Tom Ryan

I'll tell you about who I am, rather than what I do. I'm sure you'll find that more interesting. My priorities are God, family, country, friends and career. Mostly I enjoy being with my bride and family. My bride and kids grew up in Rhode Island. Now we are proud residents of North Texas. I'd say I like golf but I'm so bad how can I possibly like it? I can say that because I have golf clubs in many water hazards around North Texas. I do love music........mostly jazz, blues, CW and oldies. My favorite TV show is 24, followed closely by Burn Notice, then the Mentalist. I believe the latest Bond character rocks big time, even over the ever great Connery.

I really enjoy my volunteer time. For about five years I was part of a program called "All God's Children". I was a facilitator for 12-13 year olds going through death or divorce issues. It was a 17 week program conducted one night a week. The program ran 2x a year. Although I certainly liked helping the kids, I backed off after 5 years just because of burn-out.

I was also ScoutMaster of a local BS Troop for a number of years and helped 6 scouts attain the rank of eagle scout. I stayed an extra year after my son left scouting to be sure I recruited the right person to replace me. I did good.........he was a born scouter. The troop is sponsored by a local Rotary Club. Somehow I ended up in Rotary. I've now been in Rotary 15 years.

I was President of my Rotary club in 1999-2000 and was honored by being asked to serve as District Governor over 61 North Texas Rotary Clubs in 2005-2006. I can't say enough about Rotary's humanitarian programs. It's because of Rotary that Polio is being wiped off the face of this planet. My bride and I lead 120 North Texas Rotarians and 60 Mexico Rotarians on a service project in Puerta Villarta to deliver 560 wheelchairs to 9 mountain villages. That's probably what I remember most from that time period. We made so many friends. It was amazing to be part of giving "The Gift of Mobility". As a result of that my wife and I now volunteer for the Wheelchair Foundation, giving presentations to whatever group is interested. A wheelchair costs about $400-$500 but through the foundation they become available for $150 each. Container loads are sent to 3rd world countries.

With the help of two other Rotarians I established a Rotary Leadership Institute for North Texas a few years back. We conduct a sequestered weekend and just wrap ourselves around leadership concepts. My favorite leadership approach is Servant Leadership. Although it has only been a field of study for 40 or so years, the world has had many Servant Leaders. We conduct 4 sessions a year aided by 13 facilitators. Average class size is 16. We've just gone over 200 graduates. We only allow Rotarians to attend. Its our gift back to Rotary.

My bride and I have just completed our third year of conducting an Adoption Awareness Carnival. We put it on in conjunction with CPS, a bunch of Rotary Clubs, the Wendy's Foundation for Adoption, a local city, fire/police/military, corporate sponsors and many volunteers. We do it because we believe every child deserves parents. It is our hope that prospective parents get to see and interact with these children in a new way, and that just maybe, by the end of the day, they will see one child in a new light and something magical might happen. We've been blessed with positive results for every carnival.

One thing I am rather proud of is being selected as Rockwall Texas Man of the Year for 2001-2002. The criteria is based on cumulative community service. There were ten fine men up for this award and I was humbled by my selection.

And yes, we do work. My bride owns a Gift & Award business and I'm an Independant Gemologist/Appraiser of Diamonds, Gems, and Jewelry. We are also Independant Distributors in a MLM Opportunity.

When I worked for a big corporation I was always fortunate to hire and mentor bright talent that went on to bigger things. Later on I mentored Assistant Scout Masters in Boy Scouts of America who went on to head up their own BS Troops. In Rotary I mentor business professionals in how to lead leaders. The style I prefer most is Servant Leadership. Its a superior leadership style for long term success. It needs to show up on more radar screens.

Today I find myself mentoring those who have an interest in learning more about MLM but aren't sure how to go about it. I offer a FREE e-mail tutorial (15 days) on MLM and by Session #15 they'll have a good knowledge about MLM and they will start generating their own free leads from the internet. If they have trouble setting things up, I'm there to help.

This FREE information on MLM can be found at http://mlmleadgenerationmachine.com

Web Sites:    Gifts & Awards =   www.LSJshowroom.com         Jewelry Appraisals =   www.AfterFiveAppraisals.com  

That's it in a nutshell.

TR