We were lucky to catch up with Paul Vann recently and have shared our conversation below.
Paul , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
No one can select their parents and or the family they are born into, for me I was born into a family that had a lot of history in terms of their industriousness and faith. As one of ten children and the oldest son in a family of five girls and five boys, my mother and father instilled in my siblings and me three things in the small town of Henderson, North Carolina.
We were taught to do our best in school and get a good education, we were expected to attend our house of worship each Sunday and to have respect for ourselves and our elders. My parents were role models to me and they were factory workers, specifically at a tobacco company.
Each day I witnessed my parents departing home for work, they were part of the working poor. In other words, they both had jobs but their jobs paid very little, as stated above they were very industrious and had strong work ethics, my mother worked for the tobacco company for twenty-eight years, and my father for twenty-seven years.
My purpose in life found its genesis in my parent’s decision to open a grocery store, in our community, I was ten years old and I was excited about it until I was told I would have to open the store each day after school. I no longer had the opportunity for afterschool activities, sports, and playing with my friends.
I was an unpaid intern, I opened the store after school and worked with vendors that delivered milk, canned goods, fruit, vegetables, soda, ice cream, fish, and more. I also managed the cash register, extended credit, performed audits, and stocked the shelves and I did this for five years.
This is what I know for sure, my experience as an unpaid intern helped me gain business management skills, the kind that I would use years later. I became a first-generation high school graduate and college graduate and I earned two master’s degrees.
My parents didn’t have any money for me to attend college, so I applied for and was employed by the recreation department in my hometown. The money I received from my relatives for graduating from high school, the money I earned during my summer job, and a grant I received paid for my college tuition at Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina.
After arriving on campus, I was hired as an electrician apprentice assistant and worked after school each day during my freshman year of college. I never applied for student loans because I worked my entire four years of college. After my freshman year of college, I worked at a yarn factory in my hometown, and a couple of weeks after starting the job, I was offered a job at United Parcel Service (UPS) and I worked for them for four years.
The summer before my junior year of college I was offered an opportunity to attend a six-week United States Air Force (USAF) Reserve Officer training basic camp at Dover, Air Force Base in Delaware. I attended it to see if I wanted to consider the USAF as a career after earning my bachelor’s degree.
After successfully, completing the USAF basic training encampment, I joined the two-year Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) program and then the rest of the paragraph remains the same.
In keeping with my parent’s trinity of getting a good education, earning my bachelor’s degree with academic honors was a milestone for my family and me. That’s not all, I was a distinguished graduate of (AFROTC), and I was commissioned a second lieutenant in the USAF, and I went on to serve over twenty years of duty, I earned two master’s degrees and I retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
I worked at the Pentagon in the Department of Defense for twelve consecutive years, in addition to a year as a Capitol Hill Fellow, working for a member of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives. My purpose for the first chapter of life involved serving in the United States Air Force in support of defending our nation.
I am a highly decorated military officer having served over twenty years of duty in the USAF.
I continue living my purpose, after retiring from the USAF I became a motivational speaker, I am a two-time number one international best-selling author, am the author of four solo books and three co-authored books. I host The Wealthy Speaker Talk Radio Show and the Wealth Academy Podcast.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
It is not a surprise that I am an entrepreneur in the second chapter of my life, after all, I have been working since the age of ten. I am going on record to say, I thank my parents for the principles they wanted me to live by, it resulted in my personal and professional success.
I am the founder and President of Wealth Building Academy, LLC, a professional development consultancy. Discover more at: https://www.paulvannspeaks.com
One of the things that has contributed to my success is my curious nature, in other words, I enjoy acquiring knowledge and staying on the cutting edge of technology and more. Today I continue speaking to organizations delivering leadership development workshops and programs to help C-Suite leaders develop all members of their staff to become leaders and have them aligned with their vision, goals, and mission.
Why? When leaders develop others to become leaders, they retain their top talent, and they enhance their productivity, improve their bottom line, and become more competitive in their industry. The Wealth Building Academy, LLC brand continues to expand with speaking opportunities consisting of delivering leadership talks at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, financial literacy talks at City University of New York (CUNY), The Comeback Champions Summit, the Global Womens Forum in Paris, France, The Family Readiness Conference in Kenya, Africa, and the WorxSolutions DEIA Roundtable Panel and much more.
By the way, I wrote and published my third book, Leadership Is Influence last fall and I am scheduled to publish my fourth book on financial intelligence this fall. My goal is to write ten books, thus I have quite a few books in the works and is excited to be an author because it helps make people’s lives better and organizations become more efficient and productive. https://www.
The Wealth Academy Podcast platform entails providing solo interviews and guest experts to help my listeners, subscribers, and fans better understand leadership development and money and life. I have produced over two hundred and eighty episodes and I also have an amazing lineup of guest experts scheduled for November and beyond.
You can find Wealth Academy Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, https://www.wealthacademypodcast.com, and l am also leading a YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/@WealthAcademyPodcast
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
When it comes to important qualities that have been the most impactful for me it entails being willing to learn, never acting as if I know everything because no one does. My great aunt, Carrie Marable who was a teacher for over thirty-five years encouraged me to always acquire knowledge because one learns more about themselves during the process.
Another good quality that has served me well is to be competent. As a military officer leading people, you have to know what you are doing and be a role model for people who work for and with you. I was selected to lead major acquisition programs for the USAF because my leadership knew they could count on me to not only get the job done but to get things done the right way the first time and I prided myself on helping my leadership and organization to excel.
One of the things I learned while playing football in high school was to be collaborative, I carried this attitude with me to the USAF and beyond. The military thrives on collaboration and teamwork and I enjoyed playing a role, and it resulted in our organization receiving organizational excellence awards and it meant a lot to my organization and I.
When it comes to skills, good leadership skills are essential. Not only leadership but being an influential leader is important because employees can get more work done because everyone is on the same sheet of music in terms of executing the vision and mission. Leaders of influence move their organization forward.
Good communication skills matter, in other words being able to communicate clearly with people up and down the organization is essential. Clarity counts and when the vision is communicated accurately, more is accomplished.
People skills make a difference and when added to influence, is a powerful skill to possess. In my experience, good people skills attract people to you. I have worked in different embassies and was able to communicate with and get a lot done because people can feel your people skills.
My body of knowledge consists of military and private industry expertise. My functional areas of expertise include cost analysis, budgeting, financial management, and comptroller expertise in the acquisition arena. I also worked for Mobil Oil Company for two years as a financial analyst in the oil and gas industry.
I also worked as a legislative liaison officer for the Department of Defense, I escorted senior military officers to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress during hearings on television and more. I was also selected and worked as a Capitol Hill Fellow for a member of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives, I was the lead military officer on House Armed Services Committee issues to help the member of Congress understand issues impacting all military branches, including the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Today as an entrepreneur, I provide leadership development expertise and financial intelligence which both align with my expertise and academic background.
I encourage people early in their journey to specialize and work in their passion field. Know what excites you as it pertains to work, perhaps it is AI, engineering, medicine, and whatever you’re passionate about will rise to the top on your interest list. Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life because it excites and inspires you to deliver in your passion field. The key for you is to not give up on yourself, never allow failure to be final, and use challenges as a stepping stone to get to the top of your success mountain.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was opening the community grocery store, Vann’s Grocery and Fish Market. The seeds of success were planted in me at the age of ten and many of the things I accomplished in life are the result of working in our family grocery store.
I learned how to balance my homework and my store manager, job working in the store. I learned how to be responsible and accountable, I learned good communication skills, how to negotiate, people skills, and so much more. As a ten-year-old intern who was never paid, my experience was priceless. For this, I am thankful to my parents and without the experience I had in my youth, I probably would not have succeeded the way I did.
Lastly, my faith in God has carried me further than all of the education and experiences I have had throughout my life. My parents required me to attend our house of worship from a young age and it laid a solid foundation for me to understand there is something greater than myself and to be of service not only to my family but also my community and country. I have traveled all over the world and met people from all walks of life and it all began by following the three principles my parents taught me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.paulvannspeaks.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paullawrencevann
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulvann1
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paullawrencevann
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/paulvann
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WealthAcademyPodcast/videos
- Other: https://www.wealthacademypodcast.com
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