine 13:06

Oh, is that right?

Mark 13:07

We did make something, sell it at the right price. And sell more of it. We still use that motto today where we do not use traditional markups. We're in our flagship location here in Tampa. We're one of the only stores in the country that actually post 90% of our merchandise is posted in the showroom. It really allows people to comfortably look and shop and understand cause you have nothing to hide. We at that point got the opportunity to actually get a very large account on the back end of the TV business. At the time it was Gem Shopping Network. We made our way in there. Then for the next 25, 27 years in that range, we were one of the largest suppliers at gem shopping. We had our own hosting, we had all of our own shows. We built software, that kind of integrated and, that was really a whole nother level yeah. It was a ride. It was a really interesting ride and we learned so much 'cause they challenged us to learn much more about gemstones and stones that I'd never even heard of before, even coming from a gemological background. So again, it gave us another opportunity when somebody came in and asked for a paraba tourmaline or asked for a mandarin garnet or asked for a, horsetail inclusion to OID Garnet. I know all about this so it really, expanded our ability to communicate with other clients because they also loved those gemstones. Always taking that to the next level. Learning more within the industry, building those relationships on the supply side globally. Was a great ride, but it was also very rewarding.

Ernestine 14:28

You've built an amazing business, been around 40 years, and you've mentioned already a few of pivotal moments that really, stand out to you. Are there any, rewarding. Moments while building your business that you still can reflect on and have held onto and looking into the future?

Mark 14:49

Not to be cliche if you will, but sometimes their most rewarding times when you have the perfect team. Like, everything's just ticking and you see everybody agreed, kind, succeeding together. Right? A

Ernestine 14:58

hundred percent.

Mark 14:59

And I'm happy to say we're kind of there right now and I'm having fun with it, one of the. Highlights, if you will, is when our company got accepted to exhibit one of the largest trade shows in the world. It was very difficult to get in 'cause there was no internet.

Ernestine 15:10

Oh,

Mark 15:10

wow. So you had to exhibit.

Ernestine 15:11

Yeah.

Mark 15:11

And they accepted us. For us, that put us on the map, if you will when we decided to move our location from West Tampa, today it's Midtown. We got the opportunity to buy our building and open a flagship location in South Tampa. That was the beginnings of this kind of wholesale direct concept and taking it more to the public and maybe moving away from our wholesale roots a bit. But with that being said, that led us to be voted and recognized by the community is, Tampa's top jeweler.

Ernestine 15:39

Congratulations.

Mark 15:40

That's again a proud moment for us and for the team 'cause you earned that.

Ernestine 15:43

Absolutely.

Mark 15:44

I would say another thing is that the whole diamond industry completely changed. Traditionally you would see the diamond bo that people would see where you saw, people buying traditionally at. Trade shows.

Ernestine 15:54

Mm-hmm.

Mark 15:55

Or traveling and picking those diamonds. That's old school. You couldn't do that anymore. The global supply chain, it drastically changed. More of the DeBeers was selling to Siteholders and then Siteholders, which were based in India, started to technically giving more information. So we took a big leap. Faith invested a lot of money and decided to come up with something called MAVILO Net. We created a network that interconnected the data with all the Siteholders.

Ernestine 16:20

Oh wow.

Mark 16:21

That was a big change because we had no way to access the supply it was coming online. So for us, we buy everything. And then sometimes we broker it, so we had to be able to deliver value to the customer. That was kind of the main, thrust behind this. And a year later our business doubled. When we deployed it. So it was a worthy, investment and it was. definitely a rewarding moment of sometimes you gotta take the leap of faith in business and go with your,

Ernestine 16:42

with your

Mark 16:42

instinct.

Ernestine 16:43

Yeah where does the name MAVILO come from?

Mark 16:45

It's Oliva backwards with M in front.

Ernestine 16:47

Oh yeah. It plays on your dyslexic.

Mark 16:50

There you go. Exactly.

Ernestine 16:52

Yeah.

Mark 16:52

I think you're probably the first person that ever said that way, but I love it. I'm gonna steal that from

Ernestine 16:56

you. Yeah. Not so bad,

Mark 16:58

actually, my dad came up with that.

Ernestine 16:59

Did he?

Mark 16:59

Yeah, maybe that's what he was thinking. He never told me. It's funny 'cause if you are standing in our showroom and you look at it backwards, you can actually read it. So yeah, it's MAVILO and kind of a. Unusual name some people can't pronounce it in certain ways, but it stuck. It works and we've just kept it,

Ernestine 17:14

I think it's great. And a wonderful brand i'm sure there've been pivotal moments or decisions that changed the course of your life. Is there one that really stands out to you?

Mark 17:24

From a personal standpoint, having children is a game

Ernestine 17:27

changer.

Mark 17:27

I have two children. Chase and Carolina. And that as a business person, it's not about you anymore.

Ernestine 17:32

Mm-hmm.

Mark 17:32

It's about your family. So you start to change your, priorities, but, from a business point of view, when we decided that it was time to get out of the TV business. To focus on this location that we had. That changed, not only how I traveled, what I did, how we operated, but we decided to sell that business. And, in 1998, we sold the business. It was 50% of our business the pivotal point there was a lifestyle.

Ernestine 17:56

Mm-hmm.

Mark 17:56

In realizing that business had changed and that we couldn't, run that play all over the world and have sort of balance in your life.

Ernestine 18:03

Mm-hmm.

Mark 18:04

And this is where, as a business person, sometimes I thank God and I thank my family for that, that you stay grounded. 'Cause sometimes if you don't do that, things don't always go the right way.

Ernestine 18:13

Mm-hmm.

Mark 18:13

But we sold the business, we put our focus into the showroom and I think it was one of the greatest decisions we ever made.

Ernestine 18:19

Wonderful. What lessons about family and relationships would you pass along to the younger generation? You mentioned your children.

Mark 18:28

I think the most important decision, and I've said this in my daughter's speech, I think it's, who you decide to spend the rest of your life with. Who you marry. I mean, that's your partner. Also, family comes first. You can't pick 'em out of a catalog. Remember, the words glue and rock. As you get older, that becomes more meaningful. You have to do all that you can do to keep everybody together regardless of their differences. And I think my grandfather and father both did an unbelievable job at that. Make sure you know your children's friends and their family really well. That's again, those relationships. Organically through your life is what kind of holds everything together. And, love your parents, honor your grandparents, and, cherish your friends. cause at the end, success is nothing without that together. Make important memories. When you look back, all you have is memories, and you can have all the success in the world, but if you're not respected, and I think that's the magic word there, it's about respect. And I think my grandfather, my father, and I try to do the same thing, is at the end, respect is what I think is the greatest legacy.

Ernestine 19:21

Well said. Thanks for sharing. What are some life lessons you've learned that you wish you knew earlier?

Mark 19:27

I think the old saying, I wish I was twenty and knew what I knew today. That's a fact. think from a business perspective, stress never built a better business. And entrepreneurs by nature are. They're just people 'cause they're on the go. They want everything immediately. I think invest in the best people and don't tolerate disruptors. Do it early. And, hire the best of the best of the best and surround yourself with the best. Focus all your energy on why you got in your line of work. Why do I do this? And when you start getting away of the why, that's when you're probably not gonna succeed. Sometimes your investment takes time to pay off. Entrepreneurs, not always our patient, but stay the course. You gotta stay that course. And I think one of the biggest lessons it's okay not to do business with everybody, every customer's not for you. It's okay, at first you wanna take it all. I think most of us in business will look at back and say, well, we shouldn't have done business with this group or this company. And we could have focused on, again, why we got in this. I just believe that you're gonna have great times and bad times, just keep yourself grounded through the good times. Everybody's gonna make mistakes. None of us are invincible. But it makes you better for the next step in your life when you're grounded and your next career move. For those that are maybe starting a business or are in transition within a business I look at our own business sometimes, and I say sometimes you get caught in the trenches, but I say, spend some time with your customers even when you reach the point that you're not in sales, spend the time with them, understand what they want, and then spend a week in your business as a customer, not as an owner. Because some of the smallest changes that we ever made in the business had the biggest impact, and they were by just looking back and reflecting and saying, I'm a customer now. And then people will start to believe you. The more success you have with change, even if they don't believe in the change. If they didn't believe it was right, and then, you had the success and guided them, right? Then that's the definition of a leader is when to shift and change.

Ernestine 21:13

Knowing when to pivot.

Mark 21:15

Knowing when to pivot.

Ernestine 21:16

Terrific.

Mark 21:16

That's, some of the things,

Ernestine 21:17

what advice would you give someone interested in a career in let's say jewelry design or jewelry, wholesale, retail.

Mark 21:25

First of all, you have to have the passion for it. If this is not your passion, then, you don't wanna force that, I would say go work with somebody. Together with somebody in, a company that is aligned with where your interests are. There's so many aspects within the jewelry business that could interest somebody, whether it's design, whether it's, merchandising, whether it's more on a corporate side of, understanding, internet sales, there's so many opportunities in the business today. Of course, gold, has gone up and down up to 5,600 an ounce. That's game changer for the industry. Again, work with somebody, work in a company, move around to different companies but at the end I would say that our entire staff and all the people that I work with. Have one thing in common. Everyone loves the business.

Ernestine 22:05

That's fabulous.

Mark 22:06

And everyone has a genuine passion. And I think another side is they just love people. They like sharing those moments and their life with them and being a part of it. People's life through engagements and through anniversaries and even, I think one of the greatest compliments you can get from anybody's a jeweler after being in the so long is that you're still the trusted jeweler. They trust you. Not saying it's like ministry in a way, but we know so much about these people. People that are going to go into that business have to have a genuine interest in people and be able to connect with them.

Ernestine 22:33

Absolutely.

Mark 22:34

And that's what makes it fun.

Ernestine 22:35

What do you think is a secret to a fulfilling and happy life?

Mark 22:38

I would say in my business I've learned something real. 'Cause his happy wife, happy life. That's for sure.

Ernestine 22:44

If I call her right now Exactly, she,

Mark 22:46

I think she's pretty happy.

Ernestine 22:47

Where'd you meet Heidi?

Mark 22:48

I actually spotted Heidi. We went to Miami, Florida State game. We were in Fort Lauderdale for the weekend and I spotted her. And I looked and I said, God, that girl's unbelievably beautiful. Who is she? And my friend Scott said, that's Heidi Messer Schmidt. And I said, wow, she's just beautiful. How could I connect with her, the next day of the game, I went to get a beer and she was standing right next to me. So I looked at her and I said. I know where you were last night. You were shooters.

Ernestine 23:13

That was a good pickup line.

Mark 23:14

Right. She thought I was some stalker,

Ernestine 23:17

yeah.

Mark 23:17

After that, Scott connected us

Ernestine 23:19

oh, that's great. Love at first sight. Isn't that beautiful?

Mark 23:23

Definitely. She was in the cards and she's been a huge part of my life. She's an unbelievable mom and wife and keeps me grounded. With a last name like Messer Schmidt. Let me tell you now. I guess the first date we went on, she challenged me unexpectedly she goes, I bet you can't spell my last name. Well, I was obviously dyslexic. I can't spell anything. I looked at her and said, M-E-S-S-E-R-S-E-H-M-I-D-T.

Ernestine 23:43

You got it

Mark 23:44

and I got it. That's all she wrote it.

Ernestine 23:45

That's great.

Mark 23:46

And that was by the Grace of God, how I pulled that out. I have no idea. it's funny how you marry and you're so different, but yet you're so connected and how important to you fall in love initially. For, obviously there's attraction and there's respect and you see what you do, but you start to fall more in love with somebody as you see the person they are over a life. And how they are as a mother. How they are, as a friend how they are when their mother's passing or somebody's going through a difficult time or your parents live next door to you you have to have a wonderful wife. To live next door to your parents. I feel blessed. Couldn't have had a better, upbringing, a better life, a better career. Now it's time to celebrate the good times and be thankful. And like I say, take the knee and thank God every day. I think first and foremost you have to worship a higher power. No matter who and how you worship. You have to worship a higher power. You have to have your family as top priority. It is the foundation of your life, especially as you get older. You, realize that things just happened so quickly. You wake up one day and you're 60, you wake up one day and you look back, you're like, what happened? But most of what happened, and most of what makes you happy is yes, you might have had success, but it's your family. And looking back, you look at, my parents, I turned 60. Last week.

Ernestine 24:52

Congratulations. You're catching up to me.

Mark 24:54

Don't feel 60 and we were all at dinner and we randomly send a text out so maybe, it was short notice everybody, but everybody showed up. And here we were at the table and I look at my parents at the end, and you're speaking of fulfilling life. My parents get st sent at the end of that table. I look back and they created all of that.

Ernestine 25:10

Oh,

Mark 25:10

beautiful. Everybody was together.

Ernestine 25:11

Yeah.

Mark 25:12

You also have to feel accomplished in whatever you do as an entrepreneur. So you have to surround yourself with people that follow your dream. I married Heidi who always let me follow my dream. My mother, my father, my grandparents, my friends, everybody was always a hundred percent behind me.

Ernestine 25:26

That's wonderful.

Mark 25:27

That to me. You might be different, you might do things different. You're different than your brothers, you're different than your friends, but they stand behind you no matter what and I also say this 'cause it's part of my dad. I come from this background. You have to, focus on mental and physical wellbeing.

Ernestine 25:40

Mm-hmm.

Mark 25:41

I think that's critical. As an entrepreneur, you have to stay healthy. It's hard sometimes 'cause it's easy to get in that rut, but mental and physical wellbeing is critical to, I think, at least for me and my dad. You look at him, he's 84 years old. He works out seven days a week.

Ernestine 25:54

That's awesome.

Mark 25:55

It works in tandem. The mental and the physical. Set a great example. So the respect is what becomes your legacy.

Ernestine 26:01

What keeps you motivated and inspired to do what you do every day?

Mark 26:07

I think what happens as you get older, is you become very, very confident and then inspiration is doing what you love to do, and then knowing that you're kind of really good at it and that that a customer or a company's getting a huge benefit from it. So that reward. Focusing on why you got into it. And then all the parts coming together with that. Seeing your team flourish in an environment that kind of provides that opportunity. I think most entrepreneurs would say that they love to be the model of the industry. That's such a great inspiration. And motivation I'm proud that we have created a model here. And that we've surrounded ourself with an inspirational team that, is forward thinking.

Ernestine 26:39

Mm-hmm.

Mark 26:39

And that always challenges us, me, all of us to think ahead. Working with young people is the greatest thing in the world, and especially in this world of social media and technology and ai. So we embrace it. Keeps you young, that wonder keeps you motivated. At some point you realize it's not all about the money. You're doing it 'cause you love to win the game. And I think most of entrepreneurs will, if they can do what they love and win the game along with it, the game gets a little easier

Ernestine 27:02

That's wonderful I've been involved in the philanthropic space for quite some time, and philanthropy means different things to different people. What does philanthropy mean to you?

Mark 27:12

I'd say philanthropy is probably one of the greatest rewards of success, I highly recommend, and I came from a philanthropic background. My grandfather and father have been big philanthropist in different ways. But start philanthropy immediately. The payback is a hundred fold, not just financially the reward and who you are as a person and who you are in the community. People really the sensibility for that. You can't be a great entrepreneur without being empathetic and without being philanthropic in some way. Remember every day in business is an opportunity for philanthropy. You might not be writing a check to somebody. You might be giving, you might be advising. I think of philanthropy. There's a very, prominent local philanthropist. Once told me, and this was probably only five years ago. As we were walking out of their house, she looked at me and said, the power of giving is as strong as the hands of prayer.

Ernestine 27:59

Oh, beautiful.

Mark 28:00

And I think I've used that many, many, many times. I think that sums up what the meaning of philanthropy is. You give in different ways, I used that in, a speech that I had to give at the v Madonna, which I'm on the board there with the Les and Sisters.

Ernestine 28:15

Oh, I love that.

Mark 28:16

Yeah. Philanthropy is probably, one of the greatest rewards of success, and you don't even have to be, success is interpreted differently anyway. Sometimes it's not money, it's time. It's an idea.

Ernestine 28:26

Mm-hmm.

Mark 28:26

And it just the reward and you just feel like you're getting a, the door's a little bit more open to heaven. Remaining humble and grounded. In your most successful times, and remember where you came from.

Ernestine 28:37

Beautiful. Thanks for sitting down with me today.

Mark 28:40

This was awesome. Thank you so much.

Ernestine 28:42

Thanks for listening to Bon Vivant Chic Life Well Lived. I hope you'll tune in for more meaningful stories on the human experience and share with family and friends. A special shout out to Will Cooper, out of Nashville, Tennessee for providing this season's music. All the episodes are available wherever you listen to podcasts, including my website. Bonvivantchic.com till next time. Remember, every day is a gift. Live it with kindness.