PARK CITY, UT - One of the six goals Ernest Oriente set in stone in 1995 was to never travel for business. Somehow, in this frenzied world, he managed to pull it off.
“For the last 24 years I chose to not travel for business,” reports Oriente, Founder of PowerHour®, PowerHour® SEO, and the PowerHour® Sales & Leadership Academy, a dynamic worldwide company that offers business/sales/leadership coaching, executive recruiting, investment banking and SEO services. “When I launched my company back in 1995 I wanted to absolutely be the best father I could possibly be to our three young children, who were then four, two and a newborn. That literally meant I wanted time to be with my children and my wife and was no longer going to be running for a plane.
“As part of this ‘no traveling for business’ goal, in those early days of E-mail and Internet I quickly realized that our business clients could send just about everything electronically — spreadsheets, forms, marketing proposals, business plans,” reflects Oriente. “We could communicate by phone, E-mail and by conference calls. This technology enabled me to work with corporate clients and their teams from around the world with a focus on executive leadership, marketing, competitive sales strategies, high leverage alliances, investment banking services, executive recruiting, hiring and building dynamic teams — all from my custom-designed central office. And now, we serve more than 2,700 companies in 14 time zones globally.”
So where are the Oriente children now? "My oldest son graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Business School in 2013 and is now working on Wall Street. My daughter graduatd from the University of Pennsylvania and works in the Google marketing department. My youngest son graudated from Macalester and is working in his first sales position".
But that ‘no travel’ goal has only applied to business for Oriente. Over the last 24+ years the Oriente family has visited more than 30 countries around the world as part of his plan to expand the learning and life experiences for his children. A vacation every month outside of skiing season was one of the original six goals Oriente set in 1995. “Part of our belief as a family is that a family that travels together, laughs together and has fun together — stays together. Travel became an incredible opportunity for our children to learn about new faces, cultures, places, music, food — all those indelible experiences that have richly impacted their lives and stretched their understanding of the world and its people. Travel has also given us a chance to immerse ourselves in each other, and we’ve learned to revel in our experiences and successes. The flexibility I built into my business for the last 24 years has been extremely rewarding for our entire family.”
Since 1995, Oriente has succeeded in his goal of never traveling for business. Another admirable business principle is that he has never booked a client meeting on a Friday. The other goals Oriente set back then? Spend more time together as a family (that’s apparent). Live in a world-class ski resort (Park City, Utah has been the Oriente family’s zip code for the last 21 ski seasons). Build a coaching business/service with clients around the world (put a checkmark here). And live in a new country each year when all three children are in college (and this began in September 2013).
All of this background leads up to an important transition for PowerHour.
“As a result of wanting to be with family and keeping travel as an important part of knitting our family together, I’m going to untether our offices. About six months of the year while our children are away in college and not here in Park City, we’re going to be somewhere else, including visiting our two children in college. We also plan to be in New York City where our oldest began his career on Wall Street in the summer 2013. We’re just about to the point of spinning the globe, plunking a finger down and saying, ‘Do we want to be here? Toronto, Paris or San Diego?’”
As Oriente begins this new chapter of travel, he will be even more available to his myriad of PowerHour clients, including now showing up in third-dimension form. His upcoming in-person agendas include team training, executive strategic and leadership planning, on-site coaching, and brainstorming idea sessions. “As we travel to various cities for three to four weeks at a time,” reports Oriente, “we’ll be available to clients in a wide variety of geographical locations. Our travels this last year has taken us to Florida, Philadelphia, San Francisco, New York and Lake Tahoe on the California/Nevada border. Upcoming, we’re heading to New York and Philadelphia, and have added Washington DC, Palm Springs, Italy, Ireland, Bermuda, Seattle, Key West, Paris, London, Rome and Vancouver to our itinerary. That’s just a start!”
This expansive, personal outreach signals to PowerHour clients that there is a new way to serve them in person — in conjunction with the way the company has worked historically with their corporate clients by phone, E-mail, Internet and conference calls.
“Twenty four years ago the goal was to be a wonderful husband and father. Now the transition is that we’re going to go where our children currently are — in New York, Minneapolis and Philadelphia. And then we’ll gallop off from those ‘home plates’ to wherever we will best serve our PowerHour clients. Of course we’ll continue to entertain and work with those clients who come to Park City too — offering them biking, skiing, executive retreats, and executive training programs throughout the year.
“We are just beginning our journey. For those companies that would like to request in-person training,” continues Oriente, “in addition to myself we have a team that is able and willing to travel too. My PowerHour team is qualified and skilled to serve your specific business needs.”
Recent interviews and articles about Ernest Oriente and PowerHour have appeared in Smart Money, Inc., The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Business Week, Self-Employed America, The Financial Times, Business 2.0, and Fast Company. Since 1995 Oriente has written 250+ articles about business success.
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Ernest Oriente can be reached by E-mail at ernest@powerhour.com or by calling 435.615.8486 or by searching for him on LinkedIn where he and his team own and moderate 20 LinkedIn groups with 130,000+ industry leaders. His website is www.PowerHour.com