HE’S NOT A VILLAGE HERO. HE’S AN EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW.

“Welcome to the Renaissance Waverly Hotel. Can I help you with your bags?” Those are the first words spoken to me by Rene Godefroy. As he put my bags onto the luggage cart he noticed my book, The Sales Bible.

“Did you write that book?”

“Yes I did.” I smiled puffing out my chest a bit.

“How can I get a copy?” he asked without hesitating.

“I’ll tell you what, you can get one tonight. Would you rather have a book or a tip?”

“I’ll take the book!” he responded with a big smile.
“Are you a member of the National Speakers Association?” Rene asked.

“Yes, I am. How do you know about that organization?” I was a bit taken aback by his question. How does a bellman know about the NSA?

“I’m a member of the Georgia Speakers Association myself, and I plan to join the National this year.”

“Cool. Are you a speaker?”

“Yes, I am,” he said with the self-assurance of a twenty-year veteran.

We then played the “name-game” for a few minutes. Do you know this guy, do you know that guy. Turns out he knew all the people that mattered, at least all the ones I knew. “What are you doing working as a bellman?”

I wanted to know. “I’m not making a full-time living as a speaker, so I do this for extra money,” he said as he smiled.

This guy sure smiles a lot, I thought.

I wondered how many other speakers in the vaunted National Speakers Association began their careers as bellmen. I think the answer is somewhere between “not many” and “none”. Anyway, this guy was kind of cool. He had a sort of a foreign accent.

“Where are you from?”
“Haiti.”
“How’d you get to America?”
“Long story,” he said. “I’ll tell you sometime.”

As it turns out, I gave him the book AND a tip. I also invited him to e-mail me if he needed any help in growing his speaking business. I often make that offer to new speakers, but usually no one takes me up on it.

The next morning, I got an e-mail from Rene asking my advice about Speaker’s Bureaus and bookings. That told me that he was serious and on top of his ambition. I love helping people who “want it.”

Two months later, I was at the National Speakers Association winter workshop in Norfolk at some big Marriott; and there was Rene. He was wearing a suit, and he looked as dapper and as professional as he possibly could. We were happy to see one another.

“Did you give the bellman a big tip?” I asked. Rene smiled. I’m always happy when I see someone trying to “make it” and the first thing they do is become a student.

We became better friends that weekend. Then the national convention came to Washington, DC. There was Rene. He seemed more excited this time.

“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I’m telling my story.”
“When’s that going to happen?”
“Monday morning on the main platform. They only gave me 30 minutes.” “That’s incredible. Do you need any help?”

Rene just smiled and said, “Just pray that I don’t mess it up!”
“I think you’ll be fine,” I said. “I think you’ll be just fine.”

I got to hear the Rene Godefroy story: how he came to America overcoming every obstacle in his path using sheer determination, risking everything (including his life), and having an attitude of never quit. I was, to say the least, touched by his message and inspired by his unwavering desire to achieve the American dream.

He crushed the audience. Standing ovation.

As you read this book, please understand that there’s more to it than Rene’s story. Between the lines are the lessons that seem to elude us as adults. As Americans, even after 911, we tend to take everything we have for granted.

Rene takes nothing for granted, and is willing to drag other people’s bags in the evening while he builds his business during the day so that he can make his mark in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

To the people in his home village, Rene is a hero. He broke away, he came to America, and he is succeeding. Does he send money home to his family? What do you think? He probably sends home too much.

But don’t look at Rene simply as a village hero. Look at Rene as a lifelong lesson of persistence and determination, of attitude and work ethic, of self-belief and personal dedication to excellence.

Yes, over the last few years I have inspired Rene, helped him build his business, and encouraged him to succeed; but don’t you think for one moment that this young man has not inspired me and thousands of others who have had the privilege of listening to his eloquently told story.

It is my hope that after you have finished reading this book you will become a hero in your village, and you will go out and buy several more copies to give to your friends so that they may catch the inspiration of Rene Godefroy.

–Jeffrey Gitomer

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