Cory Wiedel, founder of the nutritional supplement retail store Complete Nutrition, is no stranger to the world of business. Throughout his career, which spans decades, he has recognized that he is a “builder” who enjoys growing and eventually selling companies.
While he’s gained success over the years, his very first business endeavor wasn’t ideal. In fact, it ended in failure, which caused him to be cautious moving forward. He said he credits EO Nebraska, which he joined two decades ago, for helping him realize his potential.
When he first joined the organization, he owned three GNC nutrition retail stores. With encouragement and learning from fellow EO members, he expanded to 15 GNC stores, which he later sold. After that, Wiedel started a wholesale company called NDS Nutrition that sold products to GNC. Down the road, he sold NDS Nutrition to a publicly traded company, and then founded Complete Nutrition.
“We just had a few Complete Nutrition stores in Omaha and Lincoln and then franchised it and grew that to 230 stores,” Wiedel said. “We sold the company about eight years ago.”
Today, the entrepreneur has taken on an investor and mentor role, helping others start and grow their businesses. One of these ventures includes CleverCoat Renewable Roofing (www.CleverCoat.com), a full-service roof coating company for commercial businesses. Wiedel secured Walmart as his first customer and now is coating roofs for Walmart stores all over the United States.
Wiedel said he sees a lot of potential in this industry and predicts that it will be much larger than all his other businesses combined.
One thing is for sure, EO has left a lasting impression on the businessman.
“EO has been life changing for me,” Wiedel said. “It’s hard to get good perspective from people if they’re not in the same shoes as you so it’s been very beneficial to be surrounded by others with similar mindsets. I’ve learned what pitfalls to watch out for and learned from the experiences of other members. My best friends are my EO forum mates and my wife’s best friends are EO forum wives, too. It’s been a good ride and it’s fun to take the experiences I’ve learned in EO and help other business owners.”
Mentorship Mastery :
workshop with Laurie Baedke
EO Nebraska is excited to welcome Laurie K. Baedke, director of healthcare leadership programs and assistant dean of physician leadership education at Creighton University, to speak to our group of entrepreneurs about building a strong bench of leaders in their organizations. Based on Laurie’s most recent book “Mentor Coach Lead to Peak Professional Performance,” this powerful workshop equips attendees to more effectively engage as mentors, coaches, and leaders, and reinforces the importance of personally investing in being well-mentored, well-sponsored, and coached by others.
At the conclusion of this lecture, participants will be able to:
- Apply best practices in mentoring, sponsoring, and coaching to develop high-potential leaders on their teams.
- Create psychological safety and trust in mentoring and coaching relationships.
- Leverage feedback as a tool to increase awareness and performance both individually and within teams.
Are you an entrepreneur with a thirst for knowledge, who wants to grow your business and value events like this? If so, please contact Gwen Aspen, EO membership chair, to learn more at gaspen@anequim.net.
Email: PO BOX 540815 Omaha NE 68154
Website: hub.eonetwork.org
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