JAY ZINK, Ph.D.
Psychotherapist (Ret.)

To Whom It May Concern:

The purpose of this letter is to speak to the character and leadership skills of Mr. Charles Eitel by documenting some of our professional and personal history over the last 35 years. During some of that time I was hired as a consultant and psychotherapist for the executives of three separate companies under the leadership of Mr. Eitel. My stated mission for all of these companies was to help their executives lead fuller and healthier lives. Executives often lead exceptionally stressful lives.

These companies were Collins and Aikman Commercial Carpet, Interface Commercial Carpet, and The Simmons Mattress Corporation. At no time during my work for these entities under the leadership of Charlie Eitel did I ever observe him engaged in any behavior unethical or immoral.

In fact, his comportment was the very opposite of these descriptors. I found Charlie to be a natural born leader who led by example and never once asked of his labor force anything that he himself would not do. Never once did he ask me to do anything but help the clients and patients he sent to me and for whom I was paid by his companies to help.

The professional work was to provide what is commonly called “talk therapy.” This involves entering into a professional relationship with a patient for the purpose of having deep and meaningful conversations about their lives and life choices. These conversations are held over a time varying span for the explicit purpose of helping individual patients discover how their own choices are causing them to suffer. That is the diagnosis portion of treatment and is often the easiest to do. Exploring what to do about it is the prescription. This is the more challenging part of treatment.

This work I did for hundreds of Charlie’s employees over the years. It was enormously popular with these companies. Even people who were not patients had heard of this work and were supportive of it. Charlie placed no restrictions on it. Whatever I needed to help these people, Charlie found a way to provide it. He never once asked me for any information I learned in these privileged conversations.

In the course of these treatments, I met one patient who became quite special to me. Her name, I can divulge now because she has passed, was Tiffany Alverson. Her mother, Joyce, was a long time employee of the Interface Corporation. Tiffany was a Type-I diabetic diagnosed at age 14. Charlie asked me to work with her even though her mother was the company employee. Since my late wife had been a Type-I diabetic, I had a special interest in this case and special skills in teaching effective diabetes management. It turned out that I spoke on the phone every day for 25 years to Tiffany Alverson. Sometimes as short as ten minutes and sometimes it was longer as needed. In fact, I was on the phone with her moments before she lost her battle with diabetes and died from its complications. Long after I was paid by Interface (more than ten years) I was still speaking to Tiffany every day. The Alverson Family never received any billing from me. My second wife, a surgical nurse, and I visited Tiffany and her family on Tiffany’s 42nd birthday and brought her a birthday cake.

It was the last time I saw her. She was one of the great inspirations of my life.

All this happened because of Charlie Eitel’s leadership and deep understanding of how much support the people who worked for him need in the stressful, complicated world we live in.

I started consulting with Charlie Eitel a few months after my first wife died. Charlie was often my own therapist. Those were dark days for me personally and Charlie, with his “we can make wonderful things happen” attitude was a constant blessing as I recovered from the loss of my soul mate. Not especially trained to listen, Charlie’s listening skills are exceptional.

Charlie and I met in 1989 on Amelia Island in Georgia. I was speaking at a general meeting of The Young President’s Organization. Charlie and his wife, Cindy, were Members of YPO, and after my talk on parenting issues, they came up and chatted. He asked me to come and speak to his company, Collin’s and Aikman, and I accepted. That chance meeting changed my life and the lives of so many I was able to help, including the late Tiffany Alverson. Of all the members of YPO I met and worked with over the years, I today consider Charlie Eitel to be one of the finest, if not the finest, of that rarified group of commercial leaders. And, now as I look back over my life in retirement, I confess to being proud of the work I was able to do as a doctor and psychotherapist.

I am prouder of the opportunities I had work with this good man, Charlie Eitel.

Leaders like him are very, very rare. It has been one of my greatest blessings to know him.

Sincerely,

Jay Zink, Ph.D.

 

Jeffrey A Goldberg

To Whom it may concern,

I have known Charlie Eitel since 1975. We worked together but I mostly worked for him, for around 40 years. We worked for several different companies, and most were struggling to survive. Charlie led them to profitability in amazing short times.

He is a charismatic leader who cares for his people and he demonstrates concern for the people that work for him. They have benefited from their relationship with him.

I know him on a personal level also. He is a family man with a great wife and three great children and he is easy to like. He makes new friends while keeping old ones like me.

Charlie is a good example of a successful person and has achieved the American dream. He graduated from Oklahoma State and entered the business world as a sales trainee for a large carpet manufacturer. Within a few years he became president of another carpet company and has led several other companies in his career.

I can testify that Charlie Eitel is a good guy.

Jeff Goldberg