FreedomWorks

I arrived in USA from war torn former Yugoslavia at age 10 in 1955. My father worked in Chicago steel mills and my Mom stayed at home taking care of me and my sister. Times were very tough in 1950's with what seemed constant strikes by the steel mill union where my dad worked. Food was scarce and clothes were hand me downs from the church. Yet, compared to the oppression of Communism/Socialism in former Yugoslavia, this country  to me was a land of opportunity where you can dream to succeed and the sky was the limit.

I listened to my grammar school teachers who told us that if we study hard and go to college the opportunity was unlimited. As a little boy I noticed a Cadillac parked in front of a red brick building across from our school baseball play yard (remember this red brick building as you read on). They did something in that building that earned the owner a prestigious car. My parents could not even afford a car and we got around by using the public bus, train, bike or walking.

I applied myself in high school with dogged determination to succeed. When others played, chased girls, watched TV or "hung out", I read and studied. I finished in the top 10 scholastically at Mt. Carmel High School ( even though I had to overcome language and culture barriers). And yes, English was my primary language while we spoke in Croatian language at home. I assimilated into being a USA citizen and not a Croatian/American. My reward for scholastic acchievement was a General Motors 4 year, full tuition scholarship at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. I wanted to major in "inventing", but there was and is no such curriculum offered at any college. Industrial Design was the closest choice since it trains you to think, improve, invent and question everything. Four years later I was awarded the outstanding student award in the Industrial Design (class of 1965). Graduate school followed and I earned an MBA degree from University of Illinois (1968). My graduate education was funded by being a graduate instructor and working summers as a janitor in a Chicago high rise buildings.

After graduation I found myself working for one public company and two private companies. While working for others I treated my job as if it was my company and soon rose to level Marketing Manager and Vice President. I'm the one responsible for marketing and naming an adhesive you use and know as Super Glue. While rising in the corporate world I focused on coming up with an invention that I could use to launch my own business. I received a US patent for a product and tried to license it. It simply died with the licensed company. That made me determined not to take this approach again. However, when you have no money it's daunting to start a business, build inventory, and sell your product. So I took small baby steps by advertising a new sport grip product in mail order catalogs. Shipping and packaging was done when I came home from my full time job. A friend joined me in my venture and helped me grow the business.

After about ten years of growing the side business, I finally threw myself into it full time. Renting a 5,000 sq. ft. warehouse where I personally did the packaging, shipping, phone sales and even sweeping the floors was very humbling and demanding. Business kept growing and I kept inventing. There are now 12 USA patents to my name. They helped and keep on fueling the company growth. The company, Unique Sports Products, markets sport accessories which are sold at Walmart, Kmart, Dicks, Sports Authority, and thousands of other sports outlets in USA and worldwide. Our mission is to create game improving products for sport enthusiast. This involves constant innovation and trying new things. Some are winners and some join the pile of "less rapid stiffs" as we call the failures. We never rest in risking investment funds to make a better product.

The product line can best be viewed on our web sitet www.uniquesports.com
Famous tennis players from Pete Sampras, to James Blake use and endorse our world famous Tourna Grip. It is used by most professional players as a grip on their tennis racquet. Tourna Grip has become so famous that we were granted a US trademark for its Light Blue Color. There are only a handful of US companies that own a color trademark (Owens Corning for light pink, UPS for medium brown as an example). Bobby Cox, Atlanta baseball manager (27 years as a major league baseball manager), endorses our baseball Hot Glove accessory products. Hot Glove breaks in leather baseball gloves in less than 10  minutes. Normally it takes months to break in a new glove. Both of these products are made in USA. We also knit head bands and wristbands in USA. Over 70% of our products are made in USA. We feel that we can keep the product quality and performance at higher levels by doing it in USA. We also take pride in having long time employees that are part of our company rather than exporting manufacturing jobs for more profits.

Yes, the manufacturing plant is in Alpharetta, GA. and it is a red brick building. My two sons are in the business with me and I'm instilling in them the entrepreneurial spirit. But I am very concerned with the direction our country is taking. The never ending bailouts for failed enterprises seems to be the order of the day. I did everything my teachers and this country told me to succeede. This instilled in me a direction that led me from impoverished immigrant to a multimillionaire. Yet today, I feel abandoned and soon to be punished by the President Obama's taxation policies. Succeed and you will be punished. What in the %##@& is goning on? The incentive to succeed is diminished and I feel a sense of betrayal. Have I come full circle where this once great Country will become what my parents fled from in Socialist/Communist former Yugoslavia?