In 1998, I ran for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, and I made many friends in the military. During my campaign, I visited with a U.S. Army general. He handed me a pamphlet which read, “Promises Made, Promises Not Kept.” The document was about how veterans had been let down by the government, in education, health care and housing. I will never forget it.  

The Michael J. and Donna N. Coles Veterans Scholarship Endowment Fund

My interaction with the Army general made an impact on my life, and I am committed to supporting veterans where I can. So, in March of this year, my wife Donna and I established The Michael J. and Donna N. Coles Veterans Scholarship Endowment Fund at Kennesaw State University to help lessen the financial burden for veterans who have exhausted their GI Bill benefits before completing their degrees.  

I believe that getting an education is of paramount importance. My hope is to expand our $1 million scholarship fund to $3 to $5 million over the next decade by encouraging other families or organizations to contribute. Kennesaw State has been a longtime supporter of veterans. The school currently has more than 1,400 students who are veterans, service members, or their dependents.  

This Fund is our way of honoring the sacrifice of military veterans and providing some support as they pursue their educational dreams at KSU. My hope is that this will offer some help for a better life.  

To all those serving or who have served in the U.S. Military – thank you.  

https://mvs.kennesaw.edu/give.php.

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— Milton Berle (1908–2002), after Robert W. Chambers (1865–1933) 

This month, I honor and celebrate the graduating class of 2021, especially the students of Kennesaw State University’s Michael J. Coles College of Business. Congratulations on your achievement! 

With your degree in hand, I’m sure you are looking towards the future. So, in the spirit of commencement speeches, I’d like to share some advice I once received at the start of my career.  

On a flight home to Detroit, at age 23, I sat beside a successful businessman who specialized in mergers and acquisitions. Seeking advice, I asked if he might have any to share. He looked at me and said ‘it’s all about taking risks. The younger you are, the easier it is. If you wait too long, life gets complicated and risks become scarier. Don’t be afraid to take risks, and don’t be afraid to fail.’ 

You have to recognize that failure and success run hand and hand. There’s more to learn from things that go wrong than from things that go right. My journey to success was not a straight line, but rather a story of personal perseverance. So as you endeavor to confront whatever the future holds, dig deep and strive to be a “could-be”, an “are”, and a “has-been”. 

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“If you are going through hell, keep going.”

In 1982, I set a new world record, biking from Savannah to San Diego in just 15 days. I was out to prove something! Five years before the 1982 race, I was nearly killed in a motorcycle accident. I was told by my doctor that I would never walk again without help. At first, I surrendered to this prognosis, riddled with pain and doubt. However, I came to realize that my disability was not so much in my legs, but in my mind. Cycling became my road to full recovery and I wanted to use the race to show anyone that they could accomplish their goals. I hoped my story would be a source of inspiration, proving that you could go from being on crutches to riding a bicycle across the country. I wanted to prove the truth of the famous utterance by Winston Churchill, “If you are going through hell, keep going.”  

I knew I could beat my original time. I tried in 1983 and I was on a pace to break my record, when a desert whirlwind called a dust devil threw me from my bike. I broke my collar bone, just 380 miles short of my goal. In May of 1984, I returned to Savannah for a final attempt. The streets were lined with supporters as I began the race – our documentary film crew, five television stations, many of our friends, and hundreds of strangers. It was easy to get caught up in the excitement with all that adrenaline pumping. The film shows me leaving the courthouse with one of my mechanics singing Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.” But I wasn’t a block into the race when it hit me what lay ahead. Another song, Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind,” started playing in my head. There’s a line in the song, “Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then,” that seemed apropos of the moment.   

For the first few days, I fought aggressive winds between 30 and 40 mph. I had three states behind me and five ahead. My body was showing the effects of the struggle against the wind. The pressure I had to put on the pedals made my feet swell so much that I had to cut open my shoes. My neck hurt, and my hands were so numb that I had to shake them every few minutes to get the blood flowing again. By this point, I looked forward to only two things: eating and sleeping.  

State by state, city by city, mile by mile, and inch by inch

The headwinds were relentless, and I battled them for all but 12 of the 2,600 miles across the country. Facing that kind of challenge changed my perspective on everything. State by state, city by city, mile by mile, and inch by inch, I had to fight my way toward California. That focused intensity gave me a kind of clarity that I had never experienced before. I remember the exact moment when I realized that good enough was neither good nor enough.  

I arrived in San Diego on May 15 at 5:15 p.m. PST. In the final hours of the race, I endured stop-and-go traffic. I had no idea how exhausted I was until I was forced to stop. As long as I was moving, I could not feel the full extent of the pain. I had lost seven pounds in the last three hours of the race, because my body was just breaking down. We finally made a right turn onto West Broadway, and I could see that the street was lined with people. My adrenaline was pumping. This was the best, if also the most painful, part of the journey. In that moment, I knew several things with absolute certainty. I would finish this race. Being forced to dig deeper than I ever had before, I discovered who I really was. No situation that I would face from here forward would ever look as difficult.  

I finished the race 11 days, eight hours, and 15 minutes after leaving Savannah, setting a new world record. I slept a total of 22 hours, or less than two hours a day. At the age of 40, I broke my own record by more than four days and again became the fastest person to cross the southern United States on a bicycle. As I lifted my bike into the air on the courthouse steps, it started to sink in – nothing would ever be the same.  

That night, my wife Donna and I hosted a big dinner at our hotel to thank everyone for their help. It was the first real meal that I had had in more than 11 days. I ordered my favorite dish, abalone, a real California delicacy. It was delicious, but I was so tired that I actually fell asleep in my food; I could not muster enough energy to keep my head up and eat. After saying goodbye to everyone, Donna and I went up to our room to get our first good night’s sleep. On the nightstand before climbing into bed, I lined up half a dozen unwrapped Snickers bars so I could just grab them and eat them anytime I awakened. That night, even with the candy bars, I lost an additional five pounds because my body was still breaking down and burning so many calories from the exertion. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUAOAGyT7ng

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I have distilled my story down to several lessons that work for any business or personal endeavor. The lessons serve as a snapshot of the wisdom I have gleaned after years of starting and leading companies, raising a family, setting world cycling records, and serving my community.  

Three of those lessons are:  

1. Take risks early in your career 

You are going to have setbacks at some point in your business or in your life. In the final analysis, though, failure is not about the falling down but the staying down. The ability to get back up over and over again will set you apart from those who doubt your abilities or tell you that your ideas are unsound.

2. Associate only with people of integrity 

To be a person of integrity, speak honestly, directly, and respectfully to everyone in your life and in your business. Maybe Mark Twain said it best: “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. 

Know what you don’t know, and surround yourself with people from whom you can learn.  

After making some mistakes building teams early in my career, I learned to hire and empower a diverse group of people at Great American Cookies and Caribou Coffee who possessed exceptional talents and were not shy about challenging me. I marshaled those talents to build the largest cookie company in the nation and later to prepare Caribou to take on the industry giant, Starbucks. 

I share my story to help people face their Goliaths. Starting a new company, changing jobs, going back to school, surviving a divorce, or just trying to get back in shape are all stressful events that require courage and commitment. We all have the ability to battle giants. The challenge is finding courage to step into the valley.  

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One of the most important women in my life, my wife Donna Coles, is a constant inspiration. Donna has an incredible passion for being a mother, philanthropist, and dedicated community member.  

Donna has worked with the Feminist Action Alliance, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Georgia Board, and the League of Women Voters of Georgia. She served as the chairperson on the Legal Status of Women and the Georgia Constitutional Revision committees as well as the Cobb County Juvenile Justice Board and the Georgia Student Finance Commission. Today the Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women’s Movement Archives are part of Georgia State University’s Special Collections. Thank you for everything, Donna!  

My daughters, Jody and Taryn inspire me every day. Thank you, Taryn, for challenging me to a race up the driveway and joining Donna as one of only two crew members in my 1982 race. And Jody, your love, support, and caring nature have meant so much to me. 

And thank you, Dr. Catherine M. Lewis, for co-authoring Time To Get Tough and helping me to find my voice. It was an honor working with such an accomplished author and driven person. Catherine has been more than my coauthor; she has become the friend who helped me bring my story to life. So, thank you, Catherine, for turning “no” into “now.” 

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Building upon a three-decade-long relationship with Kennesaw State University, Michael and Donna Coles announced a significant gift to establish a scholarship endowment benefitting veterans of the armed forces.

A $1 million gift to KSU made the The Michael J. and Donna N. Coles Veterans Scholarship Endowment Fund possible. It will help lessen the financial burden of veterans who have exhausted their GI Bill benefits before the completion of their degrees. Military veterans have long been a soft spot for the Coles, as Michael was named for his uncle who died serving his country and Donna’s father served in WWII.

“Through their generosity, Michael and Donna Coles are elevating KSU’s efforts to support the men and women who bravely serve our country,” KSU President Pamela Whitten said. “We are incredibly fortunate to have donors like the Coles who are ensuring that veterans will achieve their educational dreams at KSU.”

Longstanding Relationship

The latest gift is just the next chapter in a longstanding relationship between the Coles family and Kennesaw State University, which began in 1990 when the Great American Cookie Company founder Michael Coles joined the institution’s board of trustees eager to help continue its upward trajectory.

“Donna and I are so honored to make this gift to KSU,” Michael Coles said. “Military veterans have always had a special place in our hearts. When I ran for the U.S. Senate in 1998, I made many friends in the military and was saddened to learn how little the government does for them. This is our way to honor their sacrifice by offering some help for a better life.”

Coles-Novak Family Foundation

In 1994, through their Coles-Novak Family Foundation, the Coles gave KSU its first seven-figure gift. In the following year, Kennesaw State renamed the business school the Michael J. Coles School of Business, now the College of Business. In 1998, the college awarded Coles with the Beta Gamma Sigma Medallion of Entrepreneurship. The next year he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters and was a 2015 inductee into the Coles College Hall of Fame. Coles remains a member of the KSU Foundation Executive Committee.

Throughout the 2018-2019 academic year, the College celebrated “The Year of Michael J. Coles,” commemorating the 25th anniversary of becoming the Coles College. Since the initial gift from the Coles in 1994, KSU has seen exponential growth in its business-focused disciplines, including the successful launch of the Georgia WebMBA and the College’s first doctoral program in business administration. In that span, the College’s enrollment more than doubled from 3,075 to 6,869. As of the fall 2020 semester, the College has more than 7,700 students.

Philanthropy

Beyond his commitment to KSU, Coles has been heavily involved in the greater community. He is the former chair of the Georgia Film Commission and Kennesaw State University Foundation Board, and served on the University System of Georgia Board of Regents and the Walker School Board. He also is involved in a wide variety of nonprofit philanthropic organizations.

For more information or media request, please contact Liz@LizLapidusPR.com.

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During my time in business, I took to reading a number of business and history books, looking for new approaches and ideas. When I built Great American Cookies, David Halberstam’s The Reckoning was influential. The book argues that the shortsightedness of the Detroit automakers paved the way for Japanese domination of the market.  

What does a book about manufacturing cars have to do with selling cookies? The answer is: everything.  

Halberstam’s focus on Nissan and their Z car was particularly illuminating. In the 1960s, Nissan built a clay prototype of what would become a revolutionary new sports car. Then, in 2001, Nissan president Carlos Ghosn summed up the power of the Z. “The fall of 1969, Nissan introduced a two-seat sports car that revolutionized the automotive world at the time. It had European styling, American muscle, Japanese quality and global desirability.” But Nissan did not just add the Z to their existing line of cars. They used it to change the whole company. While they continued to sell the Datsun 2000 for another year, they used the Z car to elevate customers’ expectations. This helped Nissan replicate the Z’s quality and advanced technology in future models.  

Reading about how Nissan used the Z to change their entire operations informed our process with Great American Cookies. We were not going to compete with ourselves by selling old and new cookies. Our team made sure that everything we sold was great. 

Breaking the Monarchy  

Halberstam’s book also drew attention to a problem that I never thought about. Most American businesses at the time structured themselves as rigid hierarchies. The top leadership are mainly isolated from the hourly workforce. They function like a king or queen with everybody below them. A few top managers have access to the royal family, but nobody else.  

After I read that, I realized that our business was based on this antiquated model. We had hundreds of people in the field—franchisees, store managers, district managers, regional managers, and store employees— and I wanted each of them to know that they could call me with an idea or a complaint. I had to break down the employer-employee barrier. 

My Bible 

While working on transforming Caribou, I read many business books to hone my thinking about what the company needed. Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan was the most helpful. The book first published in 2002, and it soon became my bible. I distributed copies to my leadership team, and we constantly referred back to its core message. We held a one-day retreat to discuss the book, because I wanted to make sure everyone understood its core message. I was telling them much of what the book said, but I knew they needed to hear it from another source.  

Bossidy and Charan start with a simple question: Why were forty CEOs at top companies such as Aetna, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, and Xerox recently fired? Why did these smart, capable people fail to produce results? In trying to provide answers, the authors realized that execution bridges the gap between what leaders try to achieve and their company’s ability to deliver it.  

Bossidy and Charan explain that most companies make a mistake when they assume that execution is a single event, not an ongoing process. It is not something to be delegated to vice presidents and directors while the CEO is working on “bigger” issues. Execution is the “big issue.” It has to become part of a company’s DNA. It has to touch every aspect of the company or organization, from mission, strategy, and values to hiring, product development, production, sales, and service. Execution has to live inside the company, permeating its cultural fabric, and thus motivating employees constantly to seek ways to improve. 

My Writing Journey  

Because books have informed the way I conduct business, writing my own memoir, Time To Get Tough, was a logical next step to share the knowledge I gleaned over the years. But when I started thinking about writing my own book more than twenty-five years ago, I always hit a wall. One day in February 2016, I finally sat down at my computer and wrote a simple question: “What is keeping me from doing this?” My answer was: “I keep waiting to have other experiences to share that might be valuable to a reader.” That seemed ridiculous, because if I waited much longer, I would be either dead or unable to remember anything. And I’m so glad that I started this writing journey.  

Thank you for reading! 

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Combating Antisemitism 

From 2012-2019, during my tenure as president of Hillels of Georgia, the world experienced a rise of antisemitism and discrimination that continues today.    

I am continuously inspired by the work of Hillels. I saw first-hand the lasting impact Hillel had in creating safe spaces for Jewish students and combating antisemitism on college campuses through generous support from our community.  

Empowering Students 

I’m proud to be an advocate for Hillel’s mission to empower Jewish students across campuses in Georgia. Hillel gives students the space to embrace their Jewish identity.  

Three W’s 

In my time in philanthropy, I’ve always followed the concept of the “Three W’s“—Work, Wisdom, and Wealth.  

I see the concept in place with young students who are just starting out. They donate their time, energy and work to building the Jewish community. Then, when they graduate, they become more stable and successful, and their contributions grow to encompass wisdom and wealth. 

Nonprofits and charitable organizations need community members to donate all three. Are you ready to give? 

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The first day, we faced a torrential downpour and had to stop at a convenience store to buy black trash bags. We each used one to cover our gear and another to make an improvised poncho.  

Religious Experience  

Sixty-five miles into the trip, we stopped at the Pine Mountain General Store in Callaway Gardens to dry off and use the restroom. I was leaning under the hand dryer to dry my hair when the door opened, and a man came in. When I looked up, I saw that it was the Reverend Billy Graham. I smiled and said, “They told me that this ride could be a religious experience, but this is ridiculous.” He laughed, and we talked for a few minutes about the ride, and then Dave and I got back on the bikes and headed to Florida.  

When we finished, Dave rented a car to drive the bikes back to Atlanta. I flew to Orlando to meet Donna, daughter Taryn, and son Lorin at Disney World.  

A year later, in 1981, I repeated the Dunwoody-to-Helen route and covered the same ground in 4 hours 41 minutes, about eight hours faster than my time in 1979.  

I will always remember this spring ride as the start of my biking journey, which eventually led me to break world records. Happy first day of spring! I hope you are able to welcome the new season by getting outside and challenging yourself with something new.

Time to Get Tough – UGA Press

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I never thought about philanthropy in a conventional sense as a child. My parents were working class, and we had little extra money. Like our friends and neighbors, we lived on a tight budget, and there was no real mechanism in place to make community giving more visible.

When Donna and I married, we did not have money to give. We were
struggling to make a living in our new home in Atlanta and raising children. I do not remember anybody ever asking us for money.

The Beginnings

Once we established ourselves north of downtown in Cobb County, we began volunteering for causes about which we cared. Donna worked with the Feminist Action Alliance, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Georgia Board, and the League of Women Voters of Georgia. She served as the chairperson on the Legal Status of Women and the Georgia Constitutional Revision committees as well as the Cobb County Juvenile Justice Board and the Georgia Student Finance Commission. Today, the Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women’s Movement Archives are part of Georgia State University’s Special Collections.

We helped the March of Dimes, Kennestone Hospital, and the American Heart Association, but soon I discovered that my real passion was education. This may be partly inspired by the fact that I never went to college. I wanted to make sure that our community was doing its best to provide for our children so they had an opportunity to thrive. I wanted to do something to make a difference.

Three W’s—Work, Wisdom, and Wealth

It was not until the Great American Cookie Company began expanding in the 1980s and became more successful that I began to think about philanthropy. I cannot recall where I first heard the concept of the “Three W’s“—Work, Wisdom, and Wealth. Maybe it was at a business luncheon or in a magazine article. Whatever the source, it really resonated.

When you are young and just starting out, often the only thing you can afford to donate is your work. As you age and become more stable and successful, your contributions grow to encompass wisdom and wealth. Nonprofits and charitable organizations need community members to donate all three.

Giving Back

The most important contributions that I have made as a philanthropist have been donations of work and wisdom; the easiest thing I have ever done is write a check.

I do not want to minimize the importance of financial gifts—organizations need money—but they need business and community leaders who understand corporate citizenship even more. I have been on many boards whose members had expertise that the organization never could afford to buy. That is good for the organization, but it is also good for the board member.

Embrace the mission

It is often easier to take a minute to write a check than to really commit to an organization about which you care. If you do not give of yourself, you will never truly understand and embrace their mission or appreciate their impact on people you may never meet.

In my work with the Walker School, Kennesaw State University, Hillels of Georgia, and the Film and Video and Music Commission for the State of Georgia, I discovered that hard work on behalf a cause you believe in is what matters most.

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