Thomas Fulmer met his wife in Alabama and they now live about four streets away from where she grew up in Melbourne, but that’s not what makes him remarkable.

He loves dogs so much that he and his wife have adopted two mutts and the third, a Golden Retriever named Abbie, adopted him when she met Fulmer on the golf course. He is an avid animal rights supporter, but that is not what makes him remarkable.

Active in his community, Fulmer has been involved as a board member, financial supporter or volunteer for organizations such as Yellow Umbrella, Alzheimer’s Foundation, Humane Society and Take Back the Night. He is a strong advocate for victims of domestic abuse, but even that does not set him apart from others in his community or his generation.

Fulmer is a certified Human Behavior Consultant and currently serves as Chief Results

Officer of Success Essentials Training Institute and is cofounder of The National Entrepreneurs Network. Impressive, yet when compared to others, the author and business leader is just another community-minded individual until you take a moment to get to know him.

Tom Fulmer lives the philosophy he teaches.

“Continue to invest in yourself,” he said. “Seek to help others, because the more you give away, the more that comes back to you.”

He advises business leaders to feel less competitive toward their counterparts. “Helping others leads to better personal success.”

Rather than attending meetings to add to a growing collection of business cards, Fulmer advises others to connect with or meet people they don’t normally see every day. The once shy tennis pro decided to change his shyness, found ways to overcome his uncomfortable feelings and went on to create a power networking group of like-minded individuals who see beyond the competitive nature of small businesses.

He seems to always find the good in any situation, including the time he flew to Vermont for a four-day event and unpacked his suitcase, late at night, to discover he had not packed any pants. Rather than reacting to what some might consider a catastrophe, he found an open Walmart and bought a suit for $70.

“I get the most compliments on that one,” he said.

He once flew to Philadelphia to discover his meeting had been cancelled while he was in-flight, so he simply returned home. He never left the airport. When others would have felt inconvenienced or perhaps angry with the weather, Fulmer recognized it as an interesting story he would be able to share.

Tom Fulmer is the kind of “nice guy” who finishes first by making other people feel nice, too.

To contact the motivational speaker and coach, visit thomasfulmer.com.