Mitzi Perdue

Learn How to Turn Adversity Into Opportunity

“Use adversity as a bridge to your destiny.”

Those are nice words to live by, especially if it works and your destiny turns out to be fulfilling and rewarding.

People probably view Mark Victor Hansen’s destiny as a successful one, having sold more than half a billion books as co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul. It’s unlikely, though, that Hansen would define his destiny in terms of book sales or dollar bills.

But it was at a crucial soul-searching time when one of his businesses had just gone bankrupt that Hansen considered his adversity and answered a most difficult question about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. His answer: “I want to talk to people who care about things that matter and make a life-transforming difference for them.”

Perhaps those words were the launchpad for Hansen’s destiny, and a key steppingstone in his development of one of the most successful brands in publishing history. It also is at the root of understanding Mark Victor Hansen, the man, with all his glorious accomplishments and, yes, a few warts along the way in Mitzi Perdue’s just-released biography, Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless.

Compiles The Best Stories To Inside And Comfort People

Author Perdue, an accomplished businesswoman in her own right and widow of chicken icon Frank Perdue, couldn’t have chosen a better word for her title to describe Mark. His personality, if anything, has been relentless, and it started at an early age when he craved a fancy $175 bicycle his family could not afford (in today’s world it would sell for about $12,000). His father said go out and earn the money and it’s yours. Needless to say, the young boy found a way to get the money “through force of will, coupled with obstinacy and an inability to think he couldn’t do it.”

While Perdue does a marvelous job of taking us through Hansen’s life – his school years, travels, business ventures, relationships, mentors and influencers – she pays special attention to the brand that changed his life. The goal, along with co-author Jack Canfield, was to compile the best 101 stories that would inspire and comfort people.

“Jack and I thought the soul of America was in pain and in trouble. What we discovered was that the soul of the world was also ailing and in profound pain.”

Mark recalls the story of how Jack called him at 2:58 am in the morning with the brilliant idea to name the book Chicken Soup. It came to him from an image of his grandmother’s chicken soup and her loving words that chicken soup would cure anything.

But instant success of the franchise was anything but. In fact, the authors received 144 rejections from various publishers before they struck paydirt. Again, it was Mark’s relentless pursuit to succeed and do whatever was necessary to get there.

Perdue Does A Marvelous Job Of Taking Us Through Hanses’s Life

Talking with Mark and getting a grasp of his style, drive and boundless ideas could be an adventure. Says one former colleague, “Talking with Mark is following bouncing marbles falling down a staircase into rabbit holes. We would talk on 50 different subjects, and he was always just bursting with ideas, curiosity and optimism.”

If you were to ask Mark some of the lessons he learned long ago that helped carry him through life, he likely would recount his father’s message to “be consistent, persistent and insistent” – at the time referring to young Mark’s ability to save, and later in life as a battle cry that defined his style and served him so well. So well, in fact, that he:

• Earned that fancy bicycle
• Started a music band with no musical experience
• In his twenties sold his talks for up to $5,000 each
• Increased his speaker fees to $10,000 in his thirties
• Created a record-breaking bestseller in his forties
• Became the #1 motivational speaker in the country in his fifties

For an in-depth and fascinating look into a man who experienced the ups and downs of seeking a dream and eventually realizing it many times over, pick up Mitzi Perdue’s Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless. Readers not only will be treated to a wonderful life story but also will find many valuable ideas and inspirations to apply to their own lives.

Mark Victor Hansen Relentless is available for purchase here.