Long before the days of being called “The Hurricane”, Steve was broke and unable to financially finish college. “I went to school to be a Pastor as I love my Faith and want to lead people to it, but when I couldn’t afford it I had no choice but to stop, right as I was heading into my final year.” He went into the workforce doing what he has entire life, using his “gifts” of gab, charm, and personality in the sales arena. A positive about sales in general is that you don’t need a degree to be wildly successful. As a result, he always succeeded at any company (Knives, Milk, Cars, Basement Waterproofing, and more). It wasn’t until he landed a position as the Director of Business Development at a Home Care Company in 2005, where Steve’s passion collided with his profession.
“This position was perfect for me because I was able to take my Pastoral training and apply it when dealing with patients, while able to take all my sales experience and use that to generate referrals.”
Because of this in 4 short years, he was able to transform a small company doing $600-700,000 annually into a $5-million-a-year empire. By 2009, Steve was promoted to Vice President and part owner. In 2011, he and his partner sold this company to a large corporation with more than 70 locations nationwide. While there, he helped train other professionals at his level on how to achieve similar results he was having. It was in this moment that the passion to branch out on his own burned.
“Having had a nest egg from the sale of my company, I was able to launch a new company dedicated towards helping Home Care agencies generate referrals leading to business growth.”
On June 20, 2012, Hurricane Marketing Enterprises was born!
“I was given my nickname from my old business partner back in 2006 and it stuck. Everyone in my region knew me as Steve “The Hurricane” and so I decided to stay with it and created Hurricane Marketing Enterprises.”
Even though it started as a consulting company in his basement, it was meant to be a parent company with multiple divisions serving healthcare, entrepreneurs, individuals and more.
“I’ve always had this vision of a company that would help Health Care professionals get more patients and improve outcomes, help entrepreneurs grow their businesses, help people live the lives they want to live, and give back through a non-profit.”
Now that the company was created, the next thing Steve had to do was take the wealth of knowledge and experience he had and turn it into a systematic approach that anyone could do. This took time to come up with.
“I remember going through everything I had accomplished during the last 7 years and retracing each step and action. What was the next step, what did I do after this, what came next?”
He wrote 3 programs. The first was a spin on networking called “Creation of Power Partners”. It was about how to find individuals who are going after the same target customer as you, but they offer a product or service synergistic to you. (Meaning they don’t compete with you). Then through teamwork, grow the businesses of all parties involved. This became the foundation and topic he is most known for. The next program was specific to Home Care, “How To Successfully Develop A Referral Source” which is a 5-step process on how to get your foot in the door at an account and turn that account (over time) into a top-producing referral source. Lastly, he wrote “The Art Of Closing” as many professionals lack sales skills.
“Selling a service that costs money requires you to know how to sell and so there was a great need here. Every entrepreneur needs to know how to close!”
Once the program was created, next came marketing and getting the business off the ground, which wasn’t easy. There were many professionals who burned bridges with the biggest players in this industry, making the road to success all the more challenging. However, there was a way to take this specific knowledge and share it with the masses: SOCIAL MEDIA!
“What I love about social media, the internet, and creating content is instead of me looking for potential customers, I put the information out there, and the customers find me.”
Steve invested in a tripod, microphone, and camera, then started filming himself talking about challenges business owners faced every day. After a short while, the idea of creating an online show called “A Drink With The Hurricane” manifested. Before long, he had viewers from all over the world watching each week to see what hot topic would come up next.
Now that the demand was there, the next challenge was “what products and services to offer”. This isn’t a traditional type of business and so the two clear offerings initially were: Training and Coaching. So, Steve booked his first venue to hold his now famous “Hurricane Marketing Boot Camp” and began talking about how great this event was going to be during his show. By the “Grace of God”, as he says, people started buying tickets and the first boot camp was sold out a few days before he began.
“I didn’t sleep one wink the night before. I kept reviewing my presentations and worrying ‘are they good enough’, ‘what will they think or say’, ‘everything is riding on this’ I thought.”
Well that boot camp was a huge success. It allowed Steve to generate new customers, the feedback about his programs set the industry on fire, and he became one of the most sought-after speakers in the industry. He currently speaks 20-25x a year at a variety of conferences, conventions, boot camps and more.
There were many challenges along the way as he scaled his business, the biggest being scaling his business from being a full-time coach/consultant, to having a team of coaches and consultants to fulfill the commitments and allow Steve the freedom to grow his empire. This is where he took his programs and created modular training that he could then train coaches on how to guide clients on the execution of. It was then that the business was able to take on significantly more clients. As a result, over the last 6 years, Hurricane Marketing Enterprises has indirectly helped more than 40,000 seniors around the world get the care they need to remain at home for the rest of their lives. And in 2016, this success prompted Steve to start his nonprofit “The Institute for Dignity & Grace”. Its purpose is to advocate for seniors and provide a funding source for those who cannot afford private care. There is a fund-raising campaign to help get D&G off the ground and fulfill it’s purpose.
Steve also wrote a book called Why We Care: How To Choose A Home Care Agency that was published earlier this year. Here Steve and 8 of his clients tell the stories of the patients they serviced over the years to shed light on this little-known industry and give hope to those in need that “there are people out there who understand what I’m going through.” All the profits from this book go to his non-profit.
As if this wasn’t enough, in 2017, Steve partnered up with fellow speaker and Mindfulness expert Dr. Laurel Geise to create Mindful Caring, which is a training company that certifies Healthcare businesses on practicing Mindfulness and bringing it to their patients. This leads to fewer mistakes, increased productivity, and improved outcomes. Pilot groups have completed, results and testimonies are in, and they are beginning to take on clients.
At only 37 years old, Steve feels as if he’s only scratched the surface. There’s so much more to come as new divisions take off, expansion of the Home Care division into Hospice and Home Health, and the non-profit takes shape. In 2016 he received a Golden Record for being one of the most influential speakers in the world. He has clients in 6 countries. He has spoken on the same stages as Forbes Riley, Tony Horton, Les Brown and more. He’s also begun taking a more active role with his ministry; preaching periodically, performing weddings, funerals, baptisms, and leading worship. That’s his true calling and passion, serving others. “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
What does Steve attribute his success to?
“3 things. First and foremost, my Faith! It has always gotten me through since I was a child. Without it, I am nothing, but with it, I can move mountains. Second, I wouldn’t be where I am without my beloved Susan (wife). She is my rock and the eye of my storm. Lastly, no one can do it alone. I have the best staff you could ever ask for. They are brilliant, dedicated, and capable. I believe in them and they in me. That’s why WE are successful! In that order, 1, 2, 3.”
What drives him?
“My children. I want them to have a life even greater than mine and live in a world without limits.”
Any advice?
“I want to leave you with one thought, my mother told me when I was a child, ‘If you love what you’re doing, you will never work a day in your life’. I LOVE what I do. I wish everyone did what they loved.”
Amen to that!
