James Whelan, Joan Randall Agency
More Mamas should let their babies grow up to be cowboys
By Judi McLeod
Friday, June 15, 2007
Jim Whelan, of the Palm Beach, Florida-based Joan Randall Agency, rolled into Blue Mountain, Ontario last weekend. This time, he arrived via the "unsaddled" form of travel, by commercial aircraft.
Whelan, who Canada Free Press proudly calls its sales manager, is into horses and flying his own planes.
When he's not selling Internet ad space for websites like World Net Daily, News with Views or CFP, he's out there giving someone else a helping hand. This time, it's giving a hand to an absolute character, world-renowned horseman and activist, Jean Albert Renaud, plain JAR for short. JAR has taken on the dream of turning around the plight of an American treasure, the wild Mustang.
In 1994, the United Arab Emirates' Royal Family honoured Jean Renaud by requesting his training input and his participation in their internationally sponsored endurance competition. In 1996, the Royal Family of Qatar requested JAR's personal participation in the International Desert Marathon, and indeed he actually trained some of the horses for this race at his rustic ranch in Maryland. Now the Horse Whisperer of real life is training for The Great Santa Trail Horse Race, an 800-mile horse race scheduled for this coming September.
Horse lover Cowboy Jim Whelan is doing his best to ratchet up publicity for the big event, and in typical cowboy style is pulling out all the stops.
Whelan is living proof that Willie Nelson--part of the Save the Mustangs movement-- got it wrong in his song, Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys. Mrs. Whelan, for one is proud that her baby grew up to be a cowboy.
Little tykes who fall to sleep dreaming of growing up to be cowboys are endearing. Adults living the dream accomplish things others believe to be impossible.
It's not the Stetson or the cowboy boots that make Jim Whelan a cowboy. It's the heart that beats in the little boy who grew up to be a man.
To the Chief Cowboy at the Joan Randall Agency, it's not always the big one but the little everyday races for everyday people that count.
Whelan found along life's rocky road that positive thinking is the real key to happiness.
Once when he landed a big account, he put a down payment on an airplane.
"If you reward yourself every day, you will never have a bad day," is one of his mantras.
"Now obviously you can't put a down payment on an airplane every day, but you can reward yourself."
He took the "Reward Yourself" advice from a friend in the Internet ad sales business.
Lately the cowboy joined the blogging world.
One of the stories on his new blog (www.JoanRandallAgency.com) is an inspiration.
"Yesterday, I had my boots shined. I like it when my boots are gleaming. I stopped at a shoeshine place, and got in the chair.
"The man was elderly, and didn't talk much, but he may have put the best shine on my boots they ever had.
"When he finished he said, "Three Fifty". Three dollars and fifty cents. I reached in my wallet, pulled out a "fitty" dollar bill, and handed it to the shine man. He said he didn't know whether he had enough change.
"I told him I didn't need any change, that he put a "fitty" dollar shine on my boots, and it was worth every penny. He grabbed my arm and said, "God bless you."
"That's what I call hitting a double. I rewarded myself, and helped someone else in the process. This may even be an improvement on my friend's excellent theory.
"In that case, it's a triple.
"Start simple, reward yourself every day. Then you can add on."
That's the kind of stuff Whelan writes from the big saddle at www.theJoanRandallAgency.com.
That's why Whelan and JAR, who have the kind of heart to see things through, will someday end by saving America's wild horses.
As JAR would say, Jim's the kind of guy who really fills his cowboy boots.
Meanwhile, it isn't only Mrs. Whelan who's proud of Diamond Cowboy Jim Whelan.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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