Hero
Chanelle Houston
HERO
AWARD
WINNER
Patriotism
Glenn Wilson
The Invisible Patriot Protecting Our Country’s Leaders
©2017 Alticor Inc. S37292ENA
Hero
Glenn Wilson
Some patriots, like the uniformed men and women in the United
States Armed Forces, are easily recognizable. Their family
members, who love, support, and speak proudly of them, are
patriots, too.
However, some patriots – like retired Secret Service agent Glenn
Wilson – work quietly in the background, out of the public eye,
remaining unseen and unrecognized. But their contributions are
every bit as crucial to our nation’s safety, and the sacrifices they
and their families make are just as great.
“There are people who do things to keep this country safe that
we will never know,” said IBO Bill Hawkins about Glenn, his
longtime friend and winner of Amway’s 2016 Hero Award for
Patriotism. “Oftentimes, we’ll never know their names, who they
are, or what they did. Glenn would be the last guy to stand up
and say, ‘Look at how great I was.’ To me, that’s true patriotism,
and he embodies what a true patriot is.”
For Glenn, the 2016 Hero Award was unexpected. “I was
surprised that somebody in my profession would even be
nominated because you serve in a capacity that is mostly
unknown to the public, or even to your own family,” he said. “So
you don’t expect any recognition for it. I never wore any kind of
uniform, so I never expected any kind of an award.”
SERVICE AND FAMILY
Glenn Wilson spent more than 20 years in the United States
Secret Service. He guarded five presidents, from Gerald Ford
to Bill Clinton; organized the staggering logistics involved in
protecting our country’s VIPs; and managed offices throughout
the country, including the Secret Service’s Counterfeit and
Financial Crimes Division in Los Angeles. His family moved
constantly due to his assignments, seldom staying in one place
for more than three or four years. He was also gone frequently,
and for long periods of time. More often than not, his wife, Mic,
and children, Dustin and Tessa, had no idea where he was, what
he was doing, or when he was coming home. Although it was a
job, Glenn approached his position as a duty and an honor. The
sacrifices he made in his personal life were the unpleasant part
of patriotism.
Glenn and Mic worked to create as stable a home as they
could, but it wasn’t easy. “We were committed to spend time
with the kids, so they knew how important they were to him,”
says Mic. “That adjustment back into our home life was hard on
him sometimes, but he was patient with us.”
She admitted it was difficult sometimes. “Especially with two
children active in school, church, and sports. Those things
were already scheduled, so there were periods where it was a
little hard for him to integrate into our lives. I made sure the
kids were proud of what he did. He has been their hero all of
their lives.”
A PERIOD OF ADJUSTMENT
“In my job I had the best of multiple worlds, in a sense,” said
Glenn about his Secret Service career. “I had activities that
were tremendous adrenaline rushes in times of high tension.
Then, I might be walking the golf course at Pebble Beach® † with
the president. Then, the next month I might find myself with a
full beard working undercover.”
Initially, the worldview he developed through his Secret Service
work made readjusting to a “normal” life somewhat difficult
when he retired. “I had become critical of many things,” said
Glenn. “When you start off in life you think things are pretty
black and white, then you go into a high-pressure world where
things can be just different shades of gray. So, it was easy to
become critical about what I heard and saw.”
Mic remembered the Glenn she met and fell in love with at 17.
“He was a fun-loving party boy who drove a little white sports
car,” she said with a smile. “For a time, though, his highly
stressful work changed his outlook a bit, which made it hard for
him to believe in people. But he had to be that way to protect
himself, and save lives. When he came home it was sometimes
hard for him to let go of all of that.”
THEN AMWAY CHANGED HIS OUTLOOK ON LIFE.
“That’s where I was in my thinking when the Amway opportunity
came along,” explains Glenn. “The steps I took in my personal
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©2017 Alticor Inc.
S37292ENA
Hero
Glenn Wilson
development caused me to read things I never would have read,
listen to things I never would have listened to, and take counsel
and mentorship from people I would have never even known.”
More than that, he said he learned to trust people again.
“Because to me the opportunity means that you have to give
before you get. You have to plant before you reap, so to speak,
and help others achieve before you achieve. So it was quite a
transition and it took me several years to really start looking at
things that way and realize that my success can only come from
helping other people succeed,” he said.
A MODEST HERO
“I knew my dad was doing important things, and he taught me
hard work, character, and integrity,” remembered Glenn’s son
Dustin. “That honesty and integrity were always key, whether it
was a business deal, school, or work.”
Daughter Tessa Fuller echoed those thoughts. “My dad has
never done anything without full commitment,” she said.
“Whether it was protecting our country, being a husband, father,
grandfather, and now building his business, we could always
count on him to put in 100% effort.”
“I think that by coming into the Amway business Glenn began
to see people who were dependable, and he was able to let his
guard down and become trusting again,” said Mic about her
husband of 45 years. “He’s come back to being that fun-loving
guy I met when I was 17.”
Glenn is deeply appreciative of the Hero Award for Patriotism,
but he looks at it from the perspective he developed over his
years of service. “All I know is that the real heroes out there are
the ones serving our country who don’t make it home,” he said.
“Those are the real heroes in life.”
He thought for a moment, then added, “Right now the patriots
and heroes in my life include all of the other IBOs who go out
there and show others how to use the Amway opportunity to
make a difference in the world and help others succeed. Those
are my real heroes, and that’s who I want my children to have as
their heroes, too.”
“My dad has never done anything without full
commitment. Whether it was protecting our country, being a husband, father, grandfather, and now
building his business, we could always count on
him to put in 100% effort.”
– Tessa Fuller
†Pebble Beach® is a registered trademark of Pebble Beach Company Cypress I LLC and Cypress II LLC.
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©2017 Alticor Inc. S37292ENA