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Ashley Biles

Associate Editor

For more than a decade, Thomaston native Bob Alexander has been coming back to his hometown to inspire and encourage others to be the best version of themselves possible. He is able to do this through his annual seminar, which brings the message of being an “L” to the third power: a life-long learner. January 23, 2013 will mark the 15^th year of his annual Success Seminar, this year entitled, “The 24 Hour Champion: How to Lead with Vision and Serve with H.E.A.R.T.” which will be held at the Upson County Civic Center, located at 101 Civic Center Drive in Thomaston.

Alexander, a former teacher, coach and administrator at both Upson High School and R. E. Lee, was a member of Zig Ziglar’s sales team before forming his own business, the Alexander Resource Group in 1998. He feels fortunate to have been able to learn at the feet of the most well-known motivational speaker in the world and though his friend, colleague and mentor passed away in November of 2012, Alexander is able to use the wisdom Ziglar passed on in not only his seminars, but his own life as well.

“In my personal life, Zig taught me the importance of hope and that a person without hope is like a ship without a rudder, wondering and wandering aimlessly in a sea of confusion,” said Alexander. “In my family life, he taught me through his own actions how to be a better husband, how to raise positive kids in a negative world and how to give them the roots of responsibility and wings of independence. Finally in my professional life, I will always cherish the ‘little lessons of life’ he taught me while traveling to and from seminars around the country. They were priceless.”

It is through his seminars that Alexander is able to share his knowledge and experiences to help educators, salespeople, managers, customer service representatives, business executives and the like to build a solid foundation for life. He uses his time to encourage other to improve their attitudes, develop self-confidence, set specific goals and live their dreams. In fact, his favorite part of being a public speaker is being able to lift, encourage and praise others so they may reach their full potential in life.

“Some people say what you want to hear and some say what you need to hear. What I do is say what you need to hear in a way that you want to hear it.”

He credits his success to the fact that he has based his professional life on the wisdom and knowledge of his parents, teachers, coaches and friends. It is by doing these seminars across the country and especially in his hometown that he feels he is able to give back to the community that helped make him who he is today.

This year there will be two sessions held for Alexander’s seminar; the first being from 8:30 a.m.-11 a.m. and the second a repeat session being from 1 p.m.-3:30 p.m. He noted that he does two of the same seminars to give businesses a chance to send as many of their employees as they would like without having to close operations for the day. The fee for the one-day seminar is $149 with group discounts available.

Also this year, there is a special bonus session entitled “Effective Presentation Skills” and it will be conducted from 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. This interactive session will teach attendees how to speak with more confidence, competence and more comfort, whether they are speaking to 10 or 100 people. Registration fee for a day seminar attendee is $49 and $99 for those who wish to come only to the bonus evening session.

For those interested in attending, please call 478-476-9081 or email bob@yesican.net to reserve your seat. More information about the seminar, testimonials of past attendees and the Alexander Resource Group can be found on the company website at www.yesican.net.