Michael J Mallen

TONY CHERNOFF HAD made a fortune in the personal development industry as a motivational speaker.

He was very charismatic, convincing people to do almost anything once he’d gotten them fully onboard. He knew what buttons to push.

Jack Leibowitz, a freelance journalist, sensed there was something shady about Chernoff, noticing how many people were taken in by his over the top enthusiasm.

Jack signed up for an expensive seminar. When it was over, he approached Tony and raved about how much he got out of it. Jack asked if he could work for him; he’d do it for no pay just to learn from the master.

Tony was flattered and figured he could always use someone to help sell his training courses. He taught Jack the fundamentals of his organization. He’d let him go if he didn’t see any improvement to bottom line.

Jack was a quick study. He dramatically increased sales for an upcoming seminar. Tony hired Jack to work for him full time.

In three months, Jack documented everything, interviewing several past attendees. They all had similar stories—how they felt empowered during the event, but then the fairy dust faded and they were back to where they started, a little poorer and a lot more disillusioned.

Jack wrote an explosive book: How I Conned A Con Man which shot to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. It exposed Tony’s entire operation. People now didn’t want anything to do with him—his business and reputation were shot to hell.

Jack decided he’d become a motivational speaker himself, but this time give people real value. He applied all that he learned and added his unique brand of creativity. People responded to Jack and referred to him as “the real deal.”

He became even more popular than Tony, making tons of money and living the American Dream. He eventually got seduced by all the attention and became the person he’d warned others about.

At a big event in Dallas, a young man was blown away by what he witnessed on stage. After it was over he went up to Jack, grinning from ear to ear.

“Mr. Leibowitz, that was truly fantastic! I know this sounds crazy, but would you be willing to mentor me?”