Russ Darrow Group President's Club Winner
Michael "Zippidy" Duda's 2017 Winner

Speech given at Edgewater Hotel, Madison, WI
Hello, I hope you're all having a great time tonight. First I would like to thank a few people in no particular order:

• My children – Allison & Abigail Duda…. My oldest Allison is on the Dean’s List here at UW Madison and is with us tonight… Please stand!!!.... I work every day to build their bright future.
• My assistant Lavora. Lavora is right next to me fighting everyday to deliver cars, keep customers happy, and help me execute every crazy goal I can come up with. She is like the daughter I never had. We are a SOLID team.
• My GM Kevin Minley and his wife Dawn – They are my friends, he is my boss, and someone who inspires me to achieve great things just for his thanks and admiration. I am truly jealous as I reflected on their successful marriage and how much I ache for this type of success in my own personal life. Kevin walked into my business one day and brokered a deal with my sister to get me off the computer and report to the car lot. The rest is history. Thank You Kevin
• My Mother – Joan Duda - A women who has survived cancer three times and has motivated me to become the best at everything and enjoy every day GOD has given Us.. She is the strongest women I have ever known. Beautiful as well, she was featured on the cover of the UW Madison Admissions pamphlet in 1959, right here in Madison!
• My father – Terry Duda - A man who always taught me to get up after being knocked down even when he was the one knocking me down. He dedicated his life to taking care of his family. He was told he would never graduate as a Mechanical Engineer…. After 13 persistent years of nights while raising a family he finally graduated.
• My Grandfather - Alvin Drover – A man who has left architectural remnants of his life fall over south eastern Wisconsin. I can smile while driving by them to this day. He was a well established architect, a true artist, and a philosopher. He lived his life with passion for everything that many who never met him will never understand. He helped the weak and suffering throughout his life without ever accepting any recognition. He always told me something I have never forgotten “Your Life is just a Flicker in eternity, so make your Flicker Count”. POINT UP… He has been gone now for 20 Years.
• Gary Woodward – A man who helped me with selling used cars when I first started in the business and taught me that every used car has value. There is an ASS for every seat. GDubbs.
• Steve Perkins – A man who can get anyone financed even when they have NO MONEY down. No job. On SSI. Never paid a bill in their life. Really Don’t plan on paying a payment… Well you get the idea.
• Ivan Lawler - A man who talked me out of making a HUGE mistake. I was packing up and leaving Russ Darrow Kia one day…. Quiting…. When Ivan basically explained to me that this wasn't the Michael Duda he knew…. THANK YOU IVAN.
• Skip Cady - A college football legend who I have known since the early 1990’s. He has won many awards. He told me when I started in the business… Treat everyday as if you sold 3 cars the day before and you will do great.
• My Owners – Russ Darrow, Mike Darrow & their Families who have provided me a workplace where I am able to thrive every day and where I’m protected from Healthcare Providers, Accountants, Creditors, Franchise Problems, Attorneys, and ALL the other diversions that take away from running a successful Business. I thank you ALL for that. At this point I really think we should all thank the Darrow’s for steering and nurturing this company where we all work. LET’S GIVE THEM A ROUND OF APPLAUSE!!!

So I thought all year about what type of speech I would like to give at President’s Club and here is what I would like to share with you. Who is Michael Duda? How did he find the Diamond that exists in every one of us? Rebbe Rashab uses the diamond analogy to describe the value of each man, woman and child. Every person is a true diamond, the toughest substance in existence.

I have heard this question asked over and over again throughout my life. Who is this Duda Guy? What the F is a Duda? What fuels this dude to push so hard? I think it’s the perfect time to share a window into my world.

I’m an Electrical Engineer who sells cars. Very Non Typical. I started off working for GE Medical coming up with innovations to save lives and generate millions of dollars a year even to this day… I worked with CT, XRAY, Nuclear, and MR. I was EVERYWHERE. My reward at the time for one of my greatest achievements… Proactive Diagnostics which has a huge impact on GE Healthcare to this day… was a $50 night on the town from Jack Welch. So I gave my 2 weeks notice. Fast forward to last year sometime when I delivered like 57 cars in one month. That next week Mike Darrow showed up on the lot and stopped me to chat. He asked how did you do it? I gave him my explanation and he thanked me. That’s all I ever wanted from Jack Welch.

I started an internet Ecommerce company called idata.com in 1994 two years before Google even existed. This was well before anyone had heard the name AMAZON. Next thing I know I’m dealing with professional athletes like; Ron Dayne, Brett Favre, Ahman Green, Donald Driver, Drew Brees, just to name just a few. In 2000, While I was working with Favre, I ran across Tom Brady, a Rookie Quarterback in New England who had only played one game in the NFL. At Aloha Stadium on Oahu I explained to him that I worked with Brett Favre and I believed that if he played every game like Brett and left everything on the field he could accomplish great things. The Next year 2001 Drew Bleedsoe went down he managed to show up as the MVP of the New England Patriots with their first ever NFL title of Super Bowl Champions. When he showed up at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii the week after the Super Bowl…. I met him at the center of the field to congratulate him. He said to me “Sir, I never forgot what You told me”. The weird thing about this story is the “Sir” part… It still bothers me because at that point I realized I was getting older and these players were getting younger. I even built Phil Mickelson’s first Golf Grip Company website called griptec. He was a left handed golfer who had really not accomplished much and I was being told they never do. I could go on and on. etc. etc. etc. I’m a 3 million mile traveler with American Airlines. I have many life experiences in many countries. So, I find myself building this internet company generating millions of dollars a year which was fuel’d on my 7 day work weeks where I was working at times more than 19 hours a day until I ended up in the the emergency room during the Packers Post Super Bowl Run hooked up to an IV with an irregular heart beat and not allowed to leave. I am a TRUE WORKAHOLIC

I have achieved many great successes in my life. I have spent time in the West Wing of the White House. The East Wing is for tourists... I stood outside of the oval office and peered into the most powerful office in the world. The Secret Service would not allow me to enter, you must be invited by the President. I have even testified to Congress behind closed doors during the financial crisis….

With success comes great pain and suffering as well….

Like the time I came home and found my house literally empty and my Ex wife & daughters gone, with no one to call or turn to….

At one point during my custody battle for my children I had lost 30lbs and was performing a private autograph session at Donald Driver’s house, while his pregnant wife was cooking & my little girlies were playing in the other room. He looked at me, clearly a shell of a man I once was… he says… Mikie, what is going on with you? I looked at him with tears in my eyes and said… Donald, I’m losing everything. I’m going through the same thing Ahman is right now. He turned to me and said, you need to figure this out for those two little girls in the other room. Donald said, I will meet you anytime I can and help you with whatever you need. He was the only NON self absorbed NFL Player who even recognized I was falling apart. The stories you hear about Double D are REAL. He is an Amazing human being.

Or the time I was heading to Hawaii packed with a Diamond Ring, only to cancel the trip because she wanted to go in a different direction… I showed up for work the next morning on a Monday instead of boarding that plane only to find the letter from NIKE declining our contract renewal…. which killed over 1.2 million in business a year for my company.

Or the time I ended up in Federal Court defending my business against foreign invaders trying to steal my idata.com domain.

Or the time I landed in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl only to turn around and get on the next flight home because all of our servers had been taken over by terrorists.

The time investor’s bank called in our line of credit right after 911. Where I was reduced to nothing but a shaking person battling panic attacks while my mother held my hand and told me I had my health which was all that mattered because…. I would survive.

For three years I did not take a salary to keep my employees in a job without them even knowing.

NOW lets cover all the GOOD Stuff. Ultimately about the Diamond inside of me. I think the common thread that anyone who has hit rock bottom will tell you is…. The greatest thing about hitting BOTTOM is that there is only one way to go which is UP. As long as you are alive, you have WON. Even the worst days just don't feel as bad anymore. What I have learned about myself during this process we call life is….. I will NEVER give up, I will NEVER give in, I will NEVER have enough, I will NEVER rest, I WILL NEVER BE SATISFIED. It is the true diamond that I have found within myself.

Every day on the car lot, in my mind it’s a high stakes chess match that I INTEND ON WINNING EACH AND EVERY TIME. I WILL DECIDE which car YOU WILL LIKE and I WILL DECIDE WHICH CAR YOU WILL ULTIMATELY BUY. I WILL make you feel special. My diamond was found when I had nothing left but myself. It IS ONLY YOU who can determine the outcome of LIFE. It’s not much different from any NFL game.

I have watched coaches and players who can motivate everyone around them to be bigger and better than they would be otherwise. I have closely watched players like BRETT FAVRE & RAY LEWIS achieve the impossible executing at the highest level humanly possible against all odds…. Who would NEVER walk off the playing field without Knowing and Showing you they were willing to give EVERYTHING to Succeed. Brett Favre – “ I will PLAY next Sunday” the true ironman. Ray Lewis- “They will PAY next Sunday” the ultimate warrior. When Ray Lewis preached and motivated during practice in Baltimore, the hair on the back of my neck would rise up and I was literally ready to go to battle with him and his team mates if they would have let me.

Another one of my famous stories from Pro Bowl in Hawaii puts me at the Ihilani pool side bar between Michael Vick, one of the best Quarterbacks the Atlanta Falcons ever had on my left and Peyton Manning, an overachieving quarterback from Indianapolis sitting on my right. Ray Lewis and my Baltimore boys walk out of the lobby down toward the pool….. Michael Vick turns to me and says…. What the heck is wrong with those guys…. This is Hawaii, it’s time to relax. I turn to Michael Vick and say…. “Its time to man UP, RAY RAY has these dudes so spun up like a bag of snakes that they will smash you in the mouth like it's Super Bowl Sunday” Why I talk about this moment in my life is because… it pointed out something very important to me… The BEST NEVER SHUT OFF, they NEVER LET UP, they are NEVER Satisfied, they NEVER get Tired, THEY ARE ALWAYS ON. I’m not sure they even know how to turn it off….

I have learned to cherish every day, go hard, and make it the best it can be because I have watched NFL players like Green Bay Packers LeRoy Butler lose it all in one play. I was on about the 10 yard line in the South EndZone of Lambeau when he was hit so hard, I heard his shoulder blade SNAP while tackling Atlanta Falcons Jamal Anderson in 2001 and he fell to the grass like a sack of potatoes. Never to play again. Gary Baxter, one of my players from the Baltimore Ravens who was traded to the Cleveland Browns and then in one play against the Denver Broncos he tore the patella tendons in both his Knees. He never played another NFL Game.

I have found MY diamond by watching my mother laugh in the face of her numerous cancer diagnosis…. I have watched her smile through suffering and pain because to NOT smile would be to hurt others. I have watched my girlfriend after losing her sister and some of her close friends to Cancer & Drug Overdoses. I am a very lucky man to have been enlightened by very successful people throughout my life and have been molded by those men & women around me.

My Diamond is that…. I’m Alive, I’m a Survivor, I will Succeed, I will laugh in the face of darkness, I will have an impact on everyone and everything around me, I will let NOTHING… OR KNOW ONE STOP ME. My diamond is that I’m a chameleon who will morph myself into whatever I have to be to Succeed. I will not be STOPPED, I will break RECORDS, I will achieve the impossible, I will NEVER get tired, I will never let anyone see me sweat, I will never be BROKEN AGAIN.

There might be broken people in this room tonight for whatever reason or you might know someone who could use help. The greatest gift in life you will ever receive is the satisfaction of knowing that you personally helped someone when you know one else would. You don’t ever have to reach out and give anyone a helping hand… But when and If you do, I promise you this…. It will be the most fulfilling thing you have done in your life. Helping others find their diamond will be a gift that will keep giving for years to come. I have helped people in the image of my grandfather over and over again only to receive blessings 100 fold in return without ever asking.

So if you remember anything about my speech tonight, please know that you are UNIQUE, you are SPECIAL, you are ONE OF A KIND, you have a diamond inside and when…. And if…. You find it…. you will achieve great things and become a success beyond your wildest dreams. Any one of you in this room could be right HERE next year!!!!