Use Breakaway Strategies to Achieve Success
Use Breakaway Strategies to Achieve Success
MarySue, prior to her entrepreneurial years, was VP of new product development for a motivational publisher. Previously she was Vice-president at Colonial Penn Insurance company and headed up the communications, training, in-bound phone sales & customer service departments. MarySue is an avid practitioner of the healing arts and a certified hypnotherapist.
Ray and MarySue Hansell are successful serial entrepreneurs who co-founded RMH Teleservices from the ground up and took it public on Nasdaq which garnered eight times return on investment for the shareholders. They were recognized as industry leaders by several major publications and received numerous awards and personal recognition for their contribution to the industry.
MarySue, prior to her entrepreneurial years, was VP of new product development for a motivational publisher. Previously she was Vice-president at Colonial Penn Insurance company and headed up the communications, training, in-bound phone sales & customer service departments. MarySue is an avid practitioner of the healing arts and a certified hypnotherapist.
If you’re thinking of starting a business or recently got underway with one, then welcome to the World of Entrepreneurial Ventures. These are indeed exciting times for new entrepreneurs. Some are calling this period the time of “Covid-Preneurs” where many businesses were launched post the pandemic outbreak.
According to the US Census Bureau Americans submitted over 10.4 million new businesses were launched over the last 2 years despite rocky economic conditions. People are seizing the American Dream in record numbers to build their own enterprise and achieve financial freedom.
This is our story about our journey as a couple of married entrepreneurs. Starting out with three toddlers we left our comfortable corporate positions to launch our own business in our mid-thirties with less than $ 25,000 in savings. We survived the first 5 risky years and went on to take our company public within 15 years creating millions for us and our partners. Because of our non-traditional backgrounds, we often broke away from the accepted prescribed methods in building our business. We identified these approaches as ‘Breakaways’ and wove them into our story.
But that’s not the end of our entrepreneurial story. The existential question for all entrepreneurs is always “what’s next?” That’s the way of Walt Disney and Steven Jobs. So stay tuned as we are always embarking on some new enterprise. We hope you enjoy reading about our entrepreneurial journey and wish you much success with yours.
All the best,
Ray & MarySue Hansell Co-preneurs.
If you’re thinking of starting a business or recently got underway with one, then welcome to the World of Entrepreneurial Ventures. These are indeed exciting times for new entrepreneurs. Some are calling this period the time of “Covid-Preneurs” where many businesses were launched post the pandemic outbreak.
According to the US Census Bureau Americans submitted over 10.4 million new businesses were launched over the last 2 years despite rocky economic conditions. People are seizing the American Dream in record numbers to build their own enterprise and achieve financial freedom.
This is our story about our journey as a couple of married entrepreneurs. Starting out with three toddlers we left our comfortable corporate positions to launch our own business in our mid-thirties with less than $ 25,000 in savings. We survived the first 5 risky years and went on to take our company public within 15 years creating millions for us and our partners. Because of our non-traditional backgrounds, we often broke away from the accepted prescribed methods in building our business. We identified these approaches as ‘Breakaways’ and wove them into our story.
But that’s not the end of our entrepreneurial story. The existential question for all entrepreneurs is always “what’s next?” That’s the way of Walt Disney and Steven Jobs. So stay tuned as we are always embarking on some new enterprise. We hope you enjoy reading about our entrepreneurial journey and wish you much success with yours.
All the best,
Ray & MarySue Hansell Co-preneurs.
Excerpt#1: Prologue
A sleek, black limousine pulled up to RMH’s new corporate headquarters by mid- morning. The offices were in a brick colonial building with a two-story column entrance, situated across from the Bryn Mawr train station on the historic Main Line suburbs outside of Philadelphia. As the limo doors opened, out popped a half dozen young executives from Wall Street to vet the company for a possible public offering. They had already received material from RMH’s venture capital partners that profiled the company and provided years of financials, as well as supporting documents detailing the extensive due diligence process that VCs recently completed. There should have been no surprises. Despite these circumstances, Ray was unsure of the outcome. He remarked, “This was our first rodeo, and we didn’t know how we would fare with a team of professionals from a seasoned Wall Street firm used to assessing the worth of firms much larger than ours and with more tenure. We had previously investigated the viability of a public offering for our firm a few years before, but concluded at the time we were not yet ready for prime time. So, we were a bit anxious to hear from the experts, to say the least.” The investment banking firm was immediately ushered into an impressive conference room with a mahogany fireplace and an eight-foot marble conference table, where Ray proceeded to walk them through the traditional presentation overviewing the company’s progress and plans. It was a presentation Ray could do in his sleep. Upon completion, the lead banker asked for a fifteen-minute recess, which everyone thought was meant to assemble some additional penetrating questions. Ray was wondering, Is this a dream, or is it actually happening? We were about to realize what many people consider to be the American Dream of starting a company and taking it public.
Excerpt#2: MarySue Joins RMH
MarySue’s journey to join RMH started with a snowfall, much like Ray’s snowstorm experience. Her boss at the time was a stickler when it came to staying at work, even through dire weather conditions. He became annoyed when she left to relieve her nanny when a winter storm suddenly sprung up. Although she loved the creative aspect of her job, she realized the boss didn’t fully appreciate her enormous contribution in developing and launching new products as well as the large revenue growth she attained for the company. This effectively pushed her out the door, just as Ray’s persistence pulled her toward the door to RMH. Here’s how MarySue describes it:
“When Ray was deciding on the name of the new consulting firm, he insisted that the name be our combined initials RMH. He purposely put the ‘M’ in RMH for MarySue, as his middle name is Joseph. Ray was always urging me to join RMH. I wasn’t really interested in joining a consulting business since I was relatively content as VP of Product Development for a motivational book publishing company. I kept on telling Ray that I thought it would be very challenging to work together as a married couple especially, since we were also raising three small children. That didn’t stop Ray; he would try to tell me about his clients every night, but I was too busy with the three young kids to listen to him. Caring for and being with the kids were my top priorities when I was at home.” One morning, as MarySue was rushing out to work, Ray handed her a cassette tape (that’s how they recorded things in those days) and said, “Why don’t you pop this in the tape player in your car during your long commute to pass the time.” That’s when destiny stepped in again. MarySue recalled, “One day in a traffic standstill, while driving in an extremely heavy snowfall, I started listening to Ray’s tapes, which contained detailed stories of his clients’ projects. That night, I asked Ray, “Tell me more about the details about the client situations, maybe I can help offer some solutions.” MarySue didn’t realize it at the time, but she was getting hooked. MarySue later chuckled, and admitted to Ray, “You hypnotized me with those tapes.”
Excerpt#3: Private Equity Breakfast Humorous Story
Ray described it this way “One early morning, we were invited to attend a breakfast meeting at the extravagant home of the CEO of a private equity firm. The plan was to explore the other potential partnership and to check each other out in person. We knew it was important to make a good impression and so we arrived early. Since the weather was very snowy with icy road conditions, we used our teenage son's four-wheel drive SUV to assure us safe driving. The driveway to their mansion was long and impressive, lined with stone walls that led to a large courtyard. The estate sat on the top of a hill that overlooked the greater Main Line area. I later learned that it was once the home of the founders of Campbell Soup. A staffer then greeted us and opened our car door. To our embarrassment, our son’s pack of cigarettes, twinkies and empty soda cans came tumbling forth to the ground. So much for making a good impression.” Upon entering the house, Ray and MarySue encountered a huge, perfectly decorated Christmas tree in the two-story foyer and were then led to a dining room with a table that could seat twenty-four people. On one side of the table stood a chef attired in starch whites and topped with a chef’s hat. He had already prepared a bountiful breakfast fit for a king. All of this by 7:00 a.m. The founder and his wife made their entrance and sat at either end of the table like a king and queen. MarySue remembers, “I could not eat a thing, probably because of the knot in my stomach, but Ray took full advantage of the hospitality offered by eating a full breakfast.” The private equity husband and wife team consumed a bowl of oatmeal and some buttered toast while grilling Ray and MarySue on their personal and company life. Ray laughed and said, “At this point we felt somewhat like the Beverly Hillbillies did at some posh party while driving around in their noisy Model T.”
Excerpt#4: IPO Road Show Story
Ray said, “On a personal note, during the IPO road show, we were scheduled to attend a meeting in Toronto, Canada to sell shares to a group of investors, but as it turned out I did not possess a passport to travel abroad. Our banker asked if I had simply let mine expire, so perhaps they could get it updated. When I said that up to that time, I never had secured a passport, they were astonished that I had never traveled internationally.”
MarySue commented, “So true, I always felt that we were chained to our desks and focused on every detail. Absurdly, this fact was woven into the investment narrative as
proof of our personal work ethic and our commitment to our enterprise.” Upon concluding the roadshow in New York, one of the key VC partners left the firm, which required that all investors be informed as a potential event that could materially impact their decision to invest. Ray said, “As a consequence, we went from a 9x to 7x oversold position, which fortunately did not have a significant impact on our overall results.” One of RMH’s competitors who recently went public missed their first quarterly forecast. This unexpectedly put the RMH team under pressure to meet the quarterly expectations of the first post-public forecast. Mary Sue shared, “It took some skillful maneuvering to gear up the necessary staff to produce the results we needed to exceed first quarter expectations. Fortunately, we developed a unique forecasting tool that let us know early that we needed to adjust staffing and reduce expenses.” To the outside world, it appeared that the RMH team had this issue well in hand, but it certainly was a close call.
Returning to the RMH offices, Ray was greeted with a standing ovation from the staff who expressed their appreciation for a successful roadshow and a solid launch onto the public stage at Nasdaq under the symbol RMHT. “Our public offering, like a dozen other competitors that went public in the prior year, was well received by industry gurus at the conferences that fall. Congratulations were offered to us across the board. These were heady times to be an outsource call center company, flush with cash accompanied by the stamp of approval from Wall Street,” Ray reflected.
Excerpt#1: Prologue
A sleek, black limousine pulled up to RMH’s new corporate headquarters by mid- morning. The offices were in a brick colonial building with a two-story column entrance, situated across from the Bryn Mawr train station on the historic Main Line suburbs outside of Philadelphia. As the limo doors opened, out popped a half dozen young executives from Wall Street to vet the company for a possible public offering. They had already received material from RMH’s venture capital partners that profiled the company and provided years of financials, as well as supporting documents detailing the extensive due diligence process that VCs recently completed. There should have been no surprises. Despite these circumstances, Ray was unsure of the outcome. He remarked, “This was our first rodeo, and we didn’t know how we would fare with a team of professionals from a seasoned Wall Street firm used to assessing the worth of firms much larger than ours and with more tenure. We had previously investigated the viability of a public offering for our firm a few years before, but concluded at the time we were not yet ready for prime time. So, we were a bit anxious to hear from the experts, to say the least.” The investment banking firm was immediately ushered into an impressive conference room with a mahogany fireplace and an eight-foot marble conference table, where Ray proceeded to walk them through the traditional presentation overviewing the company’s progress and plans. It was a presentation Ray could do in his sleep. Upon completion, the lead banker asked for a fifteen-minute recess, which everyone thought was meant to assemble some additional penetrating questions. Ray was wondering, Is this a dream, or is it actually happening? We were about to realize what many people consider to be the American Dream of starting a company and taking it public.
Excerpt#2: MarySue Joins RMH
MarySue’s journey to join RMH started with a snowfall, much like Ray’s snowstorm experience. Her boss at the time was a stickler when it came to staying at work, even through dire weather conditions. He became annoyed when she left to relieve her nanny when a winter storm suddenly sprung up. Although she loved the creative aspect of her job, she realized the boss didn’t fully appreciate her enormous contribution in developing and launching new products as well as the large revenue growth she attained for the company. This effectively pushed her out the door, just as Ray’s persistence pulled her toward the door to RMH. Here’s how MarySue describes it: “When Ray was deciding on the name of the new consulting firm, he insisted that the name be our combined initials RMH. He purposely put the ‘M’ in RMH for MarySue, as his middle name is Joseph. Ray was always urging me to join RMH. I wasn’t really interested in joining a consulting business since I was relatively content as VP of Product Development for a motivational book publishing company. I kept on telling Ray that I thought it would be very challenging to work together as a married couple especially, since we were also raising three small children. That didn’t stop Ray; he would try to tell me about his clients every night, but I was too busy with the three young kids to listen to him. Caring for and being with the kids were my top priorities when I was at home.” One morning, as MarySue was rushing out to work, Ray handed her a cassette tape (that’s how they recorded things in those days) and said, “Why don’t you pop this in the tape player in your car during your long commute to pass the time.” That’s when destiny stepped in again. MarySue recalled, “One day in a traffic standstill, while driving in an extremely heavy snowfall, I started listening to Ray’s tapes, which contained detailed stories of his clients’ projects. That night, I asked Ray, “Tell me more about the details about the client situations, maybe I can help offer some solutions.” MarySue didn’t realize it at the time, but she was getting hooked. MarySue later chuckled, and admitted to Ray, “You hypnotized me with those tapes.”
Excerpt#3: PrivateEquityBreakfast Humorous Story
Ray described it this way “One early morning, we were invited to attend a breakfast meeting at the extravagant home of the CEO of a private equity firm. The plan was to explore the other potential partnership and to check each other out in person. We knew it was important to make a good impression and so we arrived early. Since the weather was very snowy with icy road conditions, we used our teenage son's four-wheel drive SUV to assure us safe driving. The driveway to their mansion was long and impressive, lined with stone walls that led to a large courtyard. The estate sat on the top of a hill that overlooked the greater Main Line area. I later learned that it was once the home of the founders of Campbell Soup. A staffer then greeted us and opened our car door. To our embarrassment, our son’s pack of cigarettes, twinkies and empty soda cans came tumbling forth to the ground. So much for making a good impression.” Upon entering the house, Ray and MarySue encountered a huge, perfectly decorated Christmas tree in the two-story foyer and were then led to a dining room with a table that could seat twenty-four people. On one side of the table stood a chef attired in starch whites and topped with a chef’s hat. He had already prepared a bountiful breakfast fit for a king. All of this by 7:00 a.m. The founder and his wife made their entrance and sat at either end of the table like a king and queen. MarySue remembers, “I could not eat a thing, probably because of the knot in my stomach, but Ray took full advantage of the hospitality offered by eating a full breakfast.” The private equity husband and wife team consumed a bowl of oatmeal and some buttered toast while grilling Ray and MarySue on their personal and company life. Ray laughed and said, “At this point we felt somewhat like the Beverly Hillbillies did at some posh party while driving around in their noisy Model T.”
Excerpt#4: IPO Road Show Story
Ray said, “On a personal note, during the IPO road show, we were scheduled to attend a meeting in Toronto, Canada to sell shares to a group of investors, but as it turned out I did not possess a passport to travel abroad. Our banker asked if I had simply let mine expire, so perhaps they could get it updated. When I said that up to that time, I never had secured a passport, they were astonished that I had never traveled internationally.”
MarySue commented, “So true, I always felt that we were chained to our desks and focused on every detail. Absurdly, this fact was woven into the investment narrative as
proof of our personal work ethic and our commitment to our enterprise.” Upon concluding the roadshow in New York, one of the key VC partners left the firm, which required that all investors be informed as a potential event that could materially impact their decision to invest. Ray said, “As a consequence, we went from a 9x to 7x oversold position, which fortunately did not have a significant impact on our overall results.” One of RMH’s competitors who recently went public missed their first quarterly forecast. This unexpectedly put the RMH team under pressure to meet the quarterly expectations of the first post-public forecast. Mary Sue shared, “It took some skillful maneuvering to gear up the necessary staff to produce the results we needed to exceed first quarter expectations. Fortunately, we developed a unique forecasting tool that let us know early that we needed to adjust staffing and reduce expenses.” To the outside world, it appeared that the RMH team had this issue well in hand, but it certainly was a close call.
Returning to the RMH offices, Ray was greeted with a standing ovation from the staff who expressed their appreciation for a successful roadshow and a solid launch onto the public stage at Nasdaq under the symbol RMHT. “Our public offering, like a dozen other competitors that went public in the prior year, was well received by industry gurus at the conferences that fall. Congratulations were offered to us across the board. These were heady times to be an outsource call center company, flush with cash accompanied by the stamp of approval from Wall Street,” Ray reflected.
****** Awards & Honors ******
Gold Cup for Outbound Excellence
Gold Cup for Inbound Excellence
Ace Silver Award operational excellence
Circle of Quality Award
Ray Hansell Top Telepros Honor
MarySue Hansell Distinguished Women Award
RMH Award of Excellence Link to Success
ATA Pioneer Award for industry contributions.
Lifetime Achievement for Ray & MarySue Hansell
RMHT, NASDAQ 1996 public offer of 2.8 million Shares
If you’re thinking of starting a business or recently got underway with one, then welcome to the World of Entrepreneurial Ventures. These are indeed exciting times for new entrepreneurs. Some are calling this period the time of “Covid-Preneurs” where many businesses were launched post the pandemic outbreak.
According to the US Census Bureau Americans submitted over 10.4 million new businesses were launched over the last 2 years despite rocky economic conditions. People are seizing the American Dream in record numbers to build their own enterprise and achieve financial freedom.
This is our story about our journey as a couple of married entrepreneurs. Starting out with three toddlers we left our comfortable corporate positions to launch our own business in our mid-thirties with less than $ 25,000 in savings. We survived the first 5 risky years and went on to take our company public within 15 years creating millions for us and our partners. Because of our non-traditional backgrounds, we often broke away from the accepted prescribed methods in building our business. We identified these approaches as ‘Breakaways’ and wove them into our story.
But that’s not the end of our entrepreneurial story. The existential question for all entrepreneurs is always “what’s next?” That’s the way of Walt Disney and Steven Jobs. So stay tuned as we are always embarking on some new enterprise. We hope you enjoy reading about our entrepreneurial journey and wish you much success with yours.
All the best,
Ray & MarySue Hansell Co-preneurs.
****** Awards & Honors ******
Gold Cup for Outbound Excellence
Gold Cup for Inbound Excellence
Ace Silver Award operational excellence
Circle of Quality Award
Ray Hansell Top Telepros Honor
MarySue Hansell Distinguished Women Award
RMH Award of Excellence Link to Success
ATA Pioneer Award for industry contributions.
Lifetime Achievement for Ray & MarySue Hansell
RMHT, NASDAQ 1996 public offer of 2.8 million Shares
ToonUps combine the fun and excitement of cartoon animation with tried-and-true business messages and memorable tips. Over 2500 Companies around the globe have used ToonUps to hone their customer service and selling skills. These unique interventions are affordable, flexible, and effective.
ABetterWorld.com
A Better World is a Social Enterprise whose mission is to make the world a better place.
Our flagship product is our A Better World game, "Where All Good Deeds Are Rewarded and Real World Causes Are Supported! "Over 4 million people have done over 40 million good deeds in A Better World in over 100 countries.
RMH Impact offers a full range of consulting services targeted to where you need it most. Impact your company positivity by creating integrated solutions designed to solve People and Process Problems. We specialize in increasing sales and customer service performance while improving employee morale and reducing turnover. Examples include customer appreciation programs, recognition and rewards systems and corporate branding integrations.
Humor makes sure your training messages are retained.
ToonUps combine the fun and excitement of cartoon animation with tried-and-true business messages and memorable tips. Over 2500 Companies around the globe have used ToonUps to hone their customer service and selling skills. These unique interventions are affordable, flexible, and effective.
A Better World is a Social Enterprise whose mission is to make the world a better place.
Our flagship product is our A Better World game, "Where All Good Deeds Are Rewarded and Real World Causes Are Supported! "Over 4 million people have done over 40 million good deeds in A Better World in over 100 countries.
RMH Impact offers a full range of consulting services targeted to where you need it most. Impact your company positivity by creating integrated solutions designed to solve People and Process Problems. We specialize in increasing sales and customer service performance while improving employee morale and reducing turnover. Examples include customer appreciation programs, recognition and rewards systems and corporate branding integrations.
The Better Worldians Vision is to make the world a better place by highlighting and encouraging the best in everyone. We believe that the solution to today’s divisiveness is in cultivating our better nature. We promote Positive Thinking, Positive Values, and Positive Actions. We emphasize good thinking habits like optimism, creativity, and mindfulness; values like authenticity, character, and generosity; and altruistic acts like philanthropy, service, and selflessness.
We promote Positive Thinking, Positive Values, and Positive Actions. We emphasize good thinking habits like optimism, creativity, and mindfulness; values like authenticity, character, and generosity; and altruistic acts like philanthropy, service, and selflessness.
Better Worldians Radio has interviewed over 150 national and international guests including nonprofit founders, best-selling. Authors, celebrities, film producers, and captains of industry.
Better Worldians Foundation has contributed over $100,000 to support Over 24 National and International Charitable Partners Helping Kids & Adults.
The Better Worldians Visionis to make the world a better place by highlighting and encouraging the best in everyone. We believe that the solution to today’s divisiveness is in cultivating our better nature. We promote Positive Thinking, Positive Values, and Positive Actions. We emphasize good thinking habits like optimism, creativity, and mindfulness; values like authenticity, character, and generosity; and altruisticacts like philanthropy, service, and selflessness.
We promote Positive Thinking, Positive Values, and Positive Actions. We emphasize good thinking habits like optimism, creativity, andmindfulness; values like authenticity, character, and generosity; and altruisticacts like philanthropy, service, and selflessness.
Better Worldians Radio has interviewed over 150 national and international guests including nonprofit founders, best-selling. Authors, celebrities, film producers, and captains of industry.
Better Worldians Foundation has contributed over $100,000 to support
Over 24 National and International Charitable Partners Helping Kids & Adults.
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