I Don’t Have a Clue How Tough Your Current Situation Is — But YOU Will Make It Through…
From Cyber-Crime Accusations to Business Sabotage
“Don’t leave anything valuable at your office; take your computers with you each time you leave,” were the first words out of his mouth.
If not for the fact that he was one of the most respected attorneys in our community, I wouldn’t have believed him.
“What? Why?!” I asked.
“You’re being investigated by the FBI,” he said.
Before I continue, let me give you a little backstory.
A little less than a week prior to hearing those words, I saw a number pop up on my caller ID and immediately knew something was wrong.
That’s how it happened — it was 11:23 AM. I was driving down Jackson Street, heading to lunch when my phone rang.
When I saw it was Joe calling, my gut said something wasn’t right.
Joe runs a successful IT company in our town, and our conversations in the past centered around tech issues.
“Hey, who’s the Kenyan who works for you?” were the first words out of his mouth.
Although both of my employees at the time were born and raised in the United States, I immediately knew who he was talking about.
“I don’t have anyone from Kenya who works for us at Ugly Mug Marketing,” I said. “But we do share an office with Peter’s company, and Peter’s from Kenya… but why?”
Joe then proceeded to explain that one of his clients, a private high school, had their school administration software hacked by a few students.
Okay, I thought, what’s this got to do with me? And what’s it got to do with Peter?
Joe continued, “When the students got caught, they told the police that Peter taught them how to hack into the system and told them to do it.”
“But why would Peter do this?” I interrupted.
“Peter was attempting to try and steal banking information. Parents’ banking info is stored in this software. It’s how parents pay their child’s monthly tuition,” Joe explained.
“Ohh, I see, but how did my name come up? Why’d you think Peter worked for me?” I asked.
“Because when the students got caught, they said the Kenyan worked for Ugly Mug Marketing, and that Ugly Mug Marketing was merely a front for an illegal card phishing organization,” Joe explained.
My initial reaction was to laugh. I mean seriously, who would believe that story? We had a solid reputation and high-profile clients from around the world.
Why would anyone believe these students, particularly when they had just been caught hacking into the school software?
“The police are involved,” Joe informed me. “So there’s a good chance you’ll get a call from them.”
When the call ended, I really wasn’t concerned. I had nothing to hide, and I knew Peter well enough to know he would never do anything like that.
My assumption was that the students had never met or talked to Peter. (You know what they say about assumptions, huh?)
After some Taco Bueno for lunch (fun fact, I used to love eating at Taco Bueno when we had one here in town, but Heather didn’t care for it, so I would often go alone on my lunch breaks), I headed back to the office.
“I got a call from Joe about some students hacking into school software,” I said to Peter as I walked into the office.
I didn’t expect him to have a clue what I was talking about, so you can imagine my shock when he told me they had already gotten a call from the school.
From here, things got worse.
Not only did he know the kids, and not only had he met with them several times, but he’d also been teaching them how to code.
After a lengthy conversation, Peter explained his side of the story.
Here’s the quick version…
The students had approached Peter in a local coffee shop and asked him if he’d be willing to teach them how to code.
In addition to being one of the most giving people you’ll ever meet, Peter is passionate about teaching young people how to code.
You see, to Peter, coding has the power to turn dreams into reality.
Peter’s story is the stuff great movies are made of. Born on a farm in rural Kenya, he comes to America on a running scholarship.
He has never touched a computer before in his life. He tells his college advisor he wants to be a coder.
The advisor says no way. Peter says watch me. And as they say, the rest is history.
Today, Peter has one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies in America. How we met is a story for another day.
Now back to my conversation with the attorney…
“The code used to hack into the school system not only allowed the students access to the grading system but installed code allowing outsiders remote access into the system,” he stated matter-of-factly.
The gentleman sitting across the table was one of the most prominent and well-respected attorneys in our small town. All of his kids had also graduated from this private high school.
He knew me and Peter well enough to know our companies were in no way connected other than our shared office space.
Although his reaching out to me was a goodwill gesture, it had the opposite effect on me.
I felt completely helpless. My helplessness would soon shift to hopelessness as I discovered the owners of our largest competitor had caught wind of the investigation and begun to spread lies.
Those lies would quickly become costly…
I was expecting good news when I saw my friend’s name pop up on my caller ID. He was on the board of a large organization we had recently submitted a proposal to.
I figured he was calling to let me know they were awarding the contract to us. Instead, he had a much more serious tone.
“What’s going on? What’s this I hear about an FBI investigation?” he said.
After explaining the situation, I asked how he’d found out about it.
He proceeded to tell me the owners of our largest competitor informed their board and advised them not to do business with us, nor to have any communication with us — aka don’t even talk to us.
It wasn’t until we lost that contract that I fully understood the magnitude of the situation.
Over the next few weeks, I heard more and more reports of the rumors that were being spread by our competitor.
All lies. All with the intent of taking business from us and crippling our chances of surviving. All of these things were completely outside of my control.
And it was at this time I got the call from Turkey (per my previous article). It was when I needed it most that Lawrence taught me about the Question/Excuse Loop.
No, I don’t have a clue how tough your current situation is, nor about the circumstances you find yourself in today. But I know you can make it through.
I know you can turn it into fuel. Fuel that ignites you and propels you toward your goals. You’ve got this!
Let me know if I can help.
PS — I’ll share more soon about what unfolded with the FBI investigation.
But for now, a question for you; Who is calling you from Turkey? Who is it that helps you see what you can’t see? Who is helping you move beyond the invisible forces that are holding you back?
For me, it was Lawrence. But Lawrence wouldn’t have been there without the massive sacrifice my wife and I made.
You see, I had every reason in the world not to hire a coach at that time. But here’s the thing, that has always been true. I’ve never hired a coach that was within my reach. Each has required a stretch and sacrifice.
If you hire a coach when it’s convenient or easy, you don’t actually need a coach. You don’t need a coach for where you are today; you need a coach for where you want to go.
PPS — Need someone to help you remove the constraints that are holding you back?
I’m going to be opening a couple of private coaching spots over the next couple of months. (I’ve never promoted my coaching publicly, as I’ve never had the time to work with more than a couple of entrepreneurs at a time. Now that my role has shifted and changed at Ugly Mug Marketing, I’m making room to work with a couple more.) If that is you, and you know I can’t help, hit reply and let me know. I’ll then follow up with a few questions.
PPPS — After working with Lawrence for several years, he had taken me as far as he could. It was time for me to find another coach who could take me to the next level.
The next coach I hired charged $1,000 per hour. In the next article, I’ll share the most important lesson I learned from working with him for nine months.
