South Florida husband and wife open company’s 28th office world-wide
MIAMI, FLA. (October 31, 2005) — There was a time when, to Marty Perlmutter, encountering No. 28 likely meant an athlete’s uniform number or a ranking on pro golf’s money list. Those were the days when he wrote or edited stories about sports for a living, and that was his first career.
Today, Marty IS No. 28.
He is the 28th person (or persons) to open an LTS LeaderBoard office. His is LTS LeaderBoard of Miami/Fort Lauderdale, and owning that franchise is Marty’s third career. In between, he had another one, for 27 years as the owner/operator of service stations.
"When I went to the University of Florida, I had a professor who said I should expect to have three careers in my life," Marty chuckles. "Right! I was going to become an executive sports editor and do that for 30 years, or maybe work at Sports Illustrated."
Along with Bobbie, his wife of 33 years, Marty today is doing what LeaderBoard franchisees do in five countries on three continents: assist golf tournament and other event organizers in keeping their participants and their sponsors happy by using proprietary software in a way it has never been used. Time has proven that LeaderBoard’s software, complemented by its people, are welcome wherever fund raisers need a helping and entertaining hand.
As is often the case, it begins with charity and corporate golf.
"I wanted a change," says Perlmutter. "I wanted out. I wasn’t sure which direction to go. Money is an issue but not the entire issue. From 1979, my first full year, until 1990 I won seven of the top awards the oil company gave, including trips to Hong Kong, Hawaii and Bermuda, and a Caribbean cruise. Four or five years ago, the industry started to change. I became very unhappy. I was making just above minimum wage, as owner of the station. I like being challenged all the time, and there was no challenge any more."
Marty’s pilot project was to find something involving golf. Poking around the Internet, he found LTS LeaderBoard. The magic words that jumped out at him were "own your own golf franchise".
That was in June 2005.
By October, having done their due diligence, Marty and Bobbie boarded a plane bound for Canada, to train at LeaderBoard’s head office in British Columbia. It was, as things evolved, on the eve of the arrival of Hurricane Wilma’s visit to South Florida.
"The only other time we went away for two weeks," recalls Bobbie, "was in 1992, before Hurricane Andrew. We ‘rode out’ Hurricane Andrew in Zurich, Switzerland. I guess there will be no more two-week trips!"
The Perlmutters have been partners since meeting at the University of Florida, on a blind date during Marty’s junior year. Originally from New Jersey, Marty moved south with his parents as a teenager. After graduating with a journalism degree, he rose to assistant sports editor, first with the Palm Beach Post and a few years later with the Atlanta Journal.
After earning a teaching degree, Bobbie taught middle school and high school science in Miami for five years, then took 13 years off to raise their daughters, Mindy and Allison, now both grown. When Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992, she was left with allergies and health problems that cut short the resumption of her teaching career but not her career as a Girl Scout volunteer.
"She won’t say so, but she won one of the highest volunteer awards there is in Girl Scouts," Marty points out.
Her years as a stay-at-home mom were in Miami. Marty left sports writing behind to go into the service station business with his father-in-law, Sam Kowalsky. At one time, they owned three stations and Marty retains an interest in two.
He and Bobbie bring a wealth of knowledge to what is his third career. When she enrolled in a university course on golf, Bobbie never dreamed it would be useful in the 21st century. The Perlmutters have worked as volunteers on pro golf tournaments in Miami, and never imagined that their network of contacts might be useful. Together they have produced various video presentations for events ranging from vacation recaps to milestone birthdays and anniversaries for fun. Again, a fortuitous experience.
And to them, franchising is not new.
"The difference," he says, "is that this concept has a heart."
Adds Bobbie: "And LeaderBoard is still evolving and still keeping everyone excited."
Especially No. 28.
Contact:
Marty Perlmutter
305-505-3006
Gerry Lev, President
LTS LeaderBoard
604-468-2211 (ext. 103)
