Soaring with Eagles: The Life and Legacy of Frank J. Blau Jr.

When small-business expert and serial entrepreneur Ellen Rohr said she was looking for someone to help her pull together notes from two years worth of interviews with her mentor—home services industry legend Frank J. Blau Jr.—into a tribute biography, I quickly raised my hand!

The result was Soaring with Eagles: The Life and Legacy of Frank J. Blau Jr., a 123-page chronicle of Frank's life and business ventures from his humble roots, to his work transforming the home services industry, to the founding of Nexstar Network, the first professional organization for residential plumbing, heating, cooling, and electrical contractors. The book also contains dozens of stories told by people whose lives have been changed for the better by Frank's commitment to sharing what he's learned so the next generation will have it better than the last.

Content Review and Organization

Over period of years, Ellen Rohr conducted dozens of interviews with Frank but she hadn't been able to move the mountain of content into book format. She'd promised Frank years earlier to write his biography, and her integrity was now at stake! I reviewed all of her files and made note of what I thought was still needed to create the book.

Interviews

Ellen then connected me directly with Frank, whom I interviewed at length several times to fill in gaps and verify existing anecdotes. In these interviews, I was able to isolate the Big Idea, and then Ellen and I worked together to craft the contents of the book to illustrate and reinforce that idea. In addition to interviewing Frank, I also interviewed several of his closest colleagues whose thoughts appear at the end of the book.

Soaring with Eagles was published by Nexstar Network Inc. and is available in paperback format ($14.99) on Amazon. (Ellen generously added me as a contributor to the book.)

Contact the Author: Ellen Rohr | [email protected] | 877.629.7647

“Frank Blau is my mentor and I love, love, love him, and he had asked me to help him write his biography. I did all the interviews and got all this information, and I could not pull a book together. Years went by and my integrity was on the line! I was soooo frustrated. Luckily, I found Helena. She helped me get this book done and on the page. The process of working with her was so easy, so much easier than the struggle I was going through. So do yourself a favor: do what Helena tells you to do. Let her help you get that book out of you and onto the page and to honor — your story or someone else’s. Thanks Helena!”

Ellen Rohr, CEO of Zoom Drain Franchise Company, and author of Soaring with Eagles: The Life and Legacy of Frank J. Blau Jr.