10 questions
Story & Photography By Susan O'Connor

Ray Keller is a great communicator. Even a brief encounter reveals someone who instinctively connects with the person at hand, and truly has wisdom to share. When Keller speaks, he garners an avid listener.

From his humble beginnings on a farm in Weiner, Keller has developed a worldwide following. He has logged 2.5 million miles on Northwest Airlines teaching businesses and corporations how to develop and motivate their personnel. Keller Business Alliance has clients in Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, and throughout Asia and Europe. Keller just returned from Slovenia.

He also consults with local businesses such as E.C. Barton and Co., St. Bernards Medical Center, Liberty Bank and Jimco.

Keller said he meets with everyone from the CEO to the person hired yesterday. “The greatest asset companies have is their people,” he said.

But his latest business venture came relatively late in life for the entrepreneur — after his children were grown. This was no accident. Parenting was priority number one for Keller and his wife, Karla.

The couple met at Florida College in Tampa. Keller attended college there on a basketball scholarship. He finished his education at the University of Arkansas, earning degrees in agriculture and economics. After graduation, Keller said he didn’t want to follow in his family’s footsteps and farm. He wanted to “see the world.” So he moved back to Tampa, worked several jobs and married Karla, a Fayetteville native.

Tampa wasn’t home, however, and the Kellers felt the pull to move back to Northeast Arkansas. At first they lived in a little farmhouse in Weiner and Keller farmed with his father and uncle. Then, in 1975, the couple launched a home-based business, Keller International, and moved to Jonesboro. They were highly successful independent contractors for Amway and received leadership training from Network 21 in Atlanta. The biggest plus was the time it allowed with their children: Jenny, Travis and Trey.

“The most important job in the world is raising kids,” Keller said. “I was at every ballgame and every practice they were involved in at Nettleton School.”
Keller began to accept a few speaking engagements, and his reputation as a motivator grew. “I turned people down at first. I was raising my kids. When they were grown, I began to say yes to some opportunities.”

In addition to being a licensed pilot, restorer of antique cars and sometime pastor at Northside Church of Christ (he performed the marriage ceremony for all three children), he will soon be the district governor for Rotary International, a vital role in his life.

“Rotary has provided the opportunity to make sure that I am plugged into the community and world as far as meeting the needs that are out there.”

What lesson from your small town upbringing contributed most to your future happiness?
To me, growing up in a community where we all knew each other. You always knew that you had a community who would be there for you and that you were there for them. That is easy to lose in a more populated area.

Who was the liveliest character in Weiner during your childhood and what did you learn from him or her?
I wouldn’t call my Grandmother Huber a character, but she certainly was lively and agreat influence on me. She was born in 1898, was a member of the first graduating class from the school in Weiner, raised four children during the depression as a widow, had a successful farming career, was always interested in helping others and had such a love for life.

Who was the most influential in imparting your entrepreneurial spirit?
My father had a dream to be a farmer. He grew up one of five sons during some tough times. He was an achiever, graduating with honors from ASU and obtained his master’s from the U of A. But his dream to be a farmer motivated him to purchase some timberland along with his brother, Hugh. With mules, axes and cross cut saws, they worked for several years clearing a farm for their families. Years later, the farm produces a wonderful retirement for their widows and stands as a testament to the power of the entrepreneurial spirit.

When you and Karla launched Keller International in 1975, what gave you the foresight to see that many people could benefit from a second income stream generated from a home-based business?
I can’t say we had much of a vision beyond our own needs. We knew we needed an additional income stream because farming had the uncertainties of weather and market prices. We had winter months with little to do and decided to start another business for a little extra income. Its rapid growth was actually a pleasant surprise. We found that many people were just like us — ambitious people are always looking for options.

Your work takes you all over the globe. Where have you traveled that you were awestruck by the great beauty of the locale?
What a question. Australia and New Zealand were favorites for us early on. Both of us really enjoy Africa with its untapped potential and wildlife. But recently, Europe seems to be the place we try to go to yearly. My sons and I just returned from Istanbul, Turkey, and seeing Mt. Ararat on a day with a rainbow over it was a moment in time that the three of us will never forget.

What is the most unusual business that has contracted your services?
Working in Eastern Europe immediately after the fall of the Iron Curtain was the most interesting. It was like going back in time to see countries that had been suppressed from the other parts of the world. Horse drawn wagons with hay in downtown streets in Hungary and being with people who had never seen a Bible or heard of The Beatles. The people there were so eager to hear of free enterprise and how to set goals. One man my age asked me, “What is the thing called a goal?”

As you log millions of airline miles, what do you miss most at home?
Everywhere I go, I always start my talk by saying, through an interpreter, “It’s good to be home again.” This takes the audience by surprise, as I usually look a lot different and certainly talk differently. But home is where you feel comfortable, at ease and safe. I have learned to take that approach wherever I go. But usually after a few days I am like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and ready to click my heels and get back to Arkansas.

What has been the impetus for the international growth of your company?
The world is getting smaller by the day. Instant communication via e-mail, cell phones and satellite communication has given us a different view of what the market is. There are six billion of us and what I have learned is that people are the same wherever you go. It is exciting to go and help people in different cultures.

Part of what you do is to inspire people to strive for excellence. Why do you think most people settle for accomplishing less than they are capable of?
That is the dilemma, isn’t it? Earl Nightingale once wrote that the strangest secret is that we are what we think about most of the time. I think that at an early age we are influenced to stay in the middle of the pack where there is little risk. Conformity is king, unfortunately. I am convinced that most of us are capable of more than we settle for, and that there are principles of life we can center our thinking around that will help.

You describe your work with Rotary as one of your loves. How were you introduced to Rotary International?
It was a chance opportunity. I had gone into St. Pierre’s Flower Shop to buy some flowers for Mother’s Day. The owner, Don St. Pierre, was a friend of mine who invited me to attend the Rotary luncheon that day with him. It was my first exposure to Rotary and I immediately recognized the pillars of the community at that meeting. I was 28 and had just moved to town from the farm. They made me feel very welcome and taught me by example how “Service above Self” was more than a motto.