Ralph Zuranski: What is your definition of heroism?
Vicki Heron: Heroism to me is having the courage to change your life, your circumstances and your destiny, having the courage to chart your own course and see it through. Vicki Heron: When I decided to be a copy writer I didn’t even know what it was for sure but I knew I wanted to write and make good money doing it, so when I found out about copy writing I dove in head first, I spent a lot of money and made my share of mistakes but I never gave up.
Vicki Heron: To me a hero is a person who never gives up no matter what. Heroes have perseverance and guts, they have compassion and they help others out along the way.
Ralph Zuranski: What is your perspective on goodness, ethics and moral behavior?
Vicki Heron: I believe in the universal law of what goes around comes around so I always try to treat people like I want them to treat me.
Vicki Heron: I am not perfect by any means but I strive to be fair and competitive and charge fair prices with the things the that I do to my customers, for my services and my products and to give useful information to help others grow in their careers and in their lives.
Vicki Heron: I really do feel that truth and honesty will win in the long run and I acknowledge this as not always an easy way to lead your life but it is the best way, and I really like to sleep at night.
Ralph Zuranski: When was the lowest point in your life and how did you change your life path to one of victory over all obstacles?
Vicki Heron: First you have got to realize that I grew up on a farm in central Illinois in a town of 1,200 people. We were raised to go to high school, get married and have kids so basically that is what the woman did and I didn’t know any different until I moved to the larger cities.
Vicki Heron: The lowest point in my life was when I was 1984. I was 29, I had three kids, I was on my second marriage and I lived over 1,000 miles away from any family.
Vicki Heron: It was extremely hard but I liked it down here in Texas so I wanted to stay and the jobs were better down here even though I didn’t have many skills.
Vicki Heron: See I had been married to this man for nine years and I knew for the last five that he was having affairs but being a stay at home mom and having very few job skills and being so far from home I decided to look the other way until 1984 when he decided to leave for a punk rocker girl friend.
Vicki Heron: I don’t think I have ever been more devastated and as I look back now I realize it was even more devastating then I knew at the time because I had to go to work, my youngest was still at home and I was working barely more than minimum wage as a bank teller so I was very depressed.
Vicki Heron: I wish I was a better parent in those days. I had some real struggles with that because I had my own problems I was dealing with at that time.
Vicki Heron: So I bought self help books and that is really when I got in to the universe and the good that flows around in all the things you do.
Vicki Heron: So it took years but that was the beginning of the best part of my life and in 1997 I met my soul mate on the internet who also shares that universal philosophy.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you have a dream or vision that sets the course of your life?
Vicki Heron: It took me years before I really started to develop one but as I started getting better and started getting on more solid ground I started having some visions and dreams of what I wanted and one was meeting and marrying my soul mate because I have parents that have been married for 54 years now so that was my example in life and I wanted that.
Vicki Heron: I have dreamed of doing something special with my daughter and now I have put that out there and it is manifesting, she is going to be moving to my city with her daughter and her husband and she is going to join me in the copy writing business.
Vicki Heron: I am very excited about that. Another dream is to have a 38 – 44 foot catamaran and work on it and be able to do some traveling and to get a bigger house.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you take a positive view of setbacks, misfortunes and mistakes?
Vicki Heron: I think it is very important and I try now to turn every negative into a positive. When you can do that your glass is always going to be half full.
Ralph Zuranski: Are you an optimist?
Vicki Heron: Yes definitely because if you are not, what you think you will become. I know a person who always thinks in lack and she never has anything and she can’t understand why she doesn’t have anything. Well, you are what your think about.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you have the courage to pursue new ideas?
Vicki Heron: One of the things I have always been known as is being a Leo, being a risk taker.
Vicki Heron: I don’t mean being a dare devil or anything but sometimes it just never occurs to me that I can’t do something that I want to do so I just dive in and do it and sometimes it takes a lot of work and it takes a lot of time.
Vicki Heron: But, I turn it over to the universe and I tell them what I want and if it is right I get it and if not I sit back.
Vicki Heron: I figure out what I need to do differently because obviously that wasn’t meant for me.
Ralph Zuranski: Were you willing to experience discomfort in the pursuit of your dream?
Vicki Heron: I worked in corporate America for six years and I found out then I never want to make that a life long ambition.
Vicki Heron: I just don’t like the games you have to play so I just work very long hours, still working them right now, writing and reading, doing research, working through a lot of weekends but now things are really starting to come together.
Ralph Zuranski: Did you believe your dreams would eventually become reality?
Vicki Heron: Yes I did, you have always got those little doubts that you have got to keep crowding out but being an optimist and knowing how important that is I just always act as if it is reality already so when I started wanting to be a copy writer I just told people “I am a copy writer”.
Vicki Heron: In your mind it’s a sub-conscious goal, start believing that. So you really just kind of have to syke yourself out sometimes and act as if until it becomes reality.
Ralph Zuranski: How were you able to overcome your doubts and fears?
Vicki Heron: I read a lot of self help books and listened to a lot of different programs. So lots of positive affirmation and practice, practice, practice.
Ralph Zuranski: Who helped give you the willpower to change things in you life for the better?
Vicki Heron: I kept an open mind in that life will bring you mentors and you need them. I really do believe that because it happened to me so much.
Vicki Heron: I have had very wise neighbors be mentors in my life, I have had my soul mate, my husband he is a very good example.
Vicki Heron: People like Joe Vitalie who have came into my life when I have needed them so actually learn from everyone who touches your life.
Vicki Heron: I have a five year old grand daughter that I learn from, she is just remarkable. So just keep your eyes and your heart open.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you readily forgive those who upset, offend and oppose you?
Vicki Heron: It is very important and that is something that I have learned to work on as the years have gone by in forgiving people that really do bad things to you because if you hold that grudge inside it will eat you up and you won’t have anything.
Vicki Heron: You will not get anywhere that you want to go.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you experience service to others as a source of joy?
Vicki Heron: Some time I do, yes, some people bring me more joy than others but I love seeing ah ha in some peoples face or the sound of joy in peoples voices or the look on their face when you have really done something that makes them feel good.
Ralph Zuranski: What place does the power of prayer have in your life?
Vicki Heron: Quite a big place and it gets bigger everyday as I realize the power of it. I am always giving thanks for the blessings that I have and I learned this from Joe Vitalie’s spiritual marketing, just never really realized the importance of it until I read that but I always give thanks for the blessings and receiving that I have and I notice when I am faced with blessing and I do this, the blessing keep happening.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you maintain your sense of humor in the face of serious problems?
Vicki Heron: Humor is really important. I wish I could say I always had a sense of humor but of course through the trials of real difficult times you don’t always, but I always try to bring myself around and recognize when I don’t and make that change to a more positive outlook and get my sense of humor back.
Vicki Heron: I try to keep this presence of mind that this negative situation or problem that there is something good that is going to come out of it, there is something I am going to learn somewhere and then I wait for that good and expect it because I have turned it over to the higher power.
Ralph Zuranski: Who are the HEROES in your life?
Vicki Heron: People who have guts and determination to go full steam ahead with their dreams, people who don’t let their doubts and fears hold them back.
Vicki Heron: People who continually strive to improve themselves and who help others reach their goals.
Ralph Zuranski: Who do you think are the HEROES today that are not getting the recognition they deserve?
Vicki Heron: People who are not afraid of being parents. There are a lot of parents out there anymore who, after raising three kids I know how you like your kids to like you but it is so important to be the parent until they are at least 25.
Vicki Heron: It is tough because it is not a popularity contest. I left home when I was 17 and didn’t come back for two years because I was mad at my parents and they are wonderful people, but they weren’t willing to be my pals and I look back now and all I can say is thank you.
Ralph Zuranski: Why are HEROES so important in the lives of young people?
Vicki Heron: I think that young people are searching for their identities and want to belong. I remember being a teenager myself and I felt that way.
Vicki Heron: They want to feel important and they want to feel like they can accomplish anything they set out to do. I think that the important part of being a hero is being a mentor, being there, listening and not so much giving advice all the time but being there and listening.
Ralph Zuranski: How are you making the world a better place?
Vicki Heron: I am really constantly coaching people to achieve their personal best. I have found that I love coaching people.
Vicki Heron: I didn’t realize I have been doing it all my life. I love to see peoples self-esteem rise, I like to see them feel good about themselves, I like to see them accomplish their goals. So that is how I am helping.
Ralph Zuranski: If you had three wishes for your life and the world, that would instantly come true, what would they be?
Vicki Heron: I think that I would wish that everybody on this planet would accept their fellow human beings unconditionally. No one is perfect and we all have something worthy to contribute.
Vicki Heron: I wish everybody could go to bed with a full belly and I wish everybody could find their soul mate.
Ralph Zuranski: What are the things parents can do that will help their children realize they too can be HEROES and make a positive impact on the lives of others?
Vicki Heron: They can treat their kids like people, not possessions. Really listen to them, they have got a lot of good things to say but a lot of times parents get wrapped up in being the boss and don’t listen so that is one thing.
Vicki Heron: Show them you are proud of them and that you love them every chance you get. Always know where they are, care enough to keep tabs on them.
Vicki Heron: Teach them to love their fellow human beings and to help them. The last thing is teach them that when they help others it will come back to them one hundred fold, it is that powerful.
Vicky Heron is a copywriter and was a speaker at Joe Vitale’s Spiritual Marketing Super Summit.
Vicky Heron is the owner of Success Strategies Unlimited, specializing in Direct Response Copywriting and Copywriting Coaching. She’s an Executive Board Member of the Hypnotic Marketing Institute, Inc. and helped to inspire the In Search Of Heroes Copywriting Program for High School and College Journalism and Multi-media Students.
She writes articles, web copy, sales letters, direct mail packages, and other projects too numerous to mention here.
Vicky’s written feature articles and has been published in several magazines in addition to creating Internet projects for Joe Vitale, Terri Levine, Jason Mangrum, American Writers & Artists Institute, and many others.
Recently, Vicky was a guest speaker at the Joe Vitale Spiritual Marketing Super Summit in Austin, Texas. She also publishes a monthly E-zine called “Writing For Success.”
Copywriter & Coach (specializing in copywriting coaching) Vicky Heron, co-created the dynamic 3-CD audio set with Copywriter/Publisher Beth Erickson detailing How To Jumpstart Your Copywriting Career.
Discover insights you can use today… how to cash in on the most lucrative branch of writing… how to get clients quickly… building a profitable E-zine (the gold is in your list).
Visit http://www.copywritingspecialists.com/Products.html to learn more about this step-by-step program, and to sign up for her FR*EE how-to articles and FR^EE Writing For Success E-zine.
Vicky and her husband met on the Internet in 1997 and live in Denton, Texas. You may email her at vicky@copywritingspecialists.com.