Adventurer Ghinsberg Provides PestWorld Attendees with Business Survival Advice

ORLANDO, Fla. – A highlight of Wednesday’s General Session at PestWorld 2018 was a speech from adventurist and humanitarian Yossi Ghinsberg, who related how the skills he used to survive while lost in the Amazon jungle can help business leaders. His presentation was sponsored by Corteva Agriscience.

In 1981, Ghinsberg was stranded in an uncharted part of the Bolivian Amazon jungle for three weeks following a failed thrill-seeking adventure. Ghinsberg shared how he overcame the physical challenges of the jungle, but perhaps of greater importance was how he learned to overcome the psychological hurdles – many of which are common to business owners.

For example, a starving Ghinsberg once climbed a tree to pick fruit and encountered a venomous snake. After first falling from the tree, he faced his fears, climbed back up the tree and killed the snake with a rock. The lesson Ghinsberg learned – and related to PestWorld attendees – was that “if you run away from fear it grows; if you face it, it shrinks.”

Ghinsberg was eventually rescued by a tribe in an isolated Bolivian jungle village. Ten years after being rescued, he returned to the village, which was dying out due to subsequent generations moving to urban areas for better opportunities. Ghinsberg promised to help, and then followed through on this pledge by obtaining $1.5 million in funding to help the village re-invent itself as a resort town.

Prior to Ghinsberg’s speech, NPMA Past President Bryan Cooksey passed the gavel to current NPMA President Dennis Jenkins, president of ABC Home & Commercial Services (DFW). Jenkins follows in the footsteps of his father, Bob Jenkins, and brothers Bobby and Raleigh Jenkins, as NPMA presidents.

Jenkins said the theme for his presidency is “impacting lives.” He noted that PCOs impact lives in numerous ways from providing employment to protecting health and homes through the services they provide. “We protect food from grain to train to store to table.”