Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jimmy Buckner. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jimmy, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
How important is it to dream? If we can back our dreams up with written and attainable goals, then we have a realistic opportunity to reach anything within our minds put into motion. How important are mentors? We can all learn from others and then instill their best attributes into our own personality. My first professional career type job was with a worldwide brand. They had an excellent training program. How important is education? It was my good fortune to land a dream type job right out of college. Graduation was Saturday and the first day on the job was Monday. Given I was younger than the seasoned sales force and given I did not have traditional experience in sales, I simply allowed myself to learn and grow. Failure was not an option. It was also my good fortune to have a talented, sensitive, and committed boss.
So, after all the training, observing others, and allowing myself to be myself and not try to mirror anyone, I was growing up fast in the position. I was hired in May and a new person was not eligible to qualify for the top award given to the top 5% of producers in America. This high-performance award was called Sales Excellence. Yes, winners received a bonus, a blue jacket, and a fantastic award trip with the other winners with top management.
My dream was to achieve what my boss achieved which was winning this prestigious award three years in a row. My written goals included an intense work ethic and a no fear approach to cold calling. Most people don’t like to cold call business to business, but I quickly learned to have an optimistic approach to every sales call. My boss, my mentor taught me to self-check myself after each call. What did I do well? What could I have done differently? He also taught me to always leave each door open even if just slightly cracked open; moreover, when a decision maker turns you down, you simply need to keep a follow-up strategy with each target to one day successfully earning their trust and business.
The toughest challenge became personal challenges outside of work. Take a moment and think of all of the distractions in our day-to-day life. The list can become rather daunting. But for us to reach our dreams, we must successfully achieve our goals with hard work, persistence, and yes sometimes with a little luck. Optimism also takes on a form of confidence does it not? Success builds confidence. Confidence builds optimism, And optimism builds the inner you to achieve anything worthwhile.
The first big win is the hardest, and in the first full year of qualifying for Sales Excellence, I was chosen given my yearlong performance. Wow, was I ever proud of this accomplishment. A dream come true given hard work driven my daily, weekly, and monthly goals. I also recognized the people who helped me reach the pinnacle amongst my talented peers. Humbleness also comes to mind. The next year came, and was even more confident and thus my optimism was fueled by my goals. The second year was perhaps my best year as I dedicated my hard work to someone extra special in my life that has passed. We can choose to crawl in a hole when adversity hits us, or we can grieve and soon recognize that special person would want us to keep reaching for the stars. I am humble to share that year two achieved Sales Excellence and my peers voted me in as Sales Excellence President to represent field concerns and issues with senior management. It was a tremendous honor at the age of 25 to receive respect and honor from my Sales Excellence peer group. I seldom share such jubilation yet feel compelled to pass my spirit onto you.
Everything was clicking along, and it was no time to rest on any laurels. I was transferred by choice to a different market, and I was ever so determined with optimism that I could achieve Sales Excellence even with a new boss and in a new territory. Yes, the top 5% performance was reached and the love and respect for the man who hired me, mentored me, and motivated me to be the best I could be within myself all came together. Winning three straight years had only been achieved by my first boss and one other person in the history of the division. Dreams and optimism create the platform of confidence for success. In closing, never give up on yourself and keep your heart and mind focused on optimism so you can achieve your dreams. It may not be easy, but crossing the finish line makes the journey worth the effort and ever so sweet within oneself.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
By choice, I have done many different things. This can be very rewarding and yet with so many ever-changing variables, life traps can certainly stand tall in front of you. I remember a sign in a gym that read, “the toughest man to beat in any event is yourself”. That is kind of deep, isn’t it?
After attaining success, money, and recognition at an early age, it created offers to go into management or even be a trainer at our headquarters. Frank Sinatra sings many great songs and the one that comes to mind is “My Way”. Looking back, my decision may not have been the wise decision, but I was curious to experience more of the world. I gave my company a six weeks’ notice. I thanked everyone but chose to resign. To capture the next thirty plus years in a few paragraphs is not possible. Just know I am Blessed to have crossed many bridges and traveled far and wide. My family and special friends mean the world to me. I have a big family and there are just so many people who have made my life extra special. I count my blessings often and pray every day. Without hesitation allow me to express how fortunate I am to have a beautiful and loving wife, a tremendous son and our daughter and her son brings much joy.
I’ve been asked to share what is exciting in my life today. I go back to mentors as my decision to create and lead a nonprofit was not a snap decision. My grandfather taught us to make the world a better place than how you found it. This is a bold statement. He was quite the man and certainly a philanthropic leader on many fronts for decades. And my aunt has dedicated her life with her co-founder to help children in need for over 63 years and counting. The two ladies have been nominated nine straight years for the Nobel Peace Prize. There are many charitable and talented in our families, so deciding to start and build a 501(c)3 nonprofit was not a light decision.
I have been involved with many worthy causes, and when my wife motivated me to deliver food to people in need, this experience really affected me. Why? It is just so humbling and rewarding in the same moment to help people dealing with food insecurity. Think about helping a food pantry with friends and family. Trust me, it is a positive experience.
Hunger is a much bigger social issue than people may realize. COVID made hunger even a bigger issue than it already was. Everyone is busy. Stop and think about what it would be like to wonder where your next meal might come from. Hunger, poverty, and homelessness are like cousins but uniquely different. After delivering food twice a month for over seven years, and after helping a local pantry build a new pantry, and after speaking to a few special friends, the idea to create an all-volunteer organization to help existing pantries was powerful. In other words, it was meaningful to help one pantry, but why not help many pantries? Food pantries small and large all do wonderful deeds, and they do the heavy lifting. We simply help them; we are like an extra marketing arm to help them serve more folks. The pantries need more volunteers, and they need more money. Our organization helps the helpers.
We do awareness events that creates more volunteers and more donations. Our motto is “Entertainment with Purpose”. Our mission is to help end hunger in America. We have averaged over 80 awareness events and gatherings a year with volunteers. That is called organized chaos. We have never had any employees and still none today. We have brought on a few independent contractors to help us build across America. We have been doing this for over 13 years on a zero budget, so please appreciate we are very lean and definitely passionate to help others.
This endeavor is so much bigger than any of us. We are on a journey, and we have fun doing it. We invite you to join us.
Ask yourself a question. “Why should anyone in America be hungry?” We are now building beyond greater East Tennessee via high school and college students. Students need service hours, and they can form XHunger School Clubs to help a pantry(s) near their school. Students have leadership opportunities, teamwork lessons to learn, it’s coed and a smart resume builder. We have also organized scholarships to be awarded in 2024. So go to XHunger.com and learn how your son, daughter, niece, nephew or neighbor can create a XHunger School Club for all the right reasons. It does not cost the students any money to do this, rather the inner motivation to help others while at the same time obtaining service hours.
So go to XHunger.com and watch a few of our short videos and Join the Movement for $25 and get a XHunger t-shirt and a welcome packet. We are building a national sales force of volunteers to help existing food pantries which in turns directly helps end hunger. Think about joining us today. Again, go to XHunger.com and see how easy it truly is to make a difference.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Belief in oneself is omnipresent giving you the confidence to do anything you put your mind to. Listening is a skill set. God gives us two ears and one mouth. When we listen, we can instill better empathy and decision making with everything and everyone around us.
Having fun is really important. If I can’t have fun doing something, I probably won’t do it. Yes, laughter is good for the soul.
My advice is to know yourself and furthermore be honest with yourself. Go back to your dreams and write down your goals. Before long, you will have a renewed inner peace and a higher level of confidence, and when listening to others, you can better determine if the outcome will lead to positives and hopefully a good time too.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
At XHunger.com we are definitely looking for leaders and for people who want to help end hunger in America. At the same time, we look to enjoy the journey. So, if you like the idea of helping people finding hunger solutions, we want to collaborate with you, your thoughts, and your energy.
Contact Info:
- Website: XHunger.com
- Other: The backbone of our communication is with our website; it is all there.
Image Credits
Megan Clute
