In the business of transforming lives

(ROCKWALL, TX – March 7, 2016) Local management consultant and John C. Maxwell business coach Trey Finley has been helping train and coach business owners within the Garland-Rowlett-Rockwall area for years. But just last month, Trey had the unique opportunity to take his business coaching talents and make a difference in the lives of thousands of people some 5,000 miles away in Asuncion, Paraguay.

GoodBusiness_Paraguay1 — Local business coach Trey Finley (standing, fourth from left) traveled to Paraguay to help train businessmen and women in the telecom industry, hospital industry, manufacturing and retail, and marketing.

Trey, along with 250 other John C. Maxwell coaches, voluntarily traveled to the capital of Paraguay to train around 7,000 people in four days, with the goal to help bring a positive transformation to Paraguayan business and government.

“We trained carefully chosen people in businesses, the healthcare sector, government and education,” Trey said. “We trained their key leaders to go and do the same thing as we did for them with their own group of 5-10 people. So all told, we could easily have reached 100,000 people in Paraguay.”

John C. Maxwell, a New York Times bestselling author, coach and speaker who has written over 100 books, founded The John Maxwell Company which provides corporate training and resources to leaders, and The John Maxwell Team which trains and certifies coaches and speakers. Along with Trey and the other coaches, Maxwell himself trained around 18,000 people in Paraguay during the week-long trip.

The idea to bring John C. Maxwell coaches to Paraguay began a couple years ago when Paraguayan citizen Gaby Teasdale attended a Maxwell book signing in the U.S. Having forgotten to bring an actual book for Maxwell to sign, Gaby instead had Maxwell write one word on the back of her passport which she could use to encourage her when she returned to her country, and he wrote the word “transformation.”

Maxwell at Embassy — John Maxwell at the Embassy.

Using that as inspiration, Gaby went back to Paraguay and began a nonprofit called Transformacion Paraguay, and made it her goal to get in front of the president of Paraguay to present to him the value of having leaders in the country trained by Maxwell. Having no connections with anyone in government or ever working in government her whole life, Gaby amazingly managed to fulfill that goal.

“The best comparison I can give of Gaby’s accomplishment is this: imagine if someone who didn’t live in Dallas, who has never been to Texas or have never lived here their entire life, decided to stand in front of the mayor of Dallas and say, ‘Mayor, we need to have a transformation in this city, and I know a group of people who can help bring it,’” Trey said.

Thanks to Gaby, Trey and company were granted the opportunity to travel to Paraguay – on their own dime, no less – and conduct a roundtable-style training centered on 10 key character values (attitude, competence, priorities, relationships, commitment, forgiveness, initiative, integrity, work ethic and personal growth) and six principles outlined in Maxwell’s latest book, “Intentional Living:”

1. The lifestyle of successful people

2. You can make your life a great story

3. Putting your purpose into action

4. Everyday essentials for living a life of significance

5. Start sharing your story to encourage others

6. Leading your own roundtable growth

Trey personally trained around 150 people, including businessmen and women in the telecom industry, hospital industry, manufacturing and retail, and marketing.

“I was deeply encouraged by the readiness of the people that were there to be helped,” Trey said. “They were hungry. It wasn’t just an attitude of ‘hey, this sounds like a good idea so let’s do this.’ It was an attitude of ‘help us please.’ That readiness to be helped really made a mark on me.”

While Trey said Asuncion wasn’t too much different than cities found in Texas, he did have the chance to hear the renowned Recycled Orchestra, a local band made up of children who use garbage materials as instruments, including trash cans, old water pipes, silverware and coins.

“We got to hear them, and oh my gosh, it was just moving, to see these kids get to experience something and have an opportunity they would never have otherwise,” Trey said. “They were amazing.”

Through his time in Paraguay, Trey realized the importance of giving back not only to communities in our own country, but also to those less fortunate across the world.

“To have us come down and work with them really reminded me how blessed we are in where we live, how advantageous it is for us to live here,” Trey said. “And the more that we can share that with the world, not for money’s sake or personal gain but to give out of our abundance, we’re going to be blessed for getting to do that.

“…Even if they never do anything with the training, that’s 7,000 people who got the benefit of somebody helping them in some way with their business and their country.”

Trey has worked with a number of organizations in the communities of Garland, Rowlett and Rockwall for strategic planning, employee training, and goal setting, helping people to grow their business and to become a better leader in their organization. He also offers free John Maxwell groups through the Rockwall Area Chamber of Commerce. To learn more, visit treyfinley.com/ and johnmaxwell.com/.

By Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News staff writer. Photos courtesy of Trey Finley.

Your #1 source for positive hometown stories, entertainment and events.