Got money? Dave Ramsey can teach you how to get some

Dave Ramsey is the rock star of nerds.
A bald, pudgy, middle-age man who dresses conservatively and councils people about money, Ramsey has all the power, enthusiasm and a following that would make the typical celebutante envious.
When Dave Ramsey speaks, even Charles Schwab listens – or at least he should. When Ramsey makes public appearances – which he did last weekend in Katy and Houston – he is greeted by cheering throngs of wide-eyed, book-toting fanatics. They’re either meeting him at a book signing (like the one in Katy) or attending one of his seminars (which he held in Houston).
They come in droves to study at the master’s feet. He regales them with humorous anecdotes, fast facts and the painful truth. He is a counter-cultural revolutionary who is helping millions of people get out of debt and build personal wealth. As he likes to put it, he is helping people change their family tree.
In the last few months Ramsey has had a lot of my attention. He ought to have a lot of yours. I don’t mean to put him on a pedestal or to worship him like some kind of idol or living god. That’s that last thing he would want and I certainly don’t pray that way.
As someone who works in a struggling industry during a weak economy and who has been through a business failure, bankruptcy and foreclosure, the message Ramsey preaches is more valuable than gold, more inspiring than a mountaintop sunrise and more personally meaningful than anything on TV or at the movies. This is real life and real common sense.
In a society that values credit and debt, Ramsey is the get-rich guru who teaches sound, biblical principles of getting out of debt, building wealth and giving much of it away. He’s the guy known for cutting up credit cards and using a great deal of charisma and passion while speaking to people about how to handle their finances at his sell-out seminars and on his daily radio show.
Last weekend I had the opportunity – no, the honor – of interviewing him in person during his stop in Katy. A scheduling conflict kept me from attending his seminar at Reliant Arena, but I made the most of the few golden minutes I had. The interview was held on his tour bus in the parking lot at Katy Mills Mall. He greeted me with a smile and a firm handshake and offered me a drink. I had a bottle of water and he sipped his drink of choice, Mountain Dew.
His tour bus is far more opulent inside than my home or the homes of a lot of people I know.
“This is John Madden’s old bus,” he said.
Ramsey is on tour promoting his new book, EntreLeadership. His seminar was based on a previous book and program called The Total Money Makeover. In addition to his book tour, seminars and radio program, he is also touting his Great Recovery program and is very active with social media. When I asked him how he does it all, he just grinned and said, “I work when I want to.” His team – not employees or staff – is trained to run his business without him. “I’ve got a great team,” he said.
“I spend about 25 to 30 percent of my time as CEO and 70 percent of my time being the product,” he said.
The key to his business and the central point of his new book is to value people. He said all people, customers and employees alike, need to be valued, honored, respected and trusted. That’s why he has a team and no employees. He is a teammate, not a boss or a manager.
“Those businesses that are run well really believe that people matter. Their customers are real; they have real dreams and families,” he said.
It’s the Golden Rule. Treat people the way you want to be treated. You can get what you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.
Even though the economy is down, he said this “one of the best times ever” to start a new business.
“There are a lot of great businesses started in down times,” he said. “There are a lot of really good people who have been pushed out of the corporate nest who are in need of a job.”
He said pooling that misplaced talent and growing it in an environment that allows them to be creative and to build on their strengths will help any business flourish when everyone else is busy tightening their belts.
I asked him if he had some time to talk to the President and the Secretary of the Treasury what he would say to them. It was one of the few times I saw him frown.
“I don’t know that I would be able to tell them anything. I’m just a regular guy,” he said.
He went on to say that his advice would be to the public to “quit looking to the President and the Secretary of the Treasury to fix your life.”
He said it’s wrong to put your hopes on Washington to fix our jobs. He said the best thing government can do is to get out of the way and let businesses do what they do best. He said taxing businesses and rich people hurts the economy and doesn’t help it.
“I can’t hire people with money I don’t have,” he said.
After the interview, he posed for a couple pictures, autographed a book and wished me well. I left the bus clutching a bottle of water and hanging onto more hope and inspiration than I’ve felt in a very long time. It was the same sense of hope and happiness that I saw in hundreds of faces in the line in Books-A-Million as he signed books and visited with folks.
Yeah, he was a rock star, shining on the stage of life and giving hope to so many desperate people who just want to turn their lives around.
God bless you, Dave Ramsey!