It’s about 8 a.m. on a warm, late summer morning, and I have Graham Weston on the phone. Weston, one of the earliest Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) San Antonio members and current Rackspace Hosting chairman, is brimming with insight into the local chapter of the global organization.
He describes EO – which was founded in 1987 by a group of 22 young entrepreneurs in Alexandria, Va., and headed by Verne Harnish, founder and CEO of Gazelles – as a rich resource for growing entrepreneurs. The global group is home to a network of 8,000 business owners in 40 countries.
The San Antonio chapter, established in 1993, is comprised of 73 local business owners who have embraced the organization and used it as a catalyst to personal and professional growth.
Weston, the most tenured member of the San Antonio group, relishes his experiences in EO, and explains that some of its greatest value comes not from business tips or networking, but rather, from the opportunity to meet and share insight with men and women who are meeting the same challenges and opportunities he is.
“One of the most powerful aspects of EO is getting to know other entrepreneurs in my community,” Weston said. “We are often so busy that it is difficult to find peers who are facing the same problems and opportunities. EO gives its members a chance to meet and identify with fellow entrepreneurs.
“The openings that EO created allowed me to meet a man by the name of Morris Miller, who was a member of my EO Learning Forum. Morris and I founded Rackspace together, and it was EO that helped foster our relationship and provided the opportunity for us to connect and build something together. This is a great example of how the organization can positively impact its members.”
The influence can start at the workplace, but it often trickles into the home, as Doug Harrison, EO San Antonio member and founder of the SCOOTER Store, explained.
“Early on, EO had a huge affect on me personally,” Harrison said. “It impacted the relationships I have with my wife, kids and other family. The big driver was my EO Learning Forum, which played a major role in my personal life.
“Forum taught me to stop giving advice because frankly, nobody really wants to hear advice. You are driven to teach by experience. And you learn to be an active listener while accepting people for who they are without being judgmental. If you are invested in everything your forum offers, you will come out as a better person.”
Harrison, an EO member since 1995, views other members as sharing a common bond and a desire to find peers who “are absolutely full-tilt for the best growth. ” This evolution, he believes, can happen in your business or personal relationships, but in either instance, EO members are growth-based business owners who are determined to be the best.
“There are a lot of entrepreneurs who have a lifestyle-type business – maybe they grow, maybe they don’t – but I don’t think EO attracts them,” Harrison said. “To me, the commonality is that we are all obsessed with, ‘How do we grow bigger and faster?’”
Both Weston and Harrison acknowledge the tenuous economic climate, but believe EO gives its members tools that may help stem the uncertainty.
“San Antonio has a tremendous entrepreneurial spirit,” Weston said. “One of the key findings of Mayor Castro’s current SA 2020 plan is that San Antonio’s economic competiveness is vital for our future. EO aids the SA 2020 mission by fostering growing businesses in our community so we do not have to rely on other companies moving here.
“Entrepreneurialism is the most important engine for job growth and advancement in our city. This is how our city creates jobs, grows wealth and raises its prominence across the country.”
“There is as much opportunity in an up economy as there is in a down economy if you look for it,” Harrison said. “EO teaches entrepreneurs to react better, be more proactive, have better time management, how to manage and grow, and it is all based on real-time feedback from your peers.”
While Weston and Harrison carry more than three decades of EO experience with them, the organization continues to nurture rising entrepreneurs. EO members like Pete Villemain, president of Employee Benefit Services, are immersing themselves in the many aspects of the EO culture for the first time. And like Weston and Harrison, the EO Learning Forums are at the heart of the journey.
“The forum experience has shown me that others are having the same ups and downs as I am,” Villemain said. “I know that I am not alone, and when things are not going as planned, I can rely on that support. At the same time, when someone is having success, it can be a big motivator.”
Villemain joined EO in 2009, and he views the organization as an integral part of his development as a business owner.
“EO has given me the strength to make decisions that I knew I had to make,” Villemain said. “My industry (health care) continues to expand in San Antonio, and my involvement with EO continues to help me grow with it. I am excited by the opportunities.”
The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is a dynamic, global network of more than 8,000 business owners in 40 countries. Founded in 1987 by a group of young entrepreneurs, EO is the catalyst that enables entrepreneurs to learn and grow from each other, leading to greater business success and an enriched personal life. Membership in one of EO’s 120 chapters is by invitation only; the average member is 41 years old with annual revenues of U.S. $17.3 million. For more information on EO, visit www.eonetwork.org, or call +1-703-519-6700. For more information on EO San Antonio, please visit www.eosanantonio.com, or email admin@eosanantonio.com.
