What do you do when you’re diagnosed with a life-threatening
disease when you’re six years old, and in fact given a death sentence by at
least one doctor?
In the case of Ralph Braun, start a multi-million dollar
company that provides mobility assistance for disabled people across the
country.
That’s the story told in Rise Above: How One Man's Search
for Mobility Helped the World Get Moving. Ralph Braun was diagnosed with
spinal muscular atrophy while still a child, but rather than accept the
doctors’ grim prognosis, he decided to not only survive but thrive. Along the
way help people facing the same challenges with mobility that he faced.
Braun began by building a three-wheeled motorized scooter in
his cousin’s farm workshop. The so-called Tri-Wheeler eventually grew into a
company with a full line of mobility products, including wheelchair vans and
wheelchair lifts, with over 200 dealerships across the country and Canada.
Jack Johnston, the company’s longtime Creative Director,
says the idea for a book about Braun and his company was something that had
been discussed internally for many years. “I’ve been here 20 years, and we’d kicked it around for a
while,” he said.
But it wasn’t until the economic recession hit that Braun
decided the time was right.
“It was all about timing,” said Johnston. “Business was down
a little bit (during the recession), and that allowed us to focus on internal
operations and how to maximize profits. Ralph was turning 70, and the timing
was right.”
Braun contacted the Jenkins Group for advice and assistance.
We provided assistance in writing, editing and design, which Johnston said was
invaluable. In fact, the entire process took just under a year from start to
finish (“We really pushed things,” said Johnston), enabling the company to have
it for its next dealer show. Since its publication, the company has sold the
book on Amazon and its own website, but Johnston says the real value of the
book has been as a means of furthering the word about Braun and his company.
“We give one away with each (mobility) van we sell, and have
them at trade shows,” he said. “In five years, we’ve gone through 35,000, about
six or seven thousand a year.
“It was a very personal project for Ralph. It’s a great
marketing tool for us. The thrust of our marketing is trying to build the
company on a national level. It fits in with that.
“It is a good story. We didn’t publish it for big
sales, but it’s an outstanding
marketing tool.”
Johnston even took the experience to a personal level,
writing a children’s book himself, again with the assistance of the Jenkins
Group.
“It just fell out of the sky. I saw a drawing my niece had
done, and iI wrote the story the next day.”
The Ice Cream Hotel tells the story of a children’s
resort where being a sweet, sticky mess is no problem (swimming in a hot fudge
pool will do that). Johnston says he has the writing bug, but has no plans to
leave his post at Braunability anytime soon.
“I have a four-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter,
and it’s for them,” he said. “I’ve certainly got other ideas, but (right now)
it’s a fun hobby.”
