A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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PORTLAND – Tigard’s Carl Casanova approaches success like a scientist – he wants to peel back its secrets to expose the primer of an unfaltering truth.
In his first solo book, “What Every Successful Person Knows,” Casanova, 50, probes the exterior of a variety of stories, illustrating how lives can, and often do, change with the sweet taste of success.
“It wasn’t easy. You have to discipline yourself. You have to define your moments,” Casanova said of the yearlong writing venture. “The material started to come to me as I opened myself to receive it.”
In one story, a 17-year-old basketball fan struggling with autism is asked by his coach to play in the final four minutes of the team’s last home game. The player, Jason McElwain from Greece, N.Y., astounded his coach, fellow players, fans and the world alike by sinking shot after shot, most from behind the three-point line. He scored 20 points, making him the team’s scoring leader in that game.
From that single experience, McElwain went on to win the 2006 ESPY award – an annual sports award created by ESPN sports network – appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, met President Bush and now is the subject of a feature film forthcoming from Columbia Pictures.
He pulled on other success stories, quoting the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, other life-coaching colleagues. He interviewed local successes, such as Tim Leatherman, the driving force behind the popular Leatherman tool.
“Success is sweet to the soul,” Casanova said, sitting down with The Times at his office in the lower level of the Weatherly Building on Grand Street, in southeast Portland. “This is what people want. They want success, and they define success in different ways.”
Beyond the book, Casanova runs The Centre, a certified life-coach training school, from the office, where he employs a staff of five and works with everyone from doctors, lawyers, managers and teachers. The courses range from a few hundred dollars for individual classes to slightly more than $4,000 for the coach certification course.
He has also co-authored the novel “Blueprint for Success” with Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard.
Steven Little moved to Salem following a career spent working as the vice president of human resources with a division of department store giant, Macy’s Inc. Though Little said he enjoyed the career, after witnessing his third merger when the company purchased the Meier and Frank franchise he felt it was time for a change.
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