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person
last weekend. The opportunity arose when Colin and
his wife Kim invited Joe, his brilliant wife Julie
and a half dozen of Colin's domain industry friends
(Howard and Barbara Neu, my wife Diana and I
and two of everyone's favorite Aussies, Michael
Gilmour and Matt Herbert) to spend the weekend at a
vacation home they have on North Captiva Island
(an idyllic island located off southwestern
Florida's Gulf Coast that is accessible only by boat
(or small aircraft).
Colin
Campbell and his guests, including Julie and
Joe Foster, on the boat beginning a 5-mile
ride over to Florida's North Captiva Island
Saturday (October 28). Photo credit: Barbara Neu.
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Colin admires
Joe for his business acumen, humble nature
and constant efforts to give back - but
that's not all. Joe is an author too.
Two years ago he released his inspiring
autobiography, Shoemaker,
that tells the incredible story of how he
and his brother, on the verge of financial
collapse, managed to rebound and perform a
miracle with Reebok.
As noted in Amazon's summary of the story,
"money was so short that Joe had to live in their rundown factory, while the machinery that made the shoes was placed around the edge of the floor, because it was so weak it could have collapsed if they'd been positioned in the middle. But, from this inauspicious start, a major new player in the sports equipment field began to emerge, inspired by Joe's marketing
vision. By the 1980s, Reebok had become a global
phenomenon, when they were the first to latch onto the potential of the aerobics craze inspired by
Jane Fonda. Soon, Reeboks were being seen on Hollywood red carpets and even in the film
Aliens, where Sigourney Weaver wore a pair of Reebok Alien
Stompers." |
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Diana and
I were able to hear much more of the amazing story
straight form the horse's mouth when we sat with Joe
and Julie Saturday night at the cozy restaurant
Colin and Kim took everyone to in a golf cart
caravan (no cars are allowed on the island). 
Clockwise
from left to right: Joe Foster, Julie Foster,
Howard Neu, Kim Campbell,
Colin
Campbell, Michael Gilmour, Matt
Herbert, Barbara Neu, Ron
Jackson and Diana Jackson. As
any person in their right mind would do after
hearing more about Joe's story, the first thing I
did when we got home Monday was order
a copy of Shoemaker! Now, I have two
great new reads going at once, Joe's book and
Colin's book. 
One
other important thing about Colin's book. I had
downloaded a Kindle copy the day it came out but
while we were with Colin over the weekend he gave
Diana and I a signed copy of the hard cover edition
that is literally a work of art in
itself. The first thing you notice when you pick it
up is that is unusually heavy and the
reason for that goes beyond its 458 page length. It
is because it was printed on extremely high quality
paper with full color divider pages between the 58
brisk chapters. The typography and illustrations are
also gorgeous as is the slipcover with raised
lettering. Colin wanted the book to have the beautiful
simplicity of an Apple product and that goal has
been achieved. I
have hundreds of hard cover books in my library at
home (almost no paperbacks) because I love the
feeling of a well-made book in my hands -
one with the quality of binding and backing that
reflects the value of the content on its pages. The
hard cover version of START. SCALE, EXIT. REPEAT.
has that to a higher degree than the vast
majority of all books that have been released over
the past two or three decades (a period in which the
materials used in most products have been whittled
down as much as humanly possible to cut costs and
increase profits). START. SCALE, EXIT. REPEAT.
is having none of that and is a breath of
fresh air in that regard. That's why I am
comfortable calling the book a work of art beyond
the artistry associated with the excellent writing
that also makes it stand out. 
So,
a big thank you to Colin and Kim for bringing
old friends together and introducing new ones that
were a joy to meet and get acquainted with - and thanks
to Colin and Joe for sharing your hard earned
wisdom in these two amazing books!
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