Before Bob Gallo became a territory account rep at MarketSource, he was fluent in relationship building, public speaking and the art of presentation…but not from ways you might expect.
For 15 years, Bob toured the country as a full-time, professional magician. As someone who fell in love with magic and illusion as a small child, Bob was living his dream, performing for colleges, on television, and at trade shows. At the latter, he used magic to raise brand awareness and attract people to trade-show booths, so his favorite part of working at MarketSource is no surprise: “Building connections with store associates to help them promote the brand—there’s nothing more rewarding!”
But the magic didn’t stop there. In the late 90s, when the internet was still young, only one school for magicians existed—in California—and students were required to attend in person. Recognizing a need, Bob founded the world’s first online school for magicians—The International Conservatory of Magic. As an early adopter of virtual learning, the school became quite successful. “We’ve had hundreds of students from around the globe and our contributors were some of the most famous people in the magic world,” Bob says. However, once YouTube’s popularity grew, the school couldn’t compete. So, he recently retired the website after two decades and is transcribing all 2,000+ pages of the site into an eBook in his spare time.
But magic wasn’t Bob’s only dream, so why stop there? He’s also an avid paranormal investigator and published author on the subject.
“I’ve been investigating the paranormal since 1989,” he explains. “Years later, when I had children, the whole family started doing it. We investigate as a team and even created an award-winning web series that is now on every major streaming platform.” While the Gallo family doesn’t get paid for their work, they are able to subsidize their investigations with proceeds generated from two books they wrote on the topic. “There are many incredible experiences we’ve had over the years,” he says. “Everything from catching ghosts talking on a digital recorder to capturing full-body apparitions on camera!” Their first book, FAMILY SPIRITS: The Adventures and Evidence of Gallo Family Ghost Hunters, reached #3 in Amazon’s Adventure / Travel category and was one of the best-selling paranormal books of 2019. Their second book, FAMILY SPIRITS II: Purpose and the Paranormal, was published as a Barnes & Noble exclusive; it contains even more investigations and industry insights. “I love interacting with our readers,” he says. “We go to ‘Para-Cons,’ which are like Comic-Con but dedicated to the paranormal. We get to meet our readers, sign books and I give lectures. It’s really fun!”
While Bob doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon, if he could choose the perfect job, he’d stay right where he is: “I love what I do now. Working for MarketSource and pursuing the things I’m passionate about on the side makes my life pretty fulfilling.”
He continues, “I hope people read my story and realize that you can work with a great company like MarketSource, have stability, a great career, and still be the person you dreamed about as a kid. You can have it all…if you really want it!”