ABOUT IDEAS IN ACTION

From that beginning, David expanded and diversified his business. He has worked with companies from Wall Street to Main Street. His clients include Fortune 500 companies. Today Ideas In Action consulting also includes work with national e-commerce companies.

In 1990, David's wife, Glenna, joined the company. As President and COO of Ideas In Action, Glenna leads their award-winning design department. Her attention to detail, honed by years of working as a teacher, writer, and bank officer makes her the perfect complement to David.

"We're not satisfied until our client is" remains the overall approach to every aspect of the business, according to Glenna and David. Ideas In Action provides "world-class customer service with a home-town touch." All products and services are performed with one goal in mind: to ensure their client's success.

Perhaps Ideas In Action's greatest service is that our sales begin where other's end. Never do we send out a general merchandise catalog and ask our client's to "pick what you want to buy and then call us." Ideas In Action provides promotional products consultation, not order taking. We not only work with our client's in-house staff to research and identify the client's potential market, but we also uncover the strengths and "ferret out" the weaknesses of the client's competition to develop the most effective sales, marketing, and public-relations strategy. At Ideas In Action, we see doing business with our clients as a partnership and this holistic approach to customer service is rare.

DAVID HEAVIN – CEO and Founder, Ideas In Action
David Heavin is a man who has met and mastered life's challenges. Stricken by polio as a young boy, the doctors told his parents that he would never walk again. David went on to become a superb athlete in several sports.

As a young man, David turned his earlier polio into a "portfolio", as he worked his way up from salesman to manager for a U.S. fitness company. In the process, he became a national motivational speaker. David attributes much of his success to his positive attitude, which he enthusiastically shares with all those with whom he comes into contact. He adopted his life's credo from Zig Ziglar who said, "It's your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude."
    
In 1972, David launched Ideas In Action, Sales and Marketing Consultation Company. He quickly became a leading national marketing consultant for such companies as IBM, Lawnboy Power Equipment Company, MTG Pro, Electric Light and Magic, Situs Technologies, and hundreds of others from Wall Street to Main Street.
    
In early 1991, David and his wife, Glenna, started a home-based business on a card table in their bedroom, taking Ideas In Action in a new direction. David’s vision was to build a world-class marketing and promotional products company in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley.
   
Today, Ideas In Action is ranked among the top 25 marketing consultant and promotional products companies in the world. The company’s growth to approximately 130 employees and thousands of customers is largely a result of David’s positive attitude and unselfish generosity. He has shared his knowledge and enthusiasm with everyone he meets. Through the schools, he has motivated young people to reach higher and not fear failure. He has mentored dozens of entrepreneurs as they have started new businesses, helping them develop business plans and providing support.
    
David continues to be in constant demand as a marketing consultant, working with a variety of industries including national franchises, utilities, and health care. David has a unique approach to sales. He not only works with his client's in-house staff to research and identify that client's goals, but he goes on to uncover the strengths and weaknesses of that client's competition in order to develop the most effective sales, marketing, and public-relations strategy. This rare holistic approach to customer service is one key to David's success.
    
Through the years, David has always found other ways to give back to the community. He has been active with the Chambers of Commerce in Harlingen, San Benito and across the Rio Grande Valley. He was founding chairman for Business Watch, a program to curb vandalism in San Benito. He has been active with the United Way and many other charitable organizations. He was instrumental in establishing the Doris Joy Heavin Medical Office Building at Valley Baptist Medical Center. Through a gift to the Valley Baptist Foundation, David and his siblings honored their mother’s memory.

GLENNA HEAVIN – President, Ideas In Action
Glenna Heavin, David’s wife, joined the company in 1990 after a career in education and banking.  She leads the company’s award-winning design department, bringing with her an eye for detail that ensures that every product is produced to perfection.  Glenna led the company into the e-business world:  today Ideas In Action serves over 12,000 customers located in more than 50 countries.  Ideas In Action provides world-class customer service around the globe through its six websites, which are linked to distribution centers in San Benito, Texas; Toronto, Canada; Puebla, Mexico; Southampton, England; Madrid, Spain; and Sydney, Australia. 
    
In her role at Ideas In Action, Glenna has applied the same eye for detail and a compassion for people that she used so well as a bank officer and a teacher.  This drive for quality and perfection has garnered her recognition by her peers across the country.  She has been selected to serve on a number of committees and boards in the promotional product and marketing industry.
    
David and Glenna are members of First United Methodist Church of San Benito. Their favorite activity is spending time with their family. David also enjoys riding his “Harley” and basking in the quiet beauty of their Texas Hill Country getaway.
   
In June 2007, David and Glenna were recognized for their contributions to the San Benito community, as recipients of one of three inaugural Freddy Fender Humanitarian Awards.  The award, created to celebrate the life of an American music legend and South Texas icon, honors those individuals, organizations and corporations that go “above and beyond the call” of their communities in the area of philanthropy, service, or a special cause. Much like Freddy Fender, David and Glenna have pursued the dream of a better life for themselves and their family – all the while staying true to their beginnings.