RIP: Rod Shepherd (1950 - 2010)
Written by Gavin Kenna. Thursday, 28 January 2010 13:33
It is very hard to write an obituary for a man who has given me without a doubt the best days of my life as well as my darkest hour. I have had endless emails and texts from people saying “I am sure you will pen some great words about the great man”. I think for the first time in my life, my mind is empty.
I can count on one hand how many people I know from all over the world that at the just the mention of their name, you will receive a laugh. Rod is one of them, if not at the top of the list. Imagine trying to just sell a bridle or a saddle and then going on to touch hearts all over the world.
We are talking about one hell of a man who never took no for answer. People see things that are and say why, Rod saw things that weren’t and said why not. Having known Rod only for the last 15 years he was in Malaysia he is without a doubt a true entrepreneur. What he has done with the paddy fields of Malaysia as an equine feed has been nothing short of amazing. We are now servicing the most elite horse people in the world with what Rod called simply, his dream.
I would love a dollar for every time someone tells me I have the best job in the world, but people really don’t put much thought into the statement. To do what we do, you need a degree in politics and people skills to service over 20 different countries along with traditions and customs… my man was a legend at this. To be fair to the man he slowed up a bit at the finish, but to be able to get off a plane week after week and remember clients children’s names and what hobbies they had was truly amazing. It boarded on freakish. With that skill also comes his biggest asset; his ability to entertain. Everyone who left his company thought they were the special ones in his life. How many people do you know who have that ability? People didn’t buy from Rod because he sold the best; he was simply the best one to buy off.
Everybody has a good Rod story, and me personally, I would have one for every country we visited if not every moment we spent together. Didn’t matter what language we were trying to speak, if Rocket stuffed up, he always had a good bullshit story to cover his tracks. I won’t go down this track because we would be here forever but believe me there have been some classics. Didn’t matter if it was the Royals or a groom from the back blocks of the Philippines, Rod was always up for a bit of banter.
And then of course, there was how he treated his staff. It would be an understatement to say they would die for the man. Every individual was treated as precious as the next. Might be the fact he never had daughters that brought on this beautiful fatherly figure that we had the pleasure to work with every day. He has had a business partner for ten years that he never once had an argument with. That says something of his ability to accept other peoples’ ideas and take them on board without an ounce of fuss. The whole experience of working with Rod was not only a degree in business but also a degree in life and how you can live it to the max. Sure we are sad to think he died so young but take a breath and think how much he put into those 60 years; he put 10 lives into one. Not to mention what he has done for the people from the horse industry in Malaysia. He bent over backwards to try and help develop Malaysia into a stronger and more competitive operation.
Today the boys lost their father, Yen lost her husband, the ladies lost their brother, Mimi lost a partner and our staff lost their boss. Everyone else lost a real good mate.
Today I lost my hero.
