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Eyeway Conversations with Jim Stovall | Otter.ai

Eyeway Conversations with Jim Stovall

Score Foundation21min

Eyeway Helpdesk

00:08

This podcast is brought to you by Cipla Foundation and Score Foundation.

George Abraham

00:33

Hi, my name is George Abraham and welcome to Eyeway conversations. My guest today is Jim Stovall from Oklahoma, United States. He is an accomplished author and speaker, a successful entrepreneur, a champion weightlifter, and a disability activist. Hi, Jim, welcome!

Jim Stovall

00:53

Thank you, George. It's wonderful to be with you.

George Abraham

00:56

So let us begin by asking you what started you off as a writer?

Jim Stovall

01:02

Well, I have to admit, I never intended to be a writer. And when I could read with my eyes before I lost my sight, I didn't even know that I ever read a whole book cover to cover. I was an athlete, thought I was going to be a professional football player and lost my sight. And through that and the success of my company Narrative Television, I was asked to do a lot of speaking. And I was on a tour with two great speakers and authors, Dr. Robert Schuller and Dr. Denis Waitley. And the two of them really encouraged me to write a book. So I wrote my first book 30 years ago, and titled, "You don't have to be blind to see". And it was what I learned through losing my sight, and the loss of my football career bt becoming a weightlifting champion, and then building my business. And I wrote about that and the book was successful enough to the publishers wanted more and more, and I just completed my 50th book, and eight of them have been turned into movies. So I guess you could say I kind of accidentally stumbled into being an author.

George Abraham

02:12

That's an interesting accident to be in. Now, recently, I read this book called "The Ultimate Gift", which I believe went on to become a best seller, and then you've written a series. In the Ultimate, I don't know whether you call it the ultimate series, but I guess it is the ultimate series. And some of these books were made into movies. So tell us a little bit about the series. How did you get the idea? And maybe you could give us a brief brief preview into it?

Jim Stovall

02:45

Well, I had written the first book I told you about and the publishers kept wanting more and more books. And, you know, I have written all of the nonfiction that I thought I felt comfortable writing. And when they wanted another book, I figured I better just make up a story. So I invented a guy who is a billionaire and near the end of his life, he realizes that his money and his lack of attention has kind of ruined his family and he has one grandson he thinks has some potential. So instead of just leaving him a billionaire, he sends him on this one year odyssey to learn the gift of work and gift of money, and family and friends and all of these things. And then if he can accomplish these tasks, he receives his inheritance, which is the ultimate.

George Abraham

03:45

So the book before this which is The Ultimate Life I believe, and then the book that follows is called the Ultimate Legacy. So did you start with the Ultimate Gift and then write the other two? Or it was it a logical sequence?

Jim Stovall

04:02

I started with the Ultimate Gift and it was so successful, and I liked those characters so much. I decided well, what happens next? So I wrote the Ultimate Life. But then I wondered, "where did these characters come from?" So I wrote the Ultimate Journey. After the young man finds a diary and we go back in time and then the Ultimate Gift was made into a movie and then the Ultimate Life and Ultimate Journey those two books were combined into one movie called The Ultimate Life. And then the Ultimate Legacy is kind of how he transitions and passes the gift on himself. And that became a book and the movie called The Ultimate Legacy.

Eyeway Helpdesk

04:48

If you know of anyone with vision impairment, who needs guidance on living life with blindness, please share the Eyeway national toll free helpline number 1800-532-0469 The number is 1800-532-0469.

George Abraham

05:17

Yeah, Jim, I just wanted to check now you know, it's fascinating to know that you've written books and they have been made into movies. But how does this actually happen? Do the movie makers kind of read your book and kind of think it's a great idea for a film, they come to you? Or do you go to the movie makers, and try and sell the idea to them?

Jim Stovall

05:35

Well, in the beginning, on the first one, I got called by a movie studio. And they said, "we would like to turn your book into a movie" and since that time, there have been other studios saying, "what books do you have?" And so I've actually written my last several books with a thought in mind. There'll be a movie we're working on one right now called Will to win. And it's in a new series I've written and so those will also be movies, I think.

George Abraham

06:07

Now, you mentioned that you work with a company called Narrative Network. And you are the president of this company at the moment, I believe. What exactly does this company do?

Jim Stovall

06:20

Well, I started the Narrative Television Network back in 1988. And we make we make movies and television accessible for blind and visually impaired people. That's what we do. And we add an extra soundtrack in between the dialogue to describe the reactions and settings in the visual parts of a TV show or a movie. We started that in 1988. Now, all major network programming in America, during primetime is narrated, there's a button on the television or the remote here, you hit. And you can hear this extra voice, so it helps blind or visually impaired people hear what they can't see.

George Abraham

07:03

Is this what you call audio description?

Jim Stovall

07:05

Very much. So yes, we started it and then after several other companies got involved, we had a big meeting and decided to call the field audio description. And it has become a real basic part of movies and television, and it's growing certainly around the world.

George Abraham

07:26

So when there are current affairs and sports programs also on television, does this audio description happened at that time?

Jim Stovall

07:33

It can, you know a lot of news programs and sports you know, a lot of sports programming is available on the radio. So you really don't need description on television because you can listen to the ballgame on the radio. And the same thing with a lot of news programs. They're basically talking heads and a few photos. So, you know mostly we function on educational programming and entertainment and those sorts of things.

George Abraham

08:04

Graet! So you know, I think that some of these OTT channels, which have now come into India, things like Netflix and Amazon Prime, have a lot of content which has audio description. So that's quite exciting for us, visually impaired people in India. And it's interesting to note that this started in the US way back in 1988.

Jim Stovall

08:25

Yeah, it's wonderful. And, you know, I always hasten to add you know, people say I invented this. The idea of description is as old as a blind person with a friend and telling them what's going on in the world. I can imagine cavemen describing to their blind friend or relative, the drawings on the wall. So you know, I had a lot to do with bringing it to television in America, but description has been going on for thousands of years.

George Abraham

09:00

Yes, I think you're very right. Meaning as long as people that were blind people in this world, I think audio description was there, but in different formats, I guess. Okay, you have been an avid sports person, before you turn blind you were into football, and then you took to weightlifting and you've mentioned somewhere that you were an Olympic champion. So can you tell us a little bit about how you took to weightlifting and what was your career path as a weightlifter?

Jim Stovall

09:33

Well, my ambition as a young man was to be a professional football player in American football in the National Football League. And I really...that was all I wanted to do with my life. And every year before you go play football, you have to get a physical exam. And during one of these routine physical exams, they diagnosed me with a condition that would cause me to lose my sight. So I realized I need to make a change. And about that time I saw an exhibition of Olympic weightlifters and I thought that's something I could do een if I was losing my sight. I became the national champion here in America. And then I made it on the Olympic team. And in 1980, George, you might remember, in 1980, the Olympics were to be held in Russia.

George Abraham

10:24

That's right.

Jim Stovall

10:25

And they had invaded Afghanistan and because of that, we boycotted the Olympic Games, as did a lot of other countries. And not unlike in the history we have right now going on. So I represented our country but we did not compete in those Olympics. So I was a national champion. And that was kind of the end of my athletic career right there

George Abraham

10:53

Oh you didn't pursue it to participate in Los Angeles in 1984?

Jim Stovall

10:58

I wanted to... one of the challenges with the Olympic sports is they only happen every four years. And if you're an athlete at that level, it's hard to stay at the peak performance for four or five years. And so by the time 1984 came along, I was injured a lot. And it just probably wasn't worth it at that point. Plus in 1984, because we had boycotted the Russians. They boycotted ours in Los Angeles. And in my sport, if you're not competing against the Russians, and the Eastern Europeans, you're really not competing against the best people in the world. So we didn't go to theirs in 1980, they didn't come to ours in 1984. And by the time 1988 rolled around, I was getting pretty ancient for an athlete.

George Abraham

11:53

That's interesting. And so they always say once a sportsman, always a sportsman. So do you keep in touch with sport in some way even today or it was goodbye to sports in 1984?

Jim Stovall

12:11

Well, I am a huge sports fan. I have satellite radio and it is a rare day that I don't have a football game or a baseball game or something on it my house in the evening. I love following sports and even with weightlifting, the great Russian weightlifter, Vasily Alexia, and I became friends and he passed away a few years ago. But we stayed in touch all of those years, it was difficult in the beginning and then when the Soviet Union broke up, we were able to communicate a little more freely. But yeah, I stay involved and I always enjoy sports. As you said once you're involved in sports, you're always kind of a sports person.

George Abraham

12:58

So you said that you first saw signs of your eye problem or an eye condition when you were about 17 and then by the time you were 29, you were totally blind. What was the actual problem with the eye? And how do you deal with that transition you know from being a fully sighted person to a fully blind person? What was the kind of support mechanisms, what are the kinds of challenges you had and where did the help come from?

Jim Stovall

13:32

Great questions. I was diagnosed with a juvenile form of macular degeneration, it's a disease many people get late in life. I got it when I was a teenager. And then on top of that, I have a condition called Cone-rod dystrophy which took away the day and night vision. And between that and the macular degeneration, I lost all of my sight. I, you know, my wife, Crystal is a huge support. I have a great team that works with me here in my business. And I am very fortunate to you know, my work environment and my home environment were designed for me. So you know, when I travel, I have people that are with me all the time. And so everything here in our offices, our studios and when I go on the road, I have people there that helped me and it's kind of designed for me. I am a huge utilizer of audio books, I use a lot of that and I have voice access to computers. And that's kind of the things I do in my life.

George Abraham

14:46

You also, what you call a platform speaker. Now the idea of a platform speaker is pretty new in India. So you might like to tell me what this platform speaking is all about, I guess it is some kind of motivational speaking. And I believe you do extensive speaking. So what do you speak about? And what are the kinds of audiences you address and is it all in the US or all over all across the world?

Jim Stovall

15:16

I am hired to come in and speak in arenas, or convention centers for big conventions, corporate meetings, universities, and I speak about success, I speak about productivity, I speak about following your dreams and bringing them to reality. And I speak about a lot of the same things that are in my books. And so yes, it is a... I mean, when I first started I spoke to little audiences. And now, I do a lot of arena events where there's 12,000 or 15,000 people. Yeah, it is quite different of course, when the pandemic came, a lot of that transitioned to zoom, and in conversations much like you and I are having now. And they hook up thousands of people. And just now we're just getting back out and speaking to larger groups of people again.

Eyeway Helpdesk

16:25

To support our work with the blind and visually impaired, you can visit the donate page on our website, www.scorefoundation.org.in. Please note, www.scorefoundation.org.in

George Abraham

16:52

You also are involved with investment, you are an investment broker, you're running a company. How do you find the time? What exactly does this company do? How large is the operation? And I would also like to ask how do you find the time?

Jim Stovall

17:08

Well, I started one of my first business ventures I was a member of New York Stock Exchange. So we sold stocks, bonds, options, commodities, and all different investments. Then as my career transition, I became more of a financial planner where I don't do the transactions anymore. I just work with families that want to build their wealth. And we come up with financial plans and concepts for that. I've written several books on that. And now I'm more of an advisor and when I started, I actually did the transactions, we would sell your stock or buy your bonds or whatever that was. And now I'm more an advisor for that. And the way I find the time is I have a great staff and a great group of people and so I stay focused on the things I can do and they do everything else.

George Abraham

18:03

Yep. Finally, I like to ask you that was reading that you were honored with the International Humanitarian of the Year. When did this happen? I believe you share this platform with people like Mother Teresa, Nancy Reagan and Jimmy Carter.

Jim Stovall

18:20

Yes, you know, George, I am a big believer that we make a living based on what we receive and we make a life based on what we give. So I have always felt I have been very blessed and many people have helped me. So I have a scholarship. We've sent little over 500 kids to college. I started the Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship at a university here. And we have students from around the world that come and learn how to start their own businesses and go back to their home countries to do that. We have 126 nations now on campus, and we do a lot of work with famine and trying to feed hungry people in just make a difference for people. And because of that the international Lions Clubs recognized me as the international humanitarian and I'm very humbling to join people like Jimmy Carter, Nancy Reagan, and of course Mother Teresa. But I just, you know, I believe we get out of life what we give to others and making a difference for others, and that's always been a good thing for me. Even my company Narrative Television, we're very profitable. We make a good living doing what we do, but we also help blind people access television, and movies and educational programming. So it's something we feel like we're doing well as we do good work and that's important to us. That

George Abraham

19:58

Well Jim, you're a busy man. And I would like to thank you for agreeing to speak to us and be part of our podcast. Wish you the very best and hope to stay in touch.

Jim Stovall

20:12

Well George, I appreciate it. I with all of my books and things I do. I do a lot of interviews on radio and various platforms. And I have to tell you, you are about as good as the interviewer as I've run across in a long time. And it was a privilege to be with you and your audience.

George Abraham

20:28

Thank you

Eyeway Helpdesk

20:38

This podcast was brought to you by Cipla Foundation and Score Foundation.

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