Pecking Order, page 41
Jeffrey wasn’t turned off of his project with Ivan by his teammate’s misfortune at all. In fact, it only made him more determined to invest his money in something worthwhile, just as Ivan had hoped for. So Ivan took the added energy with him to his office.
“So, you want us to build a web page now for San Diego Executives’ Club?” Paul repeated while jotting the ideas down at his desk.
Ivan answered, “Yeah. Then I’ll have Eddie redirect the ads from our more upscale advertisers—World Wide Luxury Cars, Classic Furniture, the Pacific Yacht Club, and our premium liquor sponsors—to the page. We can also link Lucina’s upscale fashion pages to it.”
He went on, “Then we’ll add another photo gallery of the Hutch and Mitchell Golf Tournament, the car shows, and the boat parties. I also need to start talking to private jet companies. I’d like to fly in one of those things myself now.”
Jeff walked into the office and said, “Who wouldn’t?”
“So, we’ll get them to advertise their private flights,” Ivan planned.
He was all pumped up with energy that morning. Jeff and Paul just looked at each other and smiled. Their young boss’s enthusiastic ideas kept them on their toes, forcing all competitor websites to keep eating their dust with envy.
IDPromotions.com was approaching fifty thousand unique hits per day, with plenty of outside tourism traffic helping them to close in on a half million daily impressions, including national U.S. military viewers. Ivan had to give that credit to Eddie for talking him into allowing the recruiter pages.
“By the way,” Ivan added, “outside of Lucina’s girls, who’s, like, some of the hottest new models sending us spotlight pictures to post?”
Paul looked up and said, “As a matter of fact, there’s this Native American girl who’s, like, awesome. She’s getting all kinds of hits now.”
Jeff nodded his head and grinned. “Yeah, man, she’s, ah…she’s something else.”
“Oh, yeah? Let me see her. How come we didn’t spotlight her yet?” Ivan asked them.
Jeff and Paul both looked confused.
Jeff said, “We did spotlight her.”
Paul chuckled. He said, “Ivan doesn’t have time to look at all of the things we’re doing now. I forget about a lot of the things we post up now myself. That’s like expecting a publisher to read everything in his newspaper. It’s impossible.”
Ivan said, “It’s not impossible, but I get what you mean.” He felt bad that he couldn’t keep up with it all. But Paul was right. Ivan couldn’t meet everyone at his promotions and events, either.
When they showed him the girl online, Ivan studied her long dark hair, almond-shaped eyes, perfect features, pert breasts, medium-sized lips, olive-toned skin, and teasing smile. She looked about twenty-one, just barely legal for club and party work.
Ivan nodded and said, “Yeah, she’s about a nine.”
Jeff said, “A nine? Are you crazy? Dude, she’s an eleven!”
Ivan chuckled. He was only being modest. He didn’t want to seem as excited as they were about her. He said, “So, this girl is the best we have to offer, hunh?”
“We think so,” Paul reiterated.
“All right, well, tell her I want to meet her in person. Does she know who I am?”
Paul and Jeff gave each other another look.
Jeff told him, “Of course she knows who you are. We’re not going back to you being Mr. Invisible. You are the brand now. People have been writing blogs all about your exotic cars, outfits, and everything.”
Paul nodded and said, “Yeah, it’s good for the business. You’re the man of San Diego for real now.”
Ivan grinned. He said, “I tried to tell Lucina that last night. But I don’t know how much she likes the idea,” he hinted.
Jeff shook it off. He said, “Aw, she likes it. She may not want to admit it, but she likes it.”
Paul added, “I don’t think she’s gonna like Jacari, though, if you’re asking to meet her personally.”
Ivan grimaced and said, “Who?”
Paul pointed back to the Native American beauty queen on his monitor with the name Jacari posted on the edges of the page.
“Shit, I forgot about her already,” Ivan admitted.
“You won’t forget her when you meet her,” Jeff told him. “And do remember that we told you that.”
IVAN VISITED Perry Downing with Lucina at the Naval Medical Center to check up on him. From his hospital bed, through all of his bandages and medication, Perry didn’t want Ivan feeling guilty about him.
He forced himself to mumble, “Ivan…keep doing what you do, man. One injured player don’t stop the game.” And he smiled.
Ivan smiled back at him and accepted his endorsement. It took a lot of the strain off his shoulders. With all of his plans for the year 2004, he had no time to slow down.
IDPromotions.com went on to hold the luxury car show with Xzibit, the boat party with Ananda Lewis and Jessica Alba, and the Hutch & Mitchell Golf Tournament with NBA basketball legend Charles Barkley and San Diego Chargers quarterback Drew Brees.
After the car show events, Lucina was able to set her feet for a major push into the fashion industry. Her fashion ideas were considered tasteful, practical, and innovative.
The boat promotions allowed Ivan to make legitimate friendships to pitch yacht and cruise ship owners on his plans to promote more cruise events and private yacht rentals, which also led him to conversations about private jets.
He found that the same wealthy individuals who bought and owned expensive cars and private boats also owned or had access to private jets.
“Now we’re right where we need to be,” he told his team of business plan and proposal writers. They worked overtime to win the confidence of new business friends and associates, including the new and long-standing clients of Hutch & Mitchell Accounting. They were all reintroduced to Mr. Ivan David as the marketing guru behind their first annual golf tournament, along with other professional networking events in the works.
Barry Mitchell pulled him aside at the tournament and asked him, “How does it feel now to come face-to-face and speak on equal par with the CEOs, Ivan?”
“I’m not on equal par yet,” Ivan told him. “But I’m okay with it. It just takes some getting used to, to know when to pitch business or when to just relax around them.”
Barry patted him on the back and said, “You’re right. But I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon enough. Generally, you have to wait until they ask you first.”
Ivan said, “Yeah, I figured that. And that’s what makes me a little anxious about it. I’m ready to pitch them every hour now.”
SUCCESSES IN various San Diego business arenas allowed Ivan to engage the San Diego Chamber of Commerce to organize and promote a large business expo event at the downtown convention center in 2005. Ivan figured a business expo at the convention center would open the door to other events and concerts there.
“Once the convention center management knows who we are, we can walk back in with other proposals,” he told Lucina.
It didn’t take long for Randy & Ralph Entertainment to reach back out to them for partnerships on concerts. They started off by offering to team up for Justin Timberlake, Usher, and Carrie Underwood, believing that Ivan and Lucina would be able to help them sell the younger pop and urban crowds.
“I told you how it works,” Ivan reminded his partner. “Now you can get your respect back, if you still wanna deal with these guys. Or we could wait to set up our own concerts for next year.”
He added, “All it takes is our relationships now. We got access to all the money we need, as long as it’s gonna be a big enough gain for everyone.”
On the strength of his website alone, Ivan was set to cross the millionaire mark by late September. He was already thinking about making his second million before the year was out. Lucina was halfway to a million herself through her share of their party and event promotions.
In the meantime, Thomas Jones had found a plot of commercial property that was big enough for a three-thousand-capacity nightclub in Chula Vista at a reasonable price. But with Emilio Alvarez still stalling and Julio’s cousin in L.A. uninterested, Ivan went with the working title of “Latino Club” and pitched it to investors without a Latino celebrity attached.
“I’ll just push the club on my own, hire a popular manager, and send my guy Mike Adams in there to make sure the numbers are right,” Ivan explained to Thomas and Jeffrey. “Then we’ll invite folks like Ricky Martin, Carlos Santana, and get Nelly Furtado back. And if we ask for Mark Anthony, we may even get his wife Jennifer Lopez to come with him.”
By the time the new football season was in full swing, Perry Downing had made a full recovery from his injuries, and the Chargers’ management had forgiven him for his misjudgment during the off-season. They had decided to offer him another two-year stint to help the team in their quest to win an NFL Super Bowl, but with less money. Perry accepted it on Ivan’s advice. And he was forced to pay an undisclosed amount for the injuries of the passenger. Fortunately, she survived it.
Jeffrey was in the third year of a five-year contract, and Zee-Dog was in the second year of a four-year deal. And they all decided to back Ivan in his commercial real estate and nightclub plans after he guaranteed them all a hundred percent return on their money.
Thomas told him, “Ivan, if you can make these club and restaurant deals work, you’re setting yourself up to make a killing.”
Ivan smiled and told him, “That’s just what I’m counting on.”
The man was on a sweet roll of momentum. By the end of his second year in business, he had earned more than two and a half million dollars before taxes and officially established himself as the CEO of Ivan David Enterprises, the parent company of his diversified interests in websites, real estate, accounting consultation, promotions and events, brand marketing, club and restaurant development, yacht and luxury car rental, tourism packages, and private jet travel.
However, as Ivan refocused on making his first millions, his private life had all but evaporated. He had not had a chance to meet Jacari before her sudden popularity in San Diego earned her a trip to the fashion and modeling capital of Manhattan, where she quickly signed with an agency and began work in her dream career.
Ivan did get a chance to speak to her for a brief moment. And when they got her on the line over the office speakerphone, she exclaimed, “Oh, my God, it’s been so unbelievable! I thank all of you guys so much for giving me this opportunity to make it all happen. And I promise to stop by the office and visit you guys as soon as I’m able to break away from my work and get back home to San Diego.”
She continued, “But right now I’m just, like, swamped with so much modeling work. I’m doing an Elle magazine spread, and we’re in talks for the next Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.”
Ivan heard all of that and didn’t have much to say. She sounded like an overexcited kid.
I can never imagine Lucina sounding like that for anything, he thought. Lucina’s been there and done that already.
“Okay, well, don’t forget about us,” Ivan told Jacari.
“Oh, I won’t, I won’t, but I have to go now,” she told them.
Ivan looked at Paul and Jeff before they all grinned.
When they hung up the line with her, Jeff said, “It sounds like she’s really happy.”
Ivan said, “Well, I’m glad we were able to do that for her.” But he didn’t feel anything special toward her. Maybe next time, he thought of her. He never attempted to slide back to home base with Carolyn Padilla or roll in the hay again with Ashley, either.
Ivan had toned down all of his looseness and flamboyance to concentrate on making more millions. In his mind, two million was only a few deals away from four, four million was only a few more deals from ten, and ten million was a few more deals from a hundred.
Nevertheless, as he and Lucina remained hesitant to become anything more than business partners, all of Ivan’s new wealth and continued aspirations left him with an unsettled feeling of emptiness.
He told himself, Okay, I’m rich!…Now what?
Twenty
Business Never Stops
ABOUT A HALF MILE out from the Pacific Beach of San Diego in the early summer of 2005, Ivan cruised southward while sitting at the back end of a small yacht that had been loaned out to him from clients of Seth Gardner. It was a perfect sunny day in the high seventies, with soft winds in the air. Dressed in a light blue Polo tennis shirt and beige khaki pants, Ivan looked eastward and up at the mansions that were spaced out on the hills of La Jolla. He felt he needed a day off from the hustle and bustle of his new eighth-floor office space in the Mission Valley area. So he sailed out to think for a few undisturbed hours on the beautiful blue waters of the Pacific.
Ivan was so focused on his thoughts that he barely noticed his alluring companion approaching him from the right side of the boat.
She studied the intense glare in his eyes as the sunlight hit them and made them sparkle. “What’s on your mind, Ivan?” she asked him.
Her soft, feminine hand, with perfectly manicured nails, met his right shoulder. She sat down beside him in her yellow, orange, and red dress, with no shoes.
Ivan barely acknowledged her. He shook off her question and shrugged. “I’m just, ah…thinking,” he answered.
The woman, in her midtwenties, looked similar enough to be a distant cousin. She had the same light brown skin and light-colored eyes, with thick, wavy hair that fell past her shoulders.
When Ivan began to promote a creed of “nothing but the best” for the San Diego Executives’ Club, he meant it. His companion was definitely exclusive company: only millionaires and up needed apply for her attention. Nevertheless, Ivan paid her no mind. She was another expensive prop, like the cars, boats, jewelry, and private jets that he began to utilize for personal pleasure and company business.
She said, “Well, I can see that. But what are you thinking about?”
Ivan wondered if she could follow his eyes and spot the multimillion-dollar houses that held his attention up on the hills. That would be the easiest answer for him to give her. Outside of that, he could not even begin to explain all the issues that were running through his mind at that moment. Nor did he want her to know about them.
His brother, Derrick, in his determination to prove that he could still make his own living, decided to sell exotic strains of marijuana, only to be busted when a teenage girl flipped out in her high on Redondo Beach and started pointing fingers when the medics, police, and her parents questioned her about it, which eventually led all the way back to Derrick.
“Man, how the fuck am I supposed to know who these assholes are sharing the weed with?” Derrick had argued in private with his brother back in L.A.
Ivan had snapped, “But why would you sell that shit in the first place, especially while I still have you on the damn payroll? That’s all somebody needs to say, my money is dirty, and you’ll fuck up everybody’s meal ticket, including your sons’.”
He said, “You know how many jealous white boys are waiting to jump on some shit like that and try to ruin me? They’re already wondering how I did all this shit. They always think we’re illegal.”
Derrick’s marijuana case became an easy misdemeanor that Ivan paid his team of lawyers to beat in L.A., but he was more concerned about the negative publicity his brother might cause him in the future, particularly in regards to Ivan’s finances.
So with Derrick’s self-destructive immaturity in mind, Ivan thought of every way to cut his ties, including paying Derrick a lump sum of cash under the witness of his lawyers and a notary public that would hold Ivan not accountable for how Derrick chose to spend it. He also started paperwork to set up trust accounts for his three nephews that would take care of them regardless of their father, because the man could no longer be trusted to do the right thing with money.
That issue led Ivan to consider the offers he began to receive in reference to the value of his website. His small start-up brand continued to grow, reaching as high as two million impressions per day and an email list that was approaching a hundred thousand names. The IDPromotions.com link to the tourism industry for family vacations, national boat cruises, and airline deals, combined with the rentals and sales of luxury cars, homes, private yachts, and private jets, became a masterful idea.
Ivan had reasoned, “If outside viewers are already looking at San Diego as a tourist attraction, then it makes sense for us to show them other locations and things to do elsewhere, even for the people who live here in San Diego.”
He added, “And for our wealthier viewers, who search for news and items at the Executives’ Club, if they can afford to buy or rent luxury in one place, then they can rent and buy cars, boats, and planes in another.”
Eddie K. loved the idea. His goal had been to make IDPromotions.com a valuable national brand from day one. He saw no use in an internet vehicle having the same limitations as a physical newspaper. The internet had an instant, international reach, and he had continued to view it that way.
The expanded content, marketing approach, and focus of the website also allowed the advertisement and sales force to become more assertive in their efforts to establish regional rates. Ivan even began to think of taking the company public, but he was unsure if his brand was as strong as he would like it to be yet. Nor was he sure if he was personally ready to stomach the emotional roller-coaster ride of the stock market numbers game.
Whenever you take your baby public, you can end up losing a bunch of sleep, while being dictated to by public company numbers, he pondered. And that’s when the shit stops being fun.
He learned that from the executive clients he had worked with at Hutch & Mitchell.
He thought, But I’m already making good money. I’m set to bank ten million this year after taxes. But how much more could I make if we go public…?
To keep the excess money working for him, Ivan acquired three new commercial real estate properties. Outside developing, branding, and selling a percentage of the Latino Club for a sizable gain in Chula Vista, he developed the three new properties into the Ice Mountain Brewery, Club Paradise, and Jock Nation Bar & Grill.
