Glenn Bowie [RADIO INTERVIEW]

Glenn Bowie, Motivational Speaker & Business Icon

Learn more about Glenn’s many projects here.

LASM x TDR: Well, we are honored to have Glenn Bowie here with us today. You have been sought after throughout the nation as a sales leader, coach, motivational speaker. I mean you’ve really accomplished amazing things throughout your career in the telephone industry and now expanding into motivational speaking and really just being top of sales and coaching. So thank you for being here. We’re so honored to have you. We can’t wait to hear about your story.

Glenn: Thank you for having me.

LASM x TDR: We’ll be nothing without phones, I tell you. Seriously. Yes. So I’m so intrigued about how you entered in the industry and how it was really at a pivotal point for phones. So tell us about that and how you really were this cell phone beeper man to the stars. How did that happen?

Glenn: Well, it all started out in the paging industry. You got it. And I started out as number one salesman in the United States, selling for Page Net. That was way before there was even a cell phones. So it was a pretty exciting time back then. It was a lot of doctors and lawyers. And then, you sold a little bit of anybody and everybody and I carved out a little niche market working in entertainment industry and one thing kind of led to another, but…

LASM x TDR: Do we all remember those beepers?  I’m only 21, so I don’t know. I don’t know.  The one you thought he was the big dog when it had the little writing on the side of it? Yes. Messages. So, another thing that’s fascinating is your journey to California, which is just so inspiring. And I want to share that with audiences a little bit because that really from, from the first time that I met you and you told me about how you sacrificed weekends when you were in college and everybody else was partying, but you would dedicate your weekends to go up and work at this, was it a golf course or what was it?

Glenn: It was a Regency Hotel at that time.

LASM x TDR: Okay. But I mean, there were people there that were very successful and very wealthy, and you really were dedicated to that job, and your driving force behind that was your mom correct?

Glenn: Definitely. She was my inspiration…

LASM x TDR: So for me, just hearing that, the first time I heard that, the first thing that came mind was faith without works is dead. So you had a dream to support your mom, but you knew that you had to put the work in to get it done. And then God bless you with this amazing story of how you got to California. So tell us about that.

Glenn: Yeah, it was pretty cool. I mean, growing up in Peoria, Illinois. Yeah, Richard Pryor.

LASM x TDR:  That was my first radio show. The WBGE, yes. That’s my first radio show. Go ahead. I’m sorry.

Glenn: So growing up in Peoria, I grew up in the projects of Peoria, Illinois and the Taft homes. And my mother, I raised four kids and she had a dream and vision for all of us that one day she would get us out of the projects. So we moved to a middle class neighborhood and it was exciting times. Learning about other cultures and races and kind of opened up me to a whole another world. And I had this vision and dream. Even as a young kid, I was going to move to California one day. And so, as I was going to my journey, my mom said, hey, go for your dream son. You can make it do whatever it is that you can do in your life. And so I wanted to be the first one in my family to go to college because I noticed that my brothers and my sisters, they didn’t finish their school. So I said, I got to make it. So as I was going through school, I decided I wanted to wait tables in college. And says I was waiting tables, I met a gentleman named Mr. Ray Becker out of Peoria Illinois, I didn’t even know who he was. And so we became best friends and he’d come in every Friday and let me wait on. And little did I know he was the richest guy in the old town. He invited me to California, December 3rd, 1984 was my journey here on my first time ride now on a private jet. Yes.

LASM x TDR: Talk about an entrance.

Glenn: Not First Class.

LASM x TDR: How are you doing that? My story don’t even fit with that one.

Glenn: So we landed into San Diego and Mr. Becker, so what are you going to do with yourself out here in California? So I’m going to get a job waiting tables. I’m just going to go up to Los Angeles, California and find my way. And he says, no, you call my bank Monday morning. You can’t be out here without any money. So I thought, wow, that’s a pretty nice offering. So I say, let me call your bank. So I talked to his bank and I said, look, I’ll accept that $5,000 under one condition, and that one condition, yeah, I pay it back. So that was something that I always wanted to do. But I knew one day I was going to need more than $5,000 from today.  So I left San Diego. At that time, he was there and me at Betty for fundraiser and Chicago Bear, San Diego chargers, football games. So we headed up to Los Angeles and I had this dream of vision, of Los Angeles. That was my journey heading up. And I knew I had a cousin worked at Warner Brothers Studio. So I called my cousin Joe. I said, Joe, I’m coming up to LA now. I said, I always wanted to meet Richard Pryor. He used to, all quiz to babies here. So he says, all right, let me get you past the security guards and you’re on your own. So I got past the security guards and knocked on the door, got opened up another for me. Once I met Richard, I felt like I could do anything in this world. It was very inspirational for me.

LASM x TDR: That’s amazing. So, I mean, fast forward, all those blessings unfold based on the work you put in and then you became a bellhop or, right! A Sheraton at the Universal One. And you had such favor on you. And I’m sure that they saw your genuine spirits. So I mean, you’ve befriended throughout that experience being there. Ali, and you met Michael Jackson and tell us a little bit about that and how it transitioned into your career in the telephone industry.

Glenn:  Definitely. It was inspiring. When I got to the hotel, the first thing I did was, I met a gentleman named Herb Hunter. I’ll never forget it. I walked up to Herb, and I said to Herb, my name is Glenn Bowie. I’m a professional waiter from Peoria, Illinois. I want to wait tables here. And he says, we know what, we don’t have any way to positions open, but I’m going to hire you as a bellhop. And I said, I’ll accept, when can I start? So little did I know that, that hotel was a hotel to the movie stars. It was 1984 back then it was the Sheraton Premier hotel everybody. And that place was jumping off. Now it’s the Universal City Hilton, but they used to have the BREs up to all the record conventions and you name it. So I ended up befriending a lot of great people from anywhere. So I got a chance to shadow box with Mohammed Ali, Michael Jackson’s stayed there for three months when he was doing his bad album. So I became his personal go to guy for sneaking around and getting back and forth to his limo, getting up to universal studios, and a lot of fun stories behind. It took off from there. And Oprah Winfrey was in, stayed there for about six months doing the women at Brewster’s place. So, she was there. Yeah. So it was, it was a good time and it opened my eyes up to a whole another world.

LASM x TDR: So, I mean that’s, it’s phenomenal. And I think that’s why you were able to be so successful in your sales and being sought after throughout the nation, giving these essentially corporate classes to people. So based on our audiences listening to you today, what can you say as a takeaway skill that people can use in sales or business based on your experience and your success in your industry?

Glenn: Yeah, I would say the number one thing for me is just building relationships and building trust. People buy from who they trust because when you’re in the sales business, you can, products, you can get them almost anywhere. But I’ve always had that model of understanding the client’s personal needs or what they really want and what they need. And I would always catered towards that. And that’s always been my motto. And then I’ve leveraged referrals and contacts from there. Motorola had put me on the cover of magazine, which was my second private jet ride to the Super Bowl. So they put me on the cover of a magazine called who’s a Hollywood star turn to for communications. So I just leveraged that article. And it took off from there. So these are just blessings that have come my way. And I’m very grateful and thankful for that.

LASM x TDR: For sure. So I’m looking at what looks to be like a flyer of a cover with your beautiful presence on the front of it. And I see the headline says, speaking into existence and then under that I see your time, your faith, your family, your health, your business, your community. So would you say that all of those things that are listed on that cover were things that you literally spoken to existence and that is what, did you even understand to do that back in 1984 and that is something that catapulted you to where you are now?

Glenn: Yeah, I think it was a gradual progression of time realizing that life and death in the power of the tongue. And so you can speak and believe in your dreams, and also believe that you can think about your dreams too, to make them happen. So it all started for me with a vision board. Even when I was a young kid, I would always cut out different magazine articles and put them up on the wall and just sit back and dream and visualize it. We’d be snowed in and Peoria Illinois.

LASM x TDR: The dream is on the wall baby.

Glenn: There you go. So we’d be snowed in in Peoria and snow would be all the way up to the door and couldn’t even get out the house. And I look on TV and see the roles ball, football games. And I see everybody in their shorts and t-shirts and I say, that’s where I want to go one day.

LASM x TDR: Absolutely. So you feel like that by your speaking it into existence. I think about that song by Mariah Carey where she says make it happen. And she was talking about how she cried and she prayed and basically she was talking about the journey, like our journey here. But, and when I heard you say that, all I could think about was her testimony in that song is so many of our testimonies, but specifically we’re honoring you for your testimony as we interview you. It’s so inspiring.

Glenn: Well, I really appreciate it. Well, thank you. Note speaking into existence actually came to me at 4:30 in the morning because I was thinking of…

LASM x TDR:  A fourth watch.

Glenn: …Yeah. And I realize in life sometimes that the more time that you spend quiet, the more time you spend with your faith, and your spirit, and getting to know you who you are as a person. And just pray and meditate on it and I ask God to speak to me and tell me what it is had he wants me to do with my life. And that’s where I’m at now. I’m in the giving back mode now because I’ve received so much from so many people over the years from entertainers to construction workers, to you name it, to limo drivers. It just everybody is really the same. And that’s one thing I learned about life is that people really are the same deep down inside. So I try to look for the good and others.

LASM x TDR: Thank you so much for those words of wisdom and how can our audiences find you and how can they follow you, and what’s next to come?

Glenn:  You can find me at info@glenbowiespeaks.com I’m on all the social media platforms and just know that I’m there for you. And life is short and giving back is really what it’s all about at the end of the day because that’s what drives and motivates me. It’s not what I’ve accomplished. It’s about me bringing somebody else up along the way. Pay it forward is what I’m looking to do with my life now.

LASM x TDR: Pay it forward. Thank you so much. Hey, I got to find out for him. Glen, you got to tell me and our listeners, what is your superpower sir?

Glenn: So my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

LASM x TDR:  I ain’t got nothing to say to. Mike drop really good. We’re knocked out. We don’t even exist anymore. Strip digital radio. La Style magazine. Let’s give it up for Glenn Bowie. Yes indeed. We will be back for sure. Yes indeed. I do think is out. Strip digital radio L.A. STYLE Magazine. We’re back. I wanted to mention something that’s going to be powerful in 2019 and that is Glenn Bowie’s book. If you’re looking for powerful inspiration and a source of motivation, this is the book you need to go to. It’s called speak it into existence. It’s a reflex of testimony of his life and the success he’s had. So speak it into existence. Look out for it in September, 2019 and also a big shout out to Blair Underwood for his support in the book and his comments on it thus far, who has already testified that it’s amazing. So look out for it.  I did have a question about that. Glen, are you also doing public speaking and public anything with, can you tell us a little bit about that?

Glenn: Sure. My last big speaking gig was at the L.A. Job Corps. It was about two to 3000 students and that was at their graduation. And then last week, I spoke at a high school, my own current high school. The coolest thing about all of this is that I’ve partnered up with Cindy Ryman who has an academy called the American Hospitality Academy. And we work with students and we have an online course now. One of the kids can go online and learn soft skills, how to have a positive attitude, how to get along with others. There’s a whole piece on diversity, and at the end they get a certificate and helps prepare them for jobs.

LASM x TDR:  Yes, off the tank. Yeah. When you, when you were touching kids and changing lives, anybody that knows me, that’s what I’m about. So when I hear things like that, man, I gotta tip my cap. Once again, thank you for guiding the youth, structuring the youth, and giving them a positive outlook for the future.

Glenn:  Thank you. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thank you for having me here. And last thing I want to share is we just signed up. My high school in Peoria, Illinois just signed up with all the high school, incoming freshman are going to be taking the online course.

LASM x TDR: Awesome.

Glenn: So I’m really excited about that. My first major with the online is right here in my hometown. So maybe just talk about that.

LASM x TDR: Thank you, yes indeed. Glenn. Thank you. We’ll be back. Trip Digital L.A. STYLE Magazine.