Soaring with Eagles: The life and legacy of Frank J. Blau, Jr.
Small-business expert and serial entrepreneur Ellen Rohr had promised her mentor, home services industry legend Frank J. Blau Jr., she would write his biography.
Over period of years, Ellen Rohr conducted dozens of interviews with Frank but hadn't had time to move the mountain of content into book format. Her integrity was now at stake!
Approach
The first order of business was to review all of Ellen’s files and make note of what I thought was still needed to create the book.
Ellen then connected me directly with Frank, whom I interviewed several times at length to fill in gaps and expand on existing anecdotes.
Through these interviews, I was able to isolate the controlling idea, which was Frank’s desire to create something that would ensure the next generation would have it better than the last.
Ellen and I then worked together to craft the contents of the book to illustrate and reinforce that idea, soliciting dozens of stories from people whose lives have been changed for the better by Frank's commitment to sharing what he's learned, so their generation will indeed have it better than the last.
Outcome
The result was Soaring with Eagles: The Life and Legacy of Frank J. Blau Jr., a 123-page chronicle of Frank's life and business ventures from his humble roots, to his work transforming the home services industry, to the founding of Nexstar Network, the first professional organization for residential plumbing, heating, cooling, and electrical contractors. It was published in 2016, in partnership with Nexstar Network
Impact
“Frank Blau is my mentor and I love, love, love him, and he had asked me to help him write his biography. I did all the interviews and got all this information, and I could not pull a book together. Years went by and my integrity was on the line! I was soooo frustrated. Luckily, I found Helena. She helped me get this book done and on the page. The process of working with her was so easy, so much easier than the struggle I was going through. So do yourself a favor: do what Helena tells you to do. Let her help you get that book out of you and onto the page and to honor — your story or someone else’s. Thanks, Helena!”
Ellen Rohr, Business Financial Expert and CEO of Zoom Drain Franchise Company