FALL 2022
Fall FORWARD
Randy J. Bring, 2022 IBBA Chair
I hope everyone is wrapping up a great summer filled with health and
happiness. This time of year always seems to be one of transition, where we’re
ge�ing back to the normal routines and turning the corner into Fall. And as part
of that, most of us are told to “fall back” an hour and reset our clocks (which
happens on November 6th by the way).
This notion of ‘falling back’ reminds me of Denzel Washington’s famous commencement speech
in 2011 to the graduates of Penn State. If you’ve never heard it, it’s worth a google search and a few
minutes of your time. In it, he challenges the notion of having something to ‘fall back on,’ stating
that instead, if we are to fail (which we all surely are), then don’t fall back – fall forward (at least
this way you’ll see what you’re going to hit).
The key message is that nothing in life worth anything comes without risks and failure along the
journey to your goal. The risk and failures should be expected – but it should not deter you. In fact,
Washington bluntly states: you will fail at some point in your life, you will lose, you will embarrass
yourself, you will stink at something. Embrace it.
In my opinion, this mindset might arguably be the most important trait of a successful Business
Broker. You need to enter this exciting, rewarding, fulfilling profession knowing that along the
way you will have failures. We all do. You will lose sometimes, embarrass yourself once in a while
and perform at less than your best at some part of it. (And even if you do it for a long time like me,
there will still be those moments.)
This reminds me of my colleague and your 2023 incoming IBBA Chair, Kyle Griffith. Kyle has told the
story of starting his business brokerage practice during the recession. When asked how he was able to
be so successful when launching during such difficult times, he answered simply, “I worked my a** off.”