Here is a lovely review of my book from the great country of POLAND!
It asks the question too - ‘Nurture or Nature.’
http://jeziorki.blogspot.com/2010/03/nature-or-nurture.html
New GW speeches coming: - in Warsaw, Poland; Hong Kong; Australia; and India.
Graham Webb: A Unique Motivational Speaker
Book Graham to speak at your event here.
About Graham
I didn't come from fashionable beginnings. I grew up in South London, which was only a few miles from the heart of London, but light years away from it in style and attitude. My mother told everybody that I was the healthiest baby around. But the truth was that I had an undiagnosed case of spina bifida, which made my childhood a kind of torture. I dreamt that I might one day have a girlfriend, be a Dad, have a career, and I also had a dream to become a drummer. At school I was the boy with "funny feet" who had lots of embarrassing accidents. My feet fell outwards and my toes were clawed. I was incontinent, and it was a kind of shame I carried inside myself, hiding it from my parents as much as possible.
School was an ordeal. Even today one of my vivid memories of childhood is the dread I felt when school uniforms went from winter's black shorts to the white shorts of spring. With white shorts it was harder to ignore the constant dribbles and I became adept at pretending that I hadn't noticed that my shirt tail was hanging out. I learned to carry my satchel in a camouflaging position. I lived with a kind of shame I kept from everyone. The easiest way for me to deal with it was to keep it a secret. When I was 15, my school teachers pronounced me "bone idle" and were more than happy to see me leave.
After school I sent out 62 job application letters for sales jobs and received 62 rejections. The only person who would take me on was a barber who was looking for an apprentice. I opened my first hairdressing salon in my early twenties but even though my career was taking off, my condition deteriorated.
By my early thirties I owned a string of salons and it was only then that someone took my problems seriously. I was playing squash with a doctor and he noticed that I had to keep stopping to visit the toilet. After the match he said, very nicely, "Do you need to see me professionally?" He referred me to an urologist (at Kings College Hospital) who referred me to a neurologist. I was put through a series of horrific neurological tests before finally being diagnosed with spina bifida. I had the textbook case a little dimple on my lower back indicating that the neural tube had failed to close properly. Nobody recognised the 'dimple' as something that should have been a red flag of evidence for a lifetime of hassles. That same year, 1980, I had major neurosurgery, but unfortunately it didn't end my incontinence. Eventually I discovered Britain's Spina Bifida Association - ASBAH - who gave me much valuable advice and support.
Finally, in 1999, eight years after I had launched the Graham Webb hair product line, I found a surgeon who reshaped my bladder. After the operation I was taught to self-catheterise. It revolutionized my life. I then had surgery in America on my lower limbs and after several months "off my feet" and lots of physiotherapy I was at last able to walk normally. I will be eternally grateful to several surgeons, including top UK Urologist, Mr. Julian Shah, and foot and ankle surgeon Dr Lowell Scott Weil in Chicago both of them changed my life.
I sold my hair product range to Wella in 2002. We were number 4 in America at that time. Procter & Gamble acquired Wella (and my brands) in 2003. I was the Goodwill Ambassador for Procter & Gamble Professional – until P&G decided to eliminate 'my' brands in 2010. Multi National companies seem disinterested in ‘niche’ exclusive brands – they prefer ‘global’ high volume, mass market sellers.
It is not how I expected my brands to end. I feel for the huge number of consumer and salon customers who enjoyed the GW brands as their premier lines !
I am proud to be a 'Kent Ambassador' for my county in Kent, UK.
I wrote my autobiography, Out Of The Bottle, because part of me wanted to look back over my shoulder and assess the stumbles and leaps I've made in my life. I also hoped that my story would help and inspire other people, not just those with 'disabilities', but would-be entrepreneurs and others too. The reaction to my book has stunned me. The book seems to empower so many people in so many ways see the testimonials here in my website.
I now travel the world giving my speech 'It CAN be done!' which includes my 'take away's' for achieving personal and business success, my skill at 'networking' and overcoming obstacles, and mentions of me becoming a successful drummer! I adapt my speech depending on the objective of whoever books me, which includes universities and colleges, all kinds of major corporations, medical companies, and schools. I continue to speak across the world - Oslo; Helsinki; Lisbon; Calgary, Canada; many speeches in the UK; and all across the USA, Australia, Hong Kong, China, India.
My biggest 'success' though is being a happily married man, and father of four lovely 'children' all of whom are my best friends. The neurosurgeons thought Mandy and I might not be able to have children! We had FOUR! I also learnt, early on, the ability to enjoy a healthy life-work balance - despite all my personal challenges, and the effort in building successful organisations on both sides of the atlantic. My boys, Rocco and Brad are both professional drummers Rocco is in many bands as a freelance, and Bradley - Blue Man Group – Jamie Cullum, and other bands too. My daughters, Charley and Hattie are song-writers and performers. They have sung and recorded with Sting, and are the ‘angels’ – singing with Leonard Cohen in all his ‘world tour’ concerts. You can see and hear them on www.myspace.com/thewebbsisters and www.thewebbsisters.com
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