Our founder, Tony Cole, started Anthony Cole Training in 1993 by training and consulting with sales teams at Merrill Lynch and Acordia Rauh. As an education major on a football scholarship at UCONN, Tony went on to coach college football after graduation and then spent several years selling life insurance. Upon starting Anthony Cole Training, he authored and delivered his proprietary materials and customized sales training curriculums to insurance companies.
In 1997, Tony and Linda formed Anthony Cole Training Group, LLC and were on track to do their first half million dollar year in 1998 when their 12-year-old son suffered a cardiac arrest and anoxic brain injury in September. Anthony Cole Training Group office moved home so that Anthony, our 7-year old daughter Alex, and the business could all be monitored and nurtured effectively.
In 2002, Linda and Tony hired two full time sales development experts and revenue grew to three-quarters of a million dollars. In 2006, Anthony Cole Training Group hired a bank marketing specialist and the company grew to well over a million dollars.
Today, Anthony Cole Training Group continues to grow. It is now woman-owned and WBENC-certified with offices located in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Resurrecting Anthony
As individuals and employees, we are constantly presented with new obstacles, some life-changing, sudden and personally tragic. Working through these particularly difficult, sometimes lengthy and complex problems can derail the most diligent of workers. Helping a valued employee cope during this time requires patience and empathy and a strategy to maintain direction and productivity.
In 27 years of business, Linda and Tony Cole have survived many challenges, but none more difficult than their personal crisis of September 9, 1998 when their 12-year-old son, Anthony, suffered full cardiac arrest on the playground of the junior high school. Due to lack of oxygen during resuscitation, Anthony remained at Children’s Hospital in a coma for many months. Today he is brain-injured and fully dependent upon nurses and family.
Resurrecting Anthony, the book, is the true story of a real family, real life and real business colliding during a very trying time. It is heart-breaking and it is powerful. It speaks to the love of a parent, to the unwavering support of family and business associates and to tenacity and a commitment to succeed.
Resurrecting Anthony: Never Give Up
Watch this video to learn more about facing challenges, fighting through adversity, and never giving up even when you feel like you can no longer go on with your life or business. We share our story to help others summon the strength and courage to make hard decisions.
Seminar
In Navigating the Unknown; Courage & Commitment Required, nationally recognized speaker and business development expert, Tony Cole, shares the tragedy, the personal and professional challenges and the take-aways of how he and Linda survived the “loss of their first son”, how they kept their family together in a time when many would fall apart and how they survived to grow a successful business and a stronger marriage and family.
We all deal with challenges and crises. Each participant is touched by this presentation because each deals with personal obstacles, challenges and tragedies. Navigating the Unknown; Courage & Commitment Required, provides a story and tools that will help your employees navigate the ups, downs and intersections of their personal and working lives.
Navigating the Unknown; Courage & Commitment Required
About the Book
Tony and Linda Cole were living the American Dream—a successful, national training company, a nice home, a close-knit circle of friends and a loving family.
Then came the call every parent dreads.
Their twelve-year-old son, Anthony, had collapsed on the school playground. In the ensuing panic-stricken moments, Anthony lay motionless, unconscious, not breathing. These critical minutes without oxygen left his brain damaged. In one heartbreaking afternoon their idyllic world was shattered and the son that Tony and Linda Cole knew was gone.
Resurrecting Anthony is the true, inspiring story of an unexpected tragedy that steals a child from his family and initially leaves all of them full of grief and sorrow. It reveals the Cole family’s incredible devotion and determination—despite the medical evidence and advice of health professionals—to return Anthony to his previous self.
Steadfast and single-minded of purpose, Tony Cole tries to balance stressful business demands and the emotional dynamics of a devastated family as he desperately tries to bring his son back.
Ultimately, it is a story of courage—the courage to summon inner strength to make hard decisions, the courage to do what must be done, and finally, the courage to accept a new life and family.
“Resurrecting Anthony is a true story that will carve itself into your heart forever. Amidst the worst of crisis, Tony and Linda never lose sight of the fact that life is a gift—an important lesson for others facing challenge and maybe even more importantly, for those of us taking our day-to-day lives for granted. I loved this book.”
Keith Ferrazzi, #1 NYT best-selling author of
Who’s Got Your Back and Never Eat Alone