Glenn Dale Gordon aka “GG” a Vietnam Era Disabled Veteran was born in a small town in South Carolina name Hemingway on September 11/1955. He joined the Army in 1973 at the young age of 17 years old and took his basic training at Fort Jackson SC in the month of June of that year. Glenn came from a military family and currently has family members serving now which is a tradition for his family.
When he was on active duty in the Army, he was a heavy equipment rough terrain forklift operator stationed in Germany doing 1974- 1976 transporting missiles in and out of bunkers and on and off heliports from Chinook helicopter. Then in 1976 he was transferred to Fort McClellan Alabama to serve from 1976 to 1978 as a senior front-end loader operator loading international dump trucks, building heliports, and tearing down old military buildings.
Glenn’s next stop after Alabama was back to Germany to serve a second tour in Mannheim Germany as a rough terrain forklift operator working at an ammunition depot transporting missiles in and out of train rail carts and in and out of bunkers. His unit in the 1970’s moved more ammunition than any unit at the time in Germany doing piece time and he was awarded the Army accommodation medal for his outstanding service. At the end of his tour in Germany in 1980 he was then transferred to Fort Leonard wood as a 25-ton crane instructor for one year. So, at the end of 1981 Glenn joined the reserves and became a Drill Sergeant.
He left the military all together without retiring in 1988 but shortly after he started experiencing back problems but the military would not allow him any disability for his back but they gave him 10% disability for his foot operation while he was still in service. Since Glenn could not get any disability for his back and the only thing the government would give him is many different back support belts that did not work and extremely strength pain killer pills, he decided to create his own back support belt and that is when “WE GOTCHA BACK” was born.
FMM: Share your background and what led you to your music career and eventually to your company, “WE GOTCHA BACK.”
I was born a share-cropper son on September 11th, 1955 in a small town named Hemingway in South Carolina with a population 547 and less today. I’ve grown up listening to my 3 older brothers singing gospel and always wanted to join them but being too small, I used to make my 3 younger sisters sit down and listen to me sing the MOTOWN songs from the TEMPTATIONS, MARVIN GAYE, and others like AL GREEN, JAMES BROWN and many more. My sisters would enjoy my singing but would ask me why I never sung the right words and I would always say that my words are better never realizing that I actually was a songwriter sampling MOTOWN music in the 60’s. Once I graduated high school, I joined the Army traveled to Germany twice and on my second trip I taught myself how to play and sing with a bass guitar and months later formed a band name GG AND THE SHOCK WAVES in 1979.
This was the start of my music career. Once I convinced myself that I could really play music, sing, and people will listen, I started joining other bands when I returned to America. I became the lead singer of many different bands and one of the bands I joined was very popular in the 8jULE 0’s in Columbia South Carolina name RUSH HOUR. The drummer was an awesome player name John Blackwell Sr., who was from Columbia S.C., and he was a very tight and snappy pocket player. John played for bands and others like The Drifters, The Spinners, Mary Wells, Billy Eckstine, Cameo, Patti LaBelle, and many others. John Blackwell Sr. was the one who pushed me to keep singing because he said I have a very good voice and so I took his advice and the next thing I knew he had Bill Pinkney of the The Drifters to let me and the band RUSH HOUR open a few shows for him. John was a such wonderful and humble guy and big supporter of me then later I found out his son was the drummer for the PRINCE band. After a year or so, I joined another band in Columbia which I forgot the name, but in this band, I was fortunate to open a show for Billy Paul. It was only one show, but it was very good exposure and it convinced me to move to Atlanta Georgia for my big break.
Well in the early 90″s I moved to Atlanta GEORGIA joined a 3-piece name OSSR OLD SCHOOL RHYTHM RULE as a bass player and one of the lead/background singers and things was going great until the guitar player was still in the Army and got sent to Iraq. Well, I was back to square one, but I just couldn’t give up, so I once again started a band and named it GG AND FRIENDS. This is when I really began writing my own so grand creating my own music. Again, I started with a 3-piece band with me as the lead singer and bass player. The band played my original songs so well I wanted to record them professionally but had no horn players and I am a horn fanatic. At the time I was working as an entertainment rigger setting up all major shows for professional entertainers and was fortunate to have setup a show for a legendary band name “BRICK”. I met the group and gave the horn player Jimmy Brown my songs and he played all the horns on my cd exposures. My first cd release was in 2005 and it got a great response but didn’t know how to promote myself. So later as the GG AND FRIENDS continued to play my songs “I CAN’T LIVE LIKE THIS” , “YOU SHOULD BE MY LADY”, and “YOU OUGHT TO BE IN MOVIES”, we begun to get requests for it which many didn’t know there was original songs I wrote. As the years pass and I began to look into to trying to learn how to market my song online, I saw a Facebook interview one day where a sister in the UK which was a Facebook friend of mind interviewing a brother named KINGSLEY.
I asked her how she got to interview him, and she put me in contact with him. He told me that he has a 5-Star Publicist that promotes him and he doesn’t have to worry about anything because she is one of the best in the business. He said, “if I want great exposure for my music and products, I should contact Desirae L. Benson immediately.” When I reached out to Desirae and seen who some of her clients are like Gerald Albright, The WHISPERS, ANTHONY HAMILTON, FELTON PALITE, and many others, I knew I had contacted the right person. I am so confident with Desirae working with me until I did a re-mix of my EXPOSURES CD and it’s on track to give me the attention, I need for me and my band to work more as well as sell music with Ms. Desirae support. My next goal is to get the opportunity to work with the legendary FELTON PALITE of the legendary band CON-FUNK-SHUN in the early part of year 2023.
FMM: Let’s go back to your time in the military. You experienced back pain and the military wouldn’t allow disability for your back. Tell us about that time and why you felt the need to fight for others who suffer from back problems.
I was a heavy equipment operator and drill sergeant in the Army, did 8 1/2 years active duty and 7 years reserved. Riding a rough terrain 10,000 pound Forklift daily 10 to 12 hours a day on very rough terrain for years will destroy your back. Marching 18 to 20 miles to a rifle range carrying heavy gear will destroy your back. Jumping off platforms with 30 to 50 pounds on your back will destroy your back but when I got out of the military I was still a young man and did not realize the pain my back would give me in later years. I believe I couldve been taken cared of when I told the Army doctors that my back was giving me problems but they would give me pain killers which I would not taken most of the time because it made me felt funny and messed up my stomach. So I would tough it out until I feel better but the doctors never wrote in my recoi was experiencing major back problems. When I was discharged from the military the doctors did not included my back problems in my medical records so the government refused to compensate me for it but they was willing to give me 800 extra strength Tylenol which again I refused to take and several different ineffective back support belts.
When I realized that the government was not interested in helping me to try and heal my body naturally but willing to load me up with dangerous pain killers, I decided to research what can I do help my back problems and avoid those dangerous pain killers. I began to research and tried so many different things and came to realize that compression in fact will help with pain but the product you use MUST allow for flexibility as the compression is applied. This was confusing because all the back belts that the VA hospital gave me would apply compression, but I could not move afterwards because the belts didn’t allow you to move normally. I began researching every single back support belt on the market today and found that if the back support belt did allow for flexibility when worn, there was no stability. The belt was not effective enough to render the user any kind of adequate support. Doing my back support belt research, I also noticed that these belts are designed only to be worn in the back area which means it’s only a one purpose product. But when I was doing my research I saw hip products, back products, arm and leg products.
Then I said to myself wouldn’t it be nice to slide your back support down to the hip area if needed or wrap it around the leg or arm if needed and I didn’t see any of the back support belts could provide that level of service to a user, so I decided to invent one. So, once I found the right material and the manufacturer to make it for me, I ordered 2,000 belts and gave away 500 to get my product name in the marketplace. I would go to the VA hospital and sit in the waiting room and listen to Veterans complain about their back problems because the belt the VA gave them was not helping so they were given strong pain killers and some was given shots. Before I invented my belt I even gotten to shot once and it only helped for a day. After I invented my belt, I only took a very low dose of over-the-counter Tylenol to help manage the pain from the arthritis and pain from riding rough terrain forklifts and marching to rifle ranges carrying heavy gear on my back. I have many Veterans using my product now especially when they are riding motorcycles, bicycles, walking with their walking canes and walkers.
FMM: “WE GOTCHA BACK.”
“WE GOTCHA BACK ” is truly in a class all by itself. When I was designing the product, I had already researched all the ways compression can be used to help reduce chronic pain in the body without the use of so much dangerous pain killer drugs. I wanted my product material to be extremely lightweight, strong, durable, and can be worn underneath clothing unnoticed and I had accomplished that, but I still had a major problem and that is it still was not comfortable to wear because of the metal rods. So, I switched the metal rods out for medical plastic bones. These plastic bones are extremely strong, durable, and allows flexibility for user to even sleep in it comfortably. My product is uniquely designed so it can be wrapped around any major part of the body to help reduce chronic pain in the body without the use of a lot of dangerous pain killers. “WE GOTCHA BACK” can be used to help stop or slow down rapid bleeding or reset a broken bone as well as hold one in place to avoid further injury in case of an emergency. This product also has an 8″ by 12″ pocket sewn inside rear of belt to support gel packs for added therapy. “WE GOTCHA BACK” has taken some people 100% off of dangerous pain killers and helping many others cut their pain killer pills intake in half which leads to a much healthier body and lifestyle. This product has no unnecessary straps and snaps to secure it to the body and it’s a FANTASTIC waist trainer and perfect in assisting with female cramps because of its pocket that supports hot and cold gel packs. Our company has 2 different back support belts one has a pocket sewn in inside the back area to support gel packs and its name is “WE GOTCHA BACK”.
We have another back support belt named, “I GOTCHA POCKETS”. This product is identical to the “WE GOTCHA BACK ” lumbar compression support belt but it has no pocket sewn in the belt. The “I GOTCHA POCKETS” back support belt functions the same as the “WE GOTCHA BACK” but it comes with 3 individual pockets and a 2-inch belt. Both back support belts are consistent lifesaving products because the back support belt can double as a temporary tourniquet in case of an emergency because of it being a compression belt.
FMM: “I have learned to master talking about the quality and benefits of my product rather than focusing on selling.” Explain.
I have learned to master talking about the quality of my product rather than focusing on selling it because anyone’s body and needs are different and there is no one size or drugs fit all chronic pain in the body. When I was focusing on telling people about the price of my product compared to other stirred to justify the cost by saying all the things things that is wrong with my competitors product and you cannot do with their product and especially the high cost of their product. But then I noticed how people was beginning to get bored with me trying to convince them to buy my product and you only have about 30 to 60 seconds to capture people’s interest bethel more on. So, I decided when I am talking about my product, I first begin by talking about myself. I would let know that I sufferfrom chronic pain in the body for many years from riding heavy equipment and marching to ranges as a drill sergeant. I would noticed my story would capture their attention immediately because they don’t want to hear about the product at this point they want to know what they have in common with you when it comes to pain and that’s when you tell your story as you demonstrate the product. Telling the story as you demonstrate the product focus more on how to use the product and how it makes you feel. Always refer to the product as this product and if they begin to show interest in the product, they will ask you the name ofthe product.
Never mention another product’s name because there will always be some willing to defend other products because they don’t want to feel. Ike they don’t have a great product after spending so much money even though they know your product is a better product. What they are doing is trying to convince themselves that they don’t need your product although yours are better. Continue to talk about all the quality and versatility of your product and what you’re suffering from and what it does for you and who and what organization have purchased and endorsed the product and soon they will ask you how much does it cost.
That’s when you let them know the name of the product, the cost of the product, it ships free, and it can be delivered in 48 to 72 hours doing weeks days. Most of the time ifyou did a good job the sale with be made right then. ALWAYS REMEMBER 50% of your sale is personality and 50% introduction NOT sale of product. Be Extremely polite to people introduce yourself briefly then introduce product once then begin demonstration. If they continue to ask questions about the product, you doing a good job. NEVER talk negative about competitors products only focus on the quality your product provides.Most times potential customers already know about your competitors products.
FMM: How has your product changed your life?
The ” WE GOTCHA BACK” is truly an amazing product and have helped me reduce chronic in my body without so much dangerous pain killer pills. I am just beginning to really benefit and live comfortably from the sale of my product and I know it’s going to be even better for, family, and my investors in 2023 because I am in a position now to sell to the government with my military background. I will also do better in 2023 because I now have the support of my outstanding publicist Ms. Desirae and Veteran partner, Maness Veteran Medical LLC. People who truly knows me understands that my biggest dream and goal in life is to help others stay healthy and happy. I believe everyone has a purpose here on earth and God has given everyone some kind of talent regardless of what your talent is, I believe you are task to use it to its fullest. I am on a mission to try and make good quality music that can be listened to and enjoyed by everyone from young children to any age. I just want to make people happy period. I equally put just as much energy into trying to create quality products that will keep people healthy as well as making their lives easier
I study people’s needs like a adult scientist and try to create simple and practical products that will make their everyday lives easy.
FMM: Can you share a few stories about people who have benefited from your products?
I have been so blessed that to date the “WE GOTCHA BACK” has been endorsed by over 300 Chiropractors, Doctors, rehabilitation centers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, professional athletes, dancers, models, entertainers, musicians,,military Veterans, yoga instructors, strength condition trainers, as well as celebrities. “WE GOTCHA BACK” also has been endorsed by a 13-time world champion, champion in 3 different weight class, and HALL OF FAMER MS. Tori SHO’NUFF NELSON, and celebrities the QUEEN OF CHICKEN and WAFFLES GLYNIS KITCHEN founder, Ms. Glynis Albright. There are many other celebrities has our product but has not endorsed it. We are so honored that been fortunate to grt one of our products to Dr. George Fraser which is an inspiration to us.
FMM: What have you learned as an Entrepreneur? What’s next for you?
I have learned the greatest thing that any entrepreneur can do to help themselves as a business person and as an individuals always be humble and grateful because no owes you anything. I have learned that life is so rewarding when you’re humble and grateful to others and God will make it so much easier for you to find your purpose. He will allow others to help you to experience life a wonderful life here on earth if you stay humble and respect others as you respect yourself.
My next goal is to continue to build a business for my family, share good things that I know that can help others, make more good music, and continue to invent great products.
