Chapter 16

Walking down the main drag, I came to a book store near campus. I went inside to see what was trending. I hadn’t been in the store for a few months since I’d picked up last year’s copy of Forbes and Cosmo. I made both two years in a row. As I looked at the magazines, there were plenty of girlie magazines that caught my interest but I picked up magazines on skateboarding, surfing, off road trucks, guns and every other hobby or sports magazine.

Sports Illustrated had a nice article about the volleyball tournament and there on the sidelines of the final match was Pro Level sports drinks advertising. Instead of walking straight home, I wandered through campus and came across some kids skateboarding and doing some tricks. I sat down a little way off and just watched them. I could skateboard and surf having grown up in Florida but didn’t do it often or practice at all.

I walked over and pulled out the skater magazine. I asked the guys if they knew who the guy on the cover was and they all did. One guy even knew what tricks that he was known for. The pool scene was big in skating at the time and skate parks were starting to pop up increasingly across the country.

There were lots of kids just like the students in front of me that got together every night to do tricks and hang out. They could spend a dollar or two on cigarettes or take that same money and buy a drink that could help them be more like their hero on the cover of skater magazine. All the minor sports could become the way we get to the everyday people with the new beverage.

The next day we met with the professor before class and talked about what we wanted to do. He said that he hadn’t heard of the drink and didn’t know how we thought that we could do something so big with just the six of us. I opened the magazine and laid it on his desk.

There in the picture was the signage on the sideline of the Sport Support beach volleyball tournament finals for Pro Level sports drink. “This is what we want to work on for our project. Right now, the market share is less than one percent nationally and even less internationally. Our goal is to increase that. It’s a real company and we think we can help.”

“Normally these things are one of the major brands creating a new flavor or buying a fast-growing local company and taking them national. You’ll have some tough hurdles to overcome but I’ll watch with an open mind. Good luck.”

The team was all smiles as we walked into class. We went around and talked about the business that we were going to market and the pros and cons of our products or services. One group wanted to work with a local car dealership. One was going to work with a pizza restaurant that they all ate at. We talked about Pro Level and acknowledged the difficulties due to cost or price point in the market and being new.

Later at the house I laid out my thoughts about the different sports or hobbies that many people do but don’t have the NFL or NBA behind it and in turn wouldn’t cost us a fortune to sign on the biggest stars.

The other advantage was that there were many different teams and clubs but they could all drink Pro Level. That mean that even if you hated person “A” and loved person “B” you wouldn’t hate the drink because of person “A” but might try it because of person “B”.

We divided up the research and decided to let one of the new people work with each of us. Mary worked with Sean. Patty and Amy were going to be a team and Rebecca and I were together for the project. We got the people portion or sponsored athletes and events to figure out.

In the end, we came up with a multi-pronged approach with straight ads that talked about the science behind the drinks in small snippets followed by action shots of people competing in different sports. We’d also do product placement and sponsorship of different events and tournaments. Lastly, we’d try to bring it to the main stream market with ads featuring business people getting ready for a meeting and Patty’s idea for mixed drinks using Pro Level as the mixer.

We had live data of some of the approaches and they were working. We did get an A in the class and a few of the people on the team also got jobs after they graduated. Sean did get a date or two with Mary but she was just having fun and not ready to settle down.

The girls kicked ass again in volleyball but my focus was on graduating and making the marketing plan become a reality. I graduated and moved back to Las Vegas. Mary and Patty went back to Europe before starting their senior years at school. Some other person went to Asia but I’m not sure who.

I walked into the office my first Monday back. Darcy was expecting me. She said, “So what do you want to do in our companies now that you’ve graduated?”

“I want to help them grow. I have some ideas and want to see them out and see what kind of growth we can have in all of our brands.”

“Jack, I read the marketing plan that you came up with and I like the approach. I want you to take the next few years and see how it works. The clothing line is printing money because we beat the others to the punch and they came off as copy cats. They lost a lot of credibility. I want to do the same with Pro Level. You’ll be on the road with a very large budget to get things done.

“We’ll have a team here to support your efforts and an assistant for you either here in the office or on the road if that works better. I prefer mine at her desk and that way she can take all my messages and can get things done while I move from place to place.

“Don’t think that you’re alone. I am here to help and so are your mom and sister. Britt might also throw out an idea or two from time to time. Some kids back pack around Europe for a year after graduation. This isn’t a nine to five, Monday through Friday job. I want you do enjoy yourself. We’re going to be spending a lot of money but we have a lot of money to spend so have fun but do what you set out to do.”

“That sounds like something I can handle.”

Darcy had planned and put together a team of people to help me out including a cute assistant. Her name was Linda Williams. She was right out of college but she was sitting next to Darcy’s assistant and would be well groomed to get the job done. The last thing that happened was that Darcy handed me a company credit card. In the past, I’d always used my own and then the company reimbursed me. Now I had my own.

Darcy told me to take the rest of the day off so I decided to see if Britt wanted to play golf. I parked my Jeep at my house and walked across the street to see if he was around. The door was open so I just walked in as usual. That was a mistake, unless I wanted to see my mom naked and bent over the couch.

Lilly was naked on the couch sucking on her nipple while Britt was behind her with one hand on her hip and the other in her hair as he slammed into her from behind. Mom was yelling, “Yes, yes, oh harder, yes.” I should be scarred for life but instead was just happy to see my mom happy. She looked good as well. Lilly notice me but I was behind Britt and Mom so I just backed out and went to put my clubs in the Jeep. I was at the driving range an hour later when Britt pulled in.

He walked over to the range with his clubs and set up next to me to hit a few balls. “Hey Jack, your first day at work seems to be a short one.”

“Darcy said that I’ll be on the road for the next year or two so I thought I would see if you wanted to play a round before I took off.”

“Lilly said that you stopped by. Are we Okay?”

“Mom looked really happy and that is the most important thing in my book. I don’t think that I ever really took the time to thank you for all that you’ve done for us. My picture keeps showing up in Forbes, Cosmo and now a few other magazines. I can thank my mom, dad, and Darcy but it’s all because of you and your generosity. Our families have always been close and we kind of fell into what our relationship is today but you didn’t have to give Mom and Dad what you did and Darcy didn’t have to bring Mary, Mom, and me in as partners in her businesses. I do feel like family. It may be a messed-up family but at least we all seem to be happy.”

“Your family, Lilly, Karen, Darcy and I are all family and no matter what the law says we are, we know what true love and loyalty really is. I’m proud of you and your sister. I love you all including your mom as if she were my second wife. I would never disrespect your father because he’s one of the men that I admire the most.”

“Since we’re all family does that mean that I can play with Lilly and Karen too?” I asked with a smile.

“I’d stay away from Karen without asking permission from Darcy and Karen but you can ask Lilly. I don’t think she’d say yes without asking me but she loves you and Mary as if you were her own kids or grandkids. There isn’t much she wouldn’t do to make you happy. She didn’t freak out when you saw her naked on the couch today.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Do you want to play some golf? I’m thinking two strokes a hole since you play every day.”

“You don’t suck that bad.”

“I need some walking around money since I’ll be traveling the world and would feel better spending it if it was your money I was spending.”

“It’s just money. I’ll give you a stroke a hole and only use my irons. Ten thousand a hole sounds fair.”

Britt could hit his long irons well but with my driver and three wood. I could keep up with him off the tee. In the end, I walked away with twenty-grand but I had this strange feeling that Britt could have just as easily taken twenty or thirty from me if he wanted to. He had gotten much better on the course.

We were both home for dinner before we went down to play cards. Doyle smiled when he saw me and glanced down at the embroidered cuff with Pro Level on it. He had a glass with a can sitting next to it in some cup holders. Everyone at the table was drinking the same. Johnny Chan saw me walk in and asked, “When am I going to get free shirts like Doyle? I’m a loyal drinker of Pro Level.”

“Any time you want, Johnny. Give me your size and address and I’ll have them there in the morning.”

There were some businessmen in from Texas to test their luck with the pros. They may have read about me in Forbes but none of them recognized me. They thought that they could bully me and scare me with large bets. I let them buy a couple of pots in the beginning when I didn’t have great hands. My initial ten-grand was quickly down to five and then I added another ten.

With fifteen grand on the table, I let them get into a hand a little deeper than they should when I had the best hand and then when they would try to scare me away with all in bets, I would call, win, and take their money. At the end of the night I had a new rep for Pro Level and just less than fifty grand in winnings. It wasn’t a bad day at all.

When I woke up the next morning, I called Erin in Orlando. “Hey sweetheart, did you find a job yet?”

“You know that Daddy saved me a spot in his firm.”

“I’m sure he’d love to have you close by so all of the other associates and partners can talk about the preferential treatment you’re receiving and you can complain about how much harder he’s on you than all of the other associates.”

“That’s exactly right. What did you call for? This is my one week off before I start my new job.”

“I was just calling to see if you could use a raise and some new scenery? I need someone that knows their way around contracts. I could probably talk to Darcy about getting Gloria a job on the UNLV campus. She has to be more than qualified.”

“How much of a raise and what would I tell Daddy?”

“Tell me what your father offered and then tell me what you’re worth to me. As far as telling your father something; ask him if he remembers John leaving and what it meant to him financially and personally. If he remembers correctly, then he will buy you a plane ticket himself. I’m about ready to take Pro Level to the next level and need someone that is young and energetic to help me out and keep me out of trouble.”

“Does that mean I’d get an extra dollar an hour to babysit too?”

“Sure. Take Daddy’s pay, increase it by twenty percent and get your butt out to Las Vegas. Call Gloria and tell her to call Darcy about a new job when the fall semester starts. What do you say?”

“I’ll drive down and have lunch with Daddy and talk it over with him. He’s just a partner and has other partners to deal with as well. I don’t want to disappoint him but he knows you, Darcy and Britt and thinks well of you all.”

“Let me know and I’ll get Darcy on board with whatever you and Gloria decide.”

“Thanks for the call.”

That week I met my new assistant, met my team, and started to bring them in on the plans to create a new campaign around minor sports. It had never been tried before so there were a lot of shoulder shrugs and questionable looks but none of them said that it couldn’t be done. I mentioned to Darcy about Erin and Gloria and she thought that would be easy enough and saw the need after I mentioned a new contract with Johnny Chan and how many others would come along behind it with my trips.

She would need a person just to keep the clothes coming in and since they would be wearing Pro Level clothing, the Sport Support logo would be on every piece as well. We might have to add some other logos of their other sponsors like sun glasses, skate boards, surf boards or skis. The planning wouldn’t be hard but they would have to be handled and contracts coordinated so we didn’t put any of our athletes in jeopardy.

The rest of my evenings were spent at home with Mom. She asked if I wanted to talk about what I’d walked in on over at Britt’s house and I said, “I know that you’re a one-man woman so me telling you how sexy you looked would just pump up your ego and not help either of us out eventually. I know that you loved Dad and know that you love Britt. It didn’t seem like you were being forced or weren’t enjoying it so I’m happy that you’re still enjoying life.”

“I was worried that you’d be upset but you’ve always been the logical one and Mary’s been the emotional one. Thanks for understanding.”

I was only in town for a week or so and would be in the office most of the day working with my people to get myself and them up to speed and come up with a plan. We had managers who each had duties and areas of responsibility but we were trying to work together instead of just doing our own thing.

I did meet up with Steve and found out that he and Pam had hooked up and were dating. I also found out that Pam was still living with my old English teacher and her husband. Pam let me know that I wasn’t a father but if I wanted to try again, they wouldn’t say, “No,” to me. She and Steve were having fun with the submissive couple but they were all still unsure about what would happen after graduation.

The drive to southern California wasn’t bad at all. I had clothes and toys. My surfboard, skateboard and bicycle were loaded in the back of the Jeep. I figured that I could just drive or ride around and look for skateboarders and surfers but I was too lazy for that so my first stop was the offices of Skateboarder Magazine. I talked my way in to a meeting with the editor and he was blunt when he spoke.

“So, you want to use us to find kids that skateboard and sign them up to endorse your products. I care about most of the kids that show up on the pages of our magazine. Besides a couple bucks what’s in it for them and what’s in it for us?”

“Those are good questions. I’ll leave with you the study that supports what I’m about to tell you. The drink works for getting someone ready for a long workout, boosting their energy during a workout and then helping the body recover and rebuild after a workout.

“That isn’t what the kids want to hear but it’s the truth and we aren’t just trying to sell a soda or sugar water. It also tastes good and I’ll leave a case with you before I leave. What I can offer is more events that we can co-sponsor and bring more money, events, and people into skateboarding. As more money and people come in, there will be more people to buy your magazines and more importantly progress the sports in equipment and performances.

“You probably have heard of the Sport Support Beach Volleyball tournaments. We started those in just a few cities in Florida a few years ago. Now it’s worldwide and the sport continues to grow because of the publicity. If you were a volleyball magazine would that be good for you?”

“It would. I’ll set you up with a few of my photographers and you can ride around and meet the guys that are leading the sport into the future.”