No Coincidences

(This is Part One in a series on people I know who inspire. People who’ve taken the lemons life handed them and with them, made lemonade.)

One of the qualities I admire most in a person is an ability to take a bad situation or circumstance, learn from it, and turn it into something positive. For those currently experiencing a crisis, this may seem like an annoyingly Pollyanna viewpoint. However, I’m a believer in the old saying "everything happens for a reason", and that somehow, someway, something good can come out of even the worst circumstance if we are open.

Mark Biviano is the Senior VP of Sales for the Rubber City Radio Group, the parent company of WONE, WAKR and WQMX (where I work). At lunch recently, I shared with Biv (as he is known) and the others at the table that a former boss and friend of mine had just lost his job. I was expressing concern over his family and future in this uncertain economy,

It was then I learned a few things about this man.

Some 15 years ago, Biv held the position of General Manager at a radio station in Cleveland. He was good at what he did; loved the job, the people and the radio business in general. But as things go, the company got sold and changes were made. After years of success and loyalty, he found himself unemployed.

As a man who’d been running businesses and had the task of hiring and firing people, he now was in the same position he’d put others into. It felt different on this side. He recalled the things he’d said others when others lost their job. “It’ll be ok. You’ll find something else.“Hey, these things happens.” Words that sounded empty, almost cruel now that he was hearing them.

Biv opened up about what was to be the darkest time of his life. A highly intelligent man, he was not only despondent over the fact he had lost his job, he was unable to grasp why this company would let someone like him go. He was good at what he did. Such a hard worker. The first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave at night. Didn’t they value him? Confusion led to anger, then to anxiety, then to despair. His self-esteem plummeted and he fell into a depression so deep that he said he couldn’t get out of bed.

That was 1991. But what makes Biv’s story inspiring is what happens next.

He realized he was depressed and sought help, and through a process of self-actualization he began to move on. In 1992 he joined the University of Akronas Adjunct Professor in Communications, Broadcast Sales & Management and Communication Research. In 1994 he went back to school and got his Master’s Degree, graduating in 1998. In 2006, he joined the staff at Kent State University, also as Adjunct Professor. And yeah, he landed another job. This one. Since 1993 he’s led a team that consistently surpasses budget goals when most radio stations in the region fall well below.

The fact that he so openly shared his story was inspiring enough. Pride might prevent others from doing so. But he has no problem sharing it because in doing so he can use his bad experience to encourage others. He is once again in a position of making difficult decisions, but now really understands what it is like to experience job loss. He considers the life-changing effect releasing someone from has and doesn't make the decision lightly. Now, when he hears of someone who has lost their job, he reaches out.

If he’d stayed at that station in Cleveland, would he have his Master’s degree? Be teaching at 2 Universities, and end up in a work environment where he counts his blessings every day?

I think not.

Mark Biviano took lemons and made some sweet lemonade. He’s living proof that every single thing you go through lead you to where you are today.

Oh…and that friend I mentioned earlier, the one who lost his job recently…he shared with me that his elderly father was just diagnosed with cancer. He’s been taking him to doctor appointments, handling all the details of his care, dealing with his mom’s fragile emotions. How could he have possibily been able to handle this if he were working, he wondered to me aloud?

Hmmm. There are no coincidences.