Veteran Podcaster Delves into the Journey from Success to Significance
Author Rick Tocquigny and WordCrafts Press are thrilled to announce the release of Truly Significant: Conversations with Big Hearted People, which officially released this month in hardback, trade paperback, and all major ebook formats. More than just another success book, Truly Significant is a collection of stories from ordinary people who experienced extraordinary transformations. These are not tales of wealth or fame, but of lives changed, hearts opened, and communities uplifted. This unique approach to living a life of significance is already creating excitement among readers as the book immediately climbed onto Amazon.com’s Bestsellers in Business Mentoring and Coaching chart, debuting at the Number 78 position.
Acknowledging the book’s appeal, Amazon also lists Truly Significant in its Top 100 list of Gift Ideas in the Business Mentoring and Coaching category!
“Each of these conversations with big hearted people reminds us of the incredible power of choice—to align our actions with values that matter, and to leave a legacy of hope. Kindness, generosity, and philanthropy aren’t just lofty ideals. They’re the tools that build bridges, the sparks that light dark corners, and the actions that transform intentions into impact.
And when you finish this book, reflect on what your story might say. Not about your accomplishments, but about the lives you have touched and the love you shared. Imagine this: your final check bounces—because you gave all you had. What remains is not the wealth you accumulated, but the legacy you left behind.
“I was inspired to write this book after hearing from more than four thousand inspiring guests on our Success Made to Last,” explains author Rick Tocquigny. “It didn’t take long before a pattern emerged, a thread that wove its way through every guest, regardless of their background. These individuals had found a joy that transcended material success. Their conversations weren’t cluttered with mentions of wealth or possessions. Instead, they centered on purpose, on serving others, on a significance that went beyond the self. My hope is that, once you’ve read the book, you will examine the next chapter in your life, rethink your legacy, and write it every day with acts of kindness.”
From the Book
Significance of Courage
Earl Rudder, the quiet Texan with the steely gaze, was born to a world of flat plains and boundless skies in Eden, Texas. His story, though, reaches far beyond that humble beginning.
It was the 6th of June, 1944. D-Day. Normandy. A day when the free world stood on the brink, teetering between tyranny and liberation. And standing on Omaha Beach, with 225 Rangers under his command, was Lt. Colonel Earl Rudder. Their mission? To scale the 100-foot cliffs of Pointe du Hoc under a rain of fire and fury.
The odds? Grim. The stakes? Unimaginable.
But Rudder didn’t flinch. He didn’t waver. Leading from the front, he inspired his men with a quiet determination, the kind you couldn’t fake. Those men climbed, clawed, and bled their way up those cliffs, silencing the German guns that threatened thousands of lives below. Two-thirds of his men fell that day. And yet, they succeeded. Why? Because Rudder led with his heart, his grit, and a sense of duty larger than himself.
But the story doesn’t end on those cliffs.
Earl Rudder’s battlefield leadership was just a chapter in his tale. When the war ended, Rudder came home—not to rest, but to rebuild. A soldier, yes, but also a teacher, he turned his attention to shaping the future. By 1959, he was named President of Texas A&M University.
“I suppose, in a way, I could say that I wrote this book over the past couple of decades,” Villella muses. “I can remember being a 23-year old youth pastor teaching high school students about the importance of avoiding a spiritual mismatch using the imagery of 1 Corinthians 6:14-15. I would hold up a wooden yoke to show them the problem if the two things in it tried to go in two different directions. So that chapter goes back that far. However, the concept that marriage is a co-workership—where we accomplish things for God that we couldn’t accomplish alone—it didn’t dawn on me to say it that way until later in life once I began pastoring adults. This book is a summary of twenty years of pastoral preaching and counsel.”
About the Author
Author Rick Tocquigny is on an odyssey to understand the scope and value of serving others. His Austin, Texas-based company, Truly Significant Media, features divisions devoted to publishing, podcasting and mentoring start ups. Each division has a give back component to create a social-legacy.
Rick gained invaluable experience from his careers at P&G, Frito-Lay, and General Mills. Now in his 16th year in podcasting, his team has produced over 4,000 shows, interviewing people whose work and volunteering can be called significant.
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