Vicki Stanley Writes Her Father's Life Story

Vicki Stanley is a busy lady. Not only is she the CEO of and , she also started the nonprofit organization New Work City Foundation.

But, out of all those achievements, her biggest accomplishment and greatest challenge came from her journey within — a journey that started with writing the true life story of her dad, Richard Grudzinski, and ended with Stanley learning a lot about herself.

"Dad expressed an interest in writing a book that compiled all of his philosophies in one place as a platform for his public speaking," Stanley said. "He was considering either writing the book himself or hiring a ghost writer."

"I immediately begged him for the opportunity to let me be the one to tell his story. I felt that nobody knew the details of my dad's life more that I, as I was there for 44 years of it."

And with that, Stanley took the challenge of taking her dad's life and personal philosophies, and forming them into sentences that made sense on paper.

Stanley had very little writing experience, and she learned that writing is a lot harder than it looks, she said.

She had all the details in her head but putting them onto paper seemed impossible.  

Stanley and her dad would meet, and she would interview him and ask him a million questions. She recorded each interview and then transcribed the interviews for references. Rather than a traditional outline, Stanley used hundreds of sticky notes and tacked them to her office wall.

While the process was grueling at times, Stanley wouldn't have changed her experience.

"Dad will tell you, and I would agree, that getting together for those interviews was one of the most enjoyable parts of writing the book," she said. "We would laugh so hard at old memories that tears were literally pouring from our eyes."

After 18 months of research, Stanley had completed five or six rough drafts and hated every single one of them, she said.

"I cried and cried because the book was not something I even wanted to read, let alone share with anyone else," Stanley said. "After I dried my tears, I sat down at my laptop and wrote the down exactly how I felt. That became the first chapter, and the rest flowed from there."

"It's amazing to me how true my dad's words — 'There is an emotional price to pay for everything.'"

"Agony, fear and doubt were the emotional price tags for me," she said.

But, after two years of researching, writing and dealing with her fear of rejection, Two Buck$ to Happiness was published in March 2011.

The title was chosen because the 'two-buck' story is an integral part of Grudzinski's life and the foundation for his beliefs, Stanley said.

Inside each copy of Two Buck$ to Happiness is a crisp $2 bill to remind the readers to always follow their dreams. Grudzinski had $2 when he started down the path toward his dreams.

Two Buck$ to Happiness is a true motivational story about how to create your own happiness, despite present circumstances, Stanley said.

"I want others to recognize themselves in the story and believe they, too, can overcome adversity and achieve their dreams," she said. "I want them to feel as exhilarated and excited as I was in writing the story."