Arts & Culture
Franklin Covey taking AF man’s story to the world
Elizabeth Spencer | Lehi Free Press
“He’s an example of what we are trying to do at Franklin Covey as we teach the 7 Habits. It’s just a wonderful example of the power of what we do as a company and how it’s helped him,” Bill McIntyre noted of American Fork resident Glenn Stucki. McIntyre is Senior Vice President for Franklin Covey’s International Education Business Division.
“I think he is the perfect example of someone who can choose their response in life to things that happen to him. Bad things happen, but how we react to those bad things, it makes the difference of whether you’re going to be happy or whether you’re going to be miserable. He’s just made the choice: ‘I’m going to be happy, and I’m going to help other people be happy.’”
Stucki is known as an author, painter and friendly Wal-Mart cashier, giving him the nickname “The Wal-Martist.” The most unique and inspiring characteristic of all: Stucki does all these things with a huge smile as he continues to overcome his own challenges. Stucki is semi-paralyzed on his right side as a result of an accident in his youth.
Stucki was raised in Whittier, Calif., where he was on a fathers and sons outing with friends when tragedy struck. Stucki was just 11 years old when the wave runner he was on collided with another out on the water. Stucki was hit in the head and flew off the jet ski, landing him in a coma for six weeks with a shattered jaw, broken neck in three places and a brain injury, which he was once told was comparable to 17 strokes in the left side of his brain.
While Stucki was in a coma, his uncle brought pictures of superheroes to display in his hospital room. Upon waking, Stucki attributed his desire to live with a smile to those inspiring illustrations. The first thing he could move after the accident was his mouth. The only thing he had control over was his smile.
“I would smile or not, and that’s how they communicated with me,” recalled Stucki.
In an attempt to get movement back on his right side, workers would constrain his left arm. Stucki loved to eat, so they would put food in front of him to encourage the use of his right arm. However, the real motivation came when his mother suggested something different.
“My mom said, ‘He loves to draw, put a paper and a pencil in front of him,’” Stucki recalled. He said he was able to put his hand on the pencil. Stucki describes the special moment as if there was “radiating love from this pencil.” Eventually, he could scribble, and his talent took off from there. Stucki’s main focus of his illustrations is superheroes.
Stucki’s mother, Wendy, shared, “Having watched Glenn go from a happy, smart, capable child, at the age of 11, to losing his ability to speak, walk and play was one of the most difficult challenges our family has faced. The difference came with Glenn’s positive attitude and desire to get better and make the most of his new challenges. He never ceases to amaze us with how happy he is to be alive and make others smile. Because of his accident and the challenges he has faced, he is tuned in to the difficulties of those around him. He knows what it is like to face hardship and desires to lift and support those who suffer as well. He makes a positive impact on everyone around him with his attitude and smile. It truly is his superpower.”
“I just want to focus on the love,” said Stucki, who sends his paintings around the world with his non-profit, Painted Love. Stucki is mostly self-taught, although he has taken two art classes at Utah Valley University to learn more.
“I love helping people smile,” said Stucki. He does just that by building relationships with people through his art. He said he is inspired when he sees emotions and feels it’s a “gift from God” to help others be happy. He gives his paintings out to people who are going through a hard time or that need some inspiration.
“He has a mission in life, and his mission is to help other people feel love. He really exemplifies charity,” remarked McIntyre.
“I kinda feel like Santa because, everywhere I go, strangers come up to me and recognize me by name. They either ask me to paint a picture for them or start telling me the struggles their kids are going through, subliminally telling me they want a painting. More often than not, I am found pulling my phone out to take their contact information or giving them my website that has a way to request a painting, because paintings saved my life, and I feel like I need to save others’. I feel like a mix between Santa, Superman and Jesus. I can save people’s lives through my paintings, which are ‘accidental masterpieces.’ You know what else was accidental? The jet ski accident, and that has certainly created a masterpiece that was all motivated by Sue Parkinson, my first painting teacher in college who said I created accidental masterpieces,” shared Stucki.
Sheila Morrison met Stucki at the American Fork Rec Center Swimming Pool in 2017. She owns her own pool and helped outfit Stucki to swim and participate on her swim team.
“We found out what a fun and talented artist he was. He started giving away paintings to the HAST (Hiltop Aquatics Swim Team) kids and families and donating them to kids at Primary Children’s Hospital. We had him do a painting that year for the Festival of Trees for auction,” Morrison said.
Ty Norton met Stucki at a church meeting and the two became fast friends. He served on the board of one of Stucki’s nonprofits, Ability. He noted, “Glenn is a beacon of optimism in the face of adversity and an inspiration to so, so many. He is a smile engineer—hard to be around him and not smile.” Norton helps Stucki by sending out his Painted Love posters to people.
After his accident,Stucki wrote a paper titled, “The Summer I Never Had,” referencing the summer of 1993 when he was hospitalized after the accident. Stucki won a prestigious award for the paper, but that is not the only piece of written work that he has been recognized for. Stucki authored the book “My Smile Is My Superpower: A Story of Rising Above a Disability Through Living the 7 Habits.” His aunt helped him write the book, which aligns with Stephen R. Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Stephen’s son Sean Covey, who is President of the Education Division of Franklin Covey, wrote the foreword for Stucki’s story, and Franklin Covey published it.
McIntyre has been employed by Franklin Covey for nearly 24 years. His focus is working with the company’s “Leader in Me” program. He is responsible for taking the program to schools outside of the United States. “Leader in Me” is a whole school transformation model based on the 7 habits and principles of leadership. McIntyre coordinates with partners across the globe to train teachers and faculty on how to model the program and teach it to students. Currently, the “Leader in Me” program is used in over 50 countries worldwide in thousands of schools. McIntyre has been instrumental in distributing Stucki’s book on a global scale through the program.
“We have these partners around the world who are trying to inspire children to find their voice, to practice these leadership principles, and to be able to be in control of their lives no matter what’s happening around them and to them. I just thought Glenn was a perfect example of that. We have students with disabilities in ‘Leader in Me’ schools all around the world, and this is just such an inspiring story that can help them,” shared McIntyre.
Stucki’s book is sold on Amazon. Donations and nominations can be made on Stucki’s website, paintedlove.org. The website also includes a tab to “Paint It Forward,” an initiative where one can receive five free prints to give away, with the goal that those five recipients will do the same with five more prints. Stucki hopes this will continue until the entire world is “painted with love.”
