Wayne Huizenga, Jr.
I
first met Wayne Huizenga, Jr. on an overcast morning in the Dolphin Stadium parking
lot in Miami, Florida, in 2002. The
occasion was an event organized by Lift Up America, at the time a very new
charitable organization committed to bringing hope to those in need. The organization had arranged for sizable
donations of food and toys that would be divided among several Miami area
churches; the churches would then distribute the donations to needy families. Several Miami Dolphins’ players were on hand
to help unload the trucks, distribute the goods, and sign autographs.
This
was one of Lift Up America’s first events and I had been enlisted to help
coordinate and direct the media team tasked with documenting the proceedings. I was preparing on-air copy with announcer
Spencer Tillman when someone called out, “Here comes Wayne.” A helicopter cut through the gray sky over
the stadium and touched down in a barricaded space in an empty section of the
parking lot.
Wayne,
or “Junior” as he is often called by friends, energetically exited the
aircraft, shook a few hands and then immediately stepped in front of the news
cameras to answer questions presented by the press. Once the questions had been answered Wayne
climbed up on the tailgate of a nearby refrigerated truck and began helping offload
large bags of frozen chicken provided by Tyson Foods. I assumed he was doing the manual labor for
the benefit of the press but I would later learn that Wayne Huizenga, Jr. has
never been afraid to get his hands dirty or work up a sweat.
Somewhere
in that busy morning Wayne, Jr. and I were introduced. There was really no time to have a genuine
conversation but in the brief minutes we did have he was sincerely friendly and
genial. He possesses the ability to make
you feel as if you’ve met before, as if he’s reunited with a friend from
somewhere in his past. As Mark Davis,
Executive Pastor of Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauderdale said in his on-camera
interview for Wayne, Jr.’s episode of Secrets
Of Success, “Wayne was obviously a people person.”
Two
years would pass before I would meet Wayne Huizenga, Jr. again for his Secrets Of Success interview. This time I spent two days with him and his
lovely wife, Fonda. They opened their
Fort Lauderdale home to the Secrets Of
Success television crew, and we were all made to feel like old friends who
had come to visit.
In
listening to Wayne, Jr. tell his story it became obvious that, over his lifetime,
he has qualified for a number of different labels: jet setter, playboy,
entrepreneur, successful businessman, family man, and financially wealthy among
them. Early in his Secrets Of Success
interview Wayne, Jr. said, “People in business have often asked me why I think
I’m successful, and I have to stop to quantify that. Do they mean successful in terms of money or
successful in terms of what I think success is?”
That
statement hints strongly towards the label Wayne, Jr. most prefers and most
identifies with. First and foremost,
above all the other things, he is a follower of Christ, a man of faith, and he
knows with great certainty that his primary purpose is to serve God.
Wayne’s
story is a near-perfect illustration that material wealth and a luxurious
lifestyle is not the ultimate source of happiness, satisfaction, security or
peace. The story really begins with his
father and is essential to understand who Wayne, Jr., is today. So, stay tuned.
© 2012 Philip Kassel
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