An Interview With Sara Connell
It was nearly impossible to become an international pop star, starting at the age of 45. But when George Foreman became heavyweight champ of the world at age 45, I knew it was possible for me to top the charts, beginning at that age.
Books have the power to shape, influence, and change our lives. Why is that so? What goes into a book that can shape lives? To address this we are interviewing people who can share a story about a book that changed their life, and why. As a part of our series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ivan Wilzig.
Banker–turned–singer, reality TV celebrity, and social activist Ivan Wilzig has led a life that Hollywood movies are made of, which ultimately ties back to his passion for seeing the world live in peace and harmony.
After more than twenty years working for his family’s multi-billion dollar commercial banking business, where he also sat on the Board of Directors, Ivan left the banking world behind to reinvent himself as a recording artist under the stage name “Sir Ivan.” His love for music and his passion for peace and equality translated into a unique sound that ultimately led to his becoming a Top 10 Billboard-charting artist.
As the son of a Holocaust survivor, he finds himself drawn to help those who have been persecuted or experienced some form of trauma in their lives, and through numerous philanthropic efforts, he has spent the last 20+ years helping those less fortunate and those that have PTSD.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory” and how you grew up?
Being the son of an Auschwitz survivor had a tremendous effect on shaping my personality and goals in life. I was lucky to have two loving parents who taught me the virtues of being grateful for what I have and doing whatever I can to help others less fortunate. At 45, I switched from working in the family’s banking business to pursuing a recording artist career, specializing in remaking iconic anti-war rock songs from the ’60s and early ’70s, into electronic dance music, for a whole new generation. All proceeds from my music career have gone and continue to go to The Peaceman Foundation®, a private non-profit charity that battles PTSD.
Let’s talk about what you are doing now, and how you achieved the success that you currently enjoy. Can you tell our readers a bit about the work you are doing?
All the success I’ve had up to this point has been achieved with one word: perseverance. I also found that by listening, instead of talking, you can learn more. And knowledge is the key to the success I’ve had. My latest endeavor is also my greatest endeavor. And that is striving day and night to make my father’s biography Unstoppable: Siggi B. Wilzig’s Astonishing Journey from Auschwitz Survivor and Penniless Immigrant to Wall Street Legend as popular as The Diary of Anne Frank.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
As mentioned above, perseverance has undoubtedly been a trait I attribute to my success. In addition, I find that humor has also been one of the traits I have that has led to my success. If you make people laugh, you break down walls, and once you’ve made people comfortable through humor, they quickly open up and want to learn more about what you’re doing. And the third trait I would say has contributed to my success is speed. If you walk faster, talk faster, and think more quickly, than your average individual every day, you’re way ahead of the competition.
What’s the WHY behind the work that you do? Please share a story about this if you can.
My WHY can be described with “Tikkun Olam,” which means “repair of the world” in Hebrew. My family was traumatized by the murder of 59 relatives during the Holocaust simply because they were Jewish. I want to help all other people who have been traumatized and have PTSD. I also want everyone to read my father’s story so they, too, can be inspired no matter how bad things become.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
No man is an island. If you want to be successful, you need to be surrounded by intelligent, creative, and loyal friends and employees. For years now, I have had the support of my two top executives, FORD and Marty True. They have been there for me all hours of the day and night, on weekends and holidays. You can get a good night’s sleep when you know you have good people that have your back.
Awesome! Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. I’m an author and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Can you please tell our readers about “The Book That Changed Your Life”? Can you share a story about how it impacted you?
The book that changed my life is my father’s biography, Unstoppable. This book is the ultimate immigrant story and an epic David and Goliath adventure. While American teens were socializing in ice cream parlors, my father, Siggi, suffered beatings by Nazi hoodlums for being a Jew. He was deported along with his family to the darkest place the world has ever known: Auschwitz. My father used his fox-like wits to stay alive, pretending to have trade skills the Nazis could exploit to run the camp. After two death marches and near starvation, he was liberated from camp Mauthausen and went to work for the US Army hunting Nazis, which earned him a visa to America. When he arrived, he made three vows: never go hungry again, support the Jewish people, and speak out against injustice. He was 21 years old with only $240, no education beyond grade school, and no business contacts. He earned his first dollar shoveling snow after a fierce blizzard. His next job was laboring in toxic sweatshops. He ultimately became president, chairman, and CEO of a New York Stock Exchange-listed oil company from these humble beginnings and grew a full-service commercial bank to more than $4 billion in assets.
From the book’s popularity, I have become a speaker and had the opportunity to be interviewed nationally on TV, radio, podcasts, etc., which has allowed me to spread the important messages in the book.
What was the moment or series of events that made you decide that you wanted to take a specific course of action based on the inspiration from the book? Can you share a story about that?
The hundreds of comments I’ve gotten from people worldwide telling me how important the book is to their lives, their family’s lives, Jewish history. Having gotten those comments convinced me that this book contains powerful messages that can heal the world.
Can you articulate why you think books in particular have the power to create movements, revolutions, and true change?
Books, or the written word, are the most powerful medium that has the power to influence the masses like no other, from Mein Kampf, which nearly destroyed the world with its evil plans, to Unstoppable, which builds new worlds for humanity by giving hope to the hopeless.
A book has many aspects, of course. For example, you have the writing style, the narrative tense, the topic, the genre, the design, the cover, the size, etc. In your opinion, what are the main, essential ingredients needed to create a book that can change lives?
Stories that are true, relatable, and touch the heart. If a story can make you laugh and cry, you are getting through to that person’s emotions.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started My Career” and why?
1) It was nearly impossible to become an international pop star, starting at the age of 45. But when George Foreman became heavyweight champ of the world at age 45, I knew it was possible for me to top the charts, beginning at that age.
2) I thought working with talented people, in and of itself, would guarantee that a particular song would be successful. Early on, I was sad to learn that many people ignored me as an artist until I started working with famous creative people and the biggest names in the industry.
3) I was unaware that Top 40 radio is controlled at a corporate level, not by the local station managers. Back then, the only chance to get my music on the radio was on independent stations, but the costs were exorbitant.
4) When I entered the music business in 2001, the genre I was entering as a singer was almost all female. So unless you were female or a gay male, it was virtually impossible for a straight male pop singer to enter the scene. It was that void that made me think I’d be a cinch to break into the scene. I was wrong.
5) I had no idea that in the dance music scene, Europeans were the ones mostly getting preference in bookings and selling records internationally. I thought if I could make it in New York, I could make it anywhere. This was not the case. However, I did eventually get support from more than 90 countries globally.
The world, of course, needs progress in many areas. What movement do you hope someone (or you!) starts next? Can you explain why that is so important?
Global awareness of the devastating effects that trauma has on humans. And the movement I started in 2005 with The Peaceman Foundation®, which helps those looking for treatments and cures for PTSD and helps those groups suffering the most (e.g., soldiers coming back from wars, victims of domestic abuse and rape, and anyone that has been bullied in any way, or someone who has lost family members in traumatic circumstances).
How can our readers further follow your work online?
My website is sirivan.com, which has all my social media links as well. The website for my father’s biography is UnstoppableSiggi.com.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us and our readers. We know that it will make a tremendous difference and impact thousands of lives. We are excited to connect further and we wish you so much joy in your next success.
Ivan Wilzig Of Peaceman Productions On The Book That Changed His Life was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.