One of My Paintings of Chicago. I had many businesses there.

I’m an artist and an entrepreneur. I have a Masters Degree (MFA) from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago.  My passion is screenwriting, filmmaking and painting, and I have started many business ventures to support those activities.  I have not had a traditional job for over twenty five years.

This painting shows a view of Lake Michigan in the village where I live. I walk on that beach to hear the waves and clear my head.

What I Have Done:

• Fine Art Painter and Filmmaker
• (My art is in international museum collections)
• Wrote and Directed a Feature Film (See Below)
• Private Pilot/Aircraft Owner
• Traveled to Many Countries
• Member of the Mid America Commodity Exchange
• Registered Commodity Trading Advisor
• Registered Futures & Options Floor Broker
• Realtor

One of the galleries I owned in Michigan.

Businesses I Started & Owned:

• Real Estate Renovation Company
• Art Publishing Company
• Fine Art Printmaking Atelier
• Fine Art Galleries
• Oriental Rug Shops
• Exotic Home Furnishings Galleries
• Television Direct Marketing Company (Infomercials)
• Photo Retouching Business
• Picture Framing Business
• Music and Video Publishing
• Traditional Network Marketing
• Internet Direct Sales

One of the jazz albums I produced.

What I Do Now:

• Screenwriting
• Business & Marketing Training & Coaching
• Internet Direct Sales
• Educational Seminars

I present financial education and internet marketing seminars.

How I got to this point:

For seventeen years I had a small chain of retail art, rug and decorative accessory galleries in Chicago.  They provided a great living.  I had two homes and two cars, but hardly ever had the time to enjoy them.

I had a warehouse full of financed inventory, a payroll to meet, and heavy insurance, rent and overhead.  When an employee needed time off, or left for another job, I was the one who filled in.

The view from one of my timeshares in Mexico. I couldn't go!

I had to cancel vacations to Italy, Mexico, France, Spain and even holiday visits to my family in Massachusetts, all because of employee problems.  Thousands of dollars were lost when the airline tickets expired unused.

My stores went down with the economy.

A few years ago the retail climate changed, and my stores started to fail.  My customers were losing their jobs, and the money they got from refinancing their homes dried up.  The home furnishings market all over the USA was failing.  My competitors went out of business one by one, and I cut corners by finding new suppliers and re-negotiating leases to help the cash flow.

Eventually I couldn’t meet the payroll and overhead, and took out loans rather than lay workers off.  Finally I ran out of credit, and was forced to close the stores and lay off the workers anyway.  It was a traumatic day.

I started looking for a replacement income, since I still had to pay off the business debt.  That’s when I discovered a new internet marketing business model.  For a very low investment I was able to start a new business online, and started to climb out of the financial hole.

Working online was great! (And still is.)  I found a training program to teach me serious marketing techniques.  It amazed me that after seventeen years of operating stores, all I knew how to do was advertise — I knew nothing about MARKETING!  Luckily, my trainers were wonderful and straight-forward.  I raced through each new lesson and implemented everything immediately.  Pretty soon I reached a natural point where I started teaching others!

Now I lead a team of professional internet marketers, and coach business owners on how to get leads and sales online.

Things were humming along when life threw me a curve-ball.  In November of ’08 I got a call to get to Massachusetts quickly because my father was dying.  I packed my laptop and a black suit and flew out, expecting a funeral.

What actually happened was that after a few months of intense therapy and drugs, my father recovered.  But he needed constant care, and the hospital recommended that he be placed in a nursing facility because he would be incapable of living alone.

My Dad can't get to a barber shop, so to make him laugh I got dressed up in a new suit and cut it for him.

I am so grateful that I now own an Internet business!  I am free to do the things I consider important.  So I offered to take care of my Dad for as long as he needs the help.

Of my siblings, I am the one who is not tied to a job or a business (one sister owns a picture framing shop, the other works in one.)

I set up my office on my Dad’s dining room table, and have not missed a beat.  He’s glad to be home, and I’m proud to be able to help out.  There is no way I could have done this without my online business!