Some people in life become successful by taking an idea and molding it into something better.
Others find their niche in life helping at the development stage.
Very few people do their best work starting at the bottom.
Larry Malace is one of those types? he creates, he innovates and succeeds.
‘You have to have a vision. You have to have some perspective on what you want to happen You have to have some overall strategy of what you want to get accomplished,? said Malace.
Both in a literal and figurative sense, Malace is a ‘from the bottom up? kind of guy. Whether building one of the first houses in the Oakhurst development when he and his family moved to the Clarkston area in 1998, turning his own business into a multimillion dollar success or steering Clarkston’s youth football team in a whole new direction, Malace starts at the bottom and inevitably finds his way on top.
Through all his successes, Malace sticks to three basic tenets to guide him.
‘I try to tell this to everybody. I think the three most important things in life are character, integrity and leadership,? said Malace.
With Malace, everything begins with character.
‘Your character is a reflection of how you handle yourself on a daily basis? with your child, with your friends, with your classmates,? said Malace.
Character is nothing without integrity though.
‘At the end of the day all you have left is your integrity and people need to be able to know that they can trust you and that what you say is the truth and that you will follow through on your word,? said Malace
The desirable, yet rare combination of integrity and character build to Malace’s final tenet.
‘Character and integrity breed confidence and confidence creates leadership and with leadership you can pretty much tackle anything you want to do,? said Malace.
Malace tackled quite a bit in the last 30 plus years. The son of an auto worker and a school teacher, Malace started working when he was nine as a paper delivery boy. As he grew up in Sterling Heights, he continued to work odd jobs, but remembered to toil in the classroom too. When he finished high school, he was off to Northwood University.
‘My dad would work 10 hours a day, seven days a week so his kids could go to college. I was the first Malace to go to college. My dad used to tell us we had four choices if we didn’t go to college: Army, Navy, Airforce or Marines,? said Malace.
Upon graduating from Northwood in 1990 with a degree in marketing and management, Malace found no problem making the transition from full-time student to full-time employee.
‘I was fortunate to have a job right out of college. I graduated on a Thursday and started work on a Monday,? said Malace.
Little did he know when he left school, Malace was about to go on a wild ride through the corporate world. A recession towards the end of 1990 forced him to take work in Southfield with a contract staffing firm which had around 30 employees at the time. Like Malace, the company was just starting out and together they grew into a powerhouse.
‘I was two years out of school, and basically went within three years to managing 300 people and within five years to managing 500 people. There was 500 employees that reported to me, all before I was 28 years old,? said Malace.
During those years, Malace learned important lessons about the business world. He met and managed all kinds of people, handled a variety of responsibilities and most importantly had a soft surface to fall on.
‘The nice thing about my situation was I had the opportunity to take on a lot of responsibility, but also to make a lot of mistakes on someone else’s money,? said Malace.
Experience was only going to take Malace so far in Southfield, and in 1998 he decided to start his own executive staffing company: International Service Group Resources in 1998.
‘Starting a business you are risking everything that you own, including your house and your livelihood. You go to the bank and say ‘I need a $250,000 loan,? and they say ‘We need $500,000 collateral,? said Malace.
Embodying the metaphor that has permeated Malace’s life, ISG Resources outgrew his basement to a company today with 250 employees expecting $18 million in sales for the coming year.
‘There’s no better feeling in the whole world then to take someone who’s looking for work and find them a job,? said Malace. ‘That’s what we do; find people work.?
Nothing in life stands alone. Even the greatest mountain has a foundation for support, and Malace is no different. He met his wife, Connie, in college and the two have been married now for 14 years.
‘I’m really lucky, my wife is such a vital part of what I do. I am the central figure, but without her we wouldn’t get anything done. She’s doing all the work behind the scenes, I just get all the credit,? said Malace.
In another life, Malace would have been a great algebra teacher, his passion is invigorating in coversation. Coaching his 12-year-old son Larry III and 9-year-old daughter in their, and many other children’s athletic pursuits is a natural fit.
‘Everyone has hobbies. Some people golf, some people fish. My hobby is coaching kids,? said Malace.
But as Malace’s past shows, when he does something he goes big. So his current quest to remake the Clarkston Chief’s youth football program should surprise noone.
Fed up with the Suburban Youth Football League’s policy of turning kids away once a team was full, Malace, as president of the Chief’s, broke his team from the SYFL, to form the Northern Youth Football League after the 2004 season.
‘From a stress perspective (starting my own) business (was) much tougher. The thing about the new league was people resist change and they are scared and you have to convince them that what you are doing is right and that they need to believe in themselves and that it’s going to happen,? said Malace.
The new league will incorporate teams from areas like Lake Orion and Lapeer. The most important thing to Malace is no child will be turned away ? the Chief’s are expecting to field two teams in some of the play levels this year.
‘You need to be able to communicate your ideas and your vision to those around you so they will support you. I think that’s key in business and I think that’s key in life; and even more important with a volunteer organization where nobody’s getting paid,? said Malace. ‘You can convince someone to do something when you’re paying them. It’s convincing people to get on board with you when nobody’s getting paid that takes time and effort.?
Malace is happy with the direction the Chief’s are taking because he wholeheartedly believes that athletics can serve a greater purpose than providing exercise and competition.
What hurt Malace so much about turning children away from the Chief’s was not whether or not he was sending the next Marshall Faulk or Ronnie Lott away without a chance, but rather that a child would not have a chance to have fun while learning about life.
‘I had my day. I try to tell all the coaches ‘This isn’t about you? you’re here, you’re not in the pros. The best thing you can do is try not to live vicariously through your kids and make sure your kids have a good time,?? said Malace.
Malace wants to leave a legacy of his life behind, and has no delusions that it will only come from his children? nor would he have it any other way.
‘The greatest responsibility in the whole world is to raise decent human beings. It doesn’t matter how much money you make, how big your house is, what you drive. In the end, if you don’t develop quality human beings, you have failed in life,? said Malace.
For the time being, Malace’s life is on cruise control. The Chief’s football players and cheerleaders will start practice in the beginning of August. The first games of the NYFL will start later in the month. ISG Resources enjoys a 60 percent hire rate for people who start out as temporary workers through them.
While he has a full plate being a husband and father, owner/president of a multimillion dollar company, and president and defensive coordinator of the Chief’s, Malace’s next venture may come at any time.
With a track record like his, nobody would be surprised if Malace’s next undertaking is a success too.