There are moments in time when everyone gets to experience something incredible. They can feel something different in the moment, but they cannot quite put their finger on it. It is usually where the fork comes in the road. They know that the moment they just had will change their life forever, depending on what path they choose to follow.
The same thing happens after meeting Dr. George Fraser. If you spend a few minutes with him, you will certainly receive a couple of golden nuggets. Golden nuggets on business, golden nuggets on life, and golden nuggets on consistency. But you come away with after speaking to Fraser is the feeling of meeting the master at work.
Fraser is considered the pioneer of networking. His over 50-year career in traveling the world, teaching businesspeople the art of expanding the brand is unparalleled. His gift, although he has many gifts, is the ability to tell people exactly what they need to hear when they need to hear it.
If you have seen the movie The Matrix, Fraser is a real-life Oracle. And everyone he talks to, all of them are Neo’s waiting for him to help them figure out their future.
Fraser had a knack for developing bonds from an early age.
“My sister told me that ever since I was 11 years old, I used friendship as a guide to run my businesses,” Fraser said.
Fraser started his first company at 11-years-old cleaning houses for the elderly around his neighborhood in Queens, NY where he grew up as an orphan then foster child for 16 years. He has always had the mindset to own instead of work. But he used his connections to grow his brand.
Born in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, NY to a family of eleven siblings, Fraser had his very own workforce whenever he needed it.
“With eight boys and three girls, I had a whole force of siblings that I could employ.” Fraser continued, “I knew some of the older people in my neighborhood and saw an opportunity to help them out and make some money at the same time.” He called that “Doing Well while doing Good!
And he did. The word got out that a young man was doing well helping people over sixty clean their homes. His business exploded. From that Fraser started a business washing and waxing cars for people over sixty. He had more cars to wash than he could ever handle.
He then grew that into a landscaping business to help the same clients. The secret to his success really came from building relationships.
“I didn’t know about the term networking in the 50s and 60s, I just knew that I liked talking to people and it helped me get customers,” Fraser said.
He started to read books about networking, and it sparked him to really study the idea of networking to help people grow their businesses. His study of the category helped him decide to launch Frasernet Inc., his first consulting business on networking.
But while he worked on his own business Fraser spent seventeen years in management with Procter & Gamble, the United Way, and the Ford Motor Company. He wrote his first book, bestseller Success Runs in Our Race: The Complete Guide to Effective Networking in the African Community, in 1994 and made the cover of Black Enterprise Magazine as its first book excerpt.
His second book, Race for Success: The Ten Best Business Opportunities for Blacks in America, was selected as one of the ten best business books of 1999 by Booklist magazine. He is also the creator and publisher of the award-winning SuccessGuide: The Networking Guide to Black Resources. Twenty versions of SuccessGuide have been published and a worldwide edition was released in August 2000.
The popularity of SuccessGuide took him around the world speaking and teaching the rules of networking. Fraser teaches more than networking, he teaches everyone how to gain access to the rooms that they need to be in, to get the results that they desire.
“I was able to get a job at Procter & Gamble because I was a great and well-rounded conversationalist and I knew someone: the owner, Earl Graves,” Fraser said.
Fraser credits knowing the right people,and having good relationships will always be the best asset a businessperson can have.
But Fraser takes his teachings a step further. He explains the key rules when engaging in networking.
“One of the best parts of what I do for a living is, I get to help people. The more you can help others, the more you will get in return. One of the biggest keys to successfully networking is to add value, be a kind, spirited and inspiring person for your fellow man.” Fraser continued, “If you can be something special for someone, special things come back to you.”
Fraser’s life has been special indeed. Today He is still sought around the world to come and share his teachings. One step into his office and you will see the fruits of his labor. One wall has the many magazine covers that he has been on. The next wall rests the dozens of keys to the city and an office wall full of plaques from all over the world that have been given to him.
On the other walls rest the thousands of books that she had read to keep him mentally sharp and keen to what the latest trends are. As you walk around the office you begin to understand just how impressive Fraser’s career has been.
Fraser has received over 350 awards and citations for his community service, including the United Negro College Fund National Volunteer of the Year Award and an Architects of the Village Award from Allstate Insurance. He is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. In 1986, as director of marketing and communications for the United Way of Cleveland, he conceived, planned, and led the release of 1.4 million balloons, the largest single balloon release in history.
The publication Vital Speeches of the Day has selected five of Fraser’s speeches to be reprinted and distributed worldwide, a first for any professional speaker in America.
He has been featured in many newspaper and magazine articles including Ebony, Black Enterprise, and Upscale magazines.
Everyone has a superpower. Something that sets them apart from everyone else. When you meet Fraser, you quickly learn that his superpower is consistency and resilience. Fraser has consistency, resilience, and persistence to run a successful business for over 40 years.
Fraser’s favorite quote is “Ambition is the road to success, Consistency, Resilience and Persistency, is the vehicle you arrive in”
He has never missed a speech when asked to attend. He has never had a need to take a break. Dr. Fraser told me the secret to long-term success is to “Do what you love with people that you love!”
The fact that he has remained relevant for this long a period speaks volumes to his ability to learn, grow, and show up, it speaks volumes in his superior decision-making skills, and it speaks volumes to his physical fitness to be able to grow at 80.
That is right 80! Fraser still travels the country on a consistent basis, navigating airports and hotels at least four times a month at the demands of the people who need to hear his thoughts on the many subjects that impact Blacks, businesspeople, and the changes in the marketplace. Most would say that Fraser is drinking from the fountain of youth, he gives credit to something else.
“People always marvel at my age when I tell them I am eighty. But I have been able to stay as healthy as I am due to several things: 1. I love what I do, so I am never working. 2. I have been blessed to stay married to the same woman for 51 years, who loves me like no other. 3. I take the same fourteen supplements every day to help my body with my business schedule. And 4. I treat everyone like I would like to be treated,” Fraser said.
When Fraser is not working, he likes to spend time with his wife, Nora Jean (née Spencer), who is the parents of two sons. He credits her for keeping him well-fed, supported, inspired, and happy.
“I have no plans to retire anytime soon, there is much work to be done,” Fraser said.
And no one is asking him to. Everyone needs the Oracle sitting on that bench waiting to tell them what kind of future they are going to have. Fraser cannot help you with your future. Your job, if you are lucky enough to be able to spend a few minutes speaking to him, is not to know your future, but to be well-prepared and pleasantly surprised.
You have already made the decision about what you are going to do next. Your job, after you speak to him, is to try to understand why you made the decision and know what’s next.
CODE M salutes Dr. George Fraser for his incredible success, his longevity to remain relevant to businesspeople all over the world, and his precious efforts to make the world a better place. Dr. George Fraser is the 2024 Man of the Year.
