Testimonial by Paul Reali
Bruce McIntyre’s memoir opens with a collision: his decision to sell the business that bore his name and made up his life’s work, and debilitating treatment for a rare cancer. As he navigates this turbulence and we travel with him, McIntyre deftly weaves in the backstory: the trials and triumphs of a successful business builder, problem-solver, industry leader, and community volunteer.
The main lesson he leaves us with is not about business acumen (though he surely has plenty), but that it is people and relationships that make the journey possible and worthwhile.
This lesson becomes evident through what McIntyre did next. After selling the business and being declared cancer-free, he set about using his experience, creativity, and deep pool of relationships to make change in the world. Not one to go gently into retirement, McIntyre steps up his volunteer work and discovers one issue after another that he feels he can help. In both his adopted hometown of Charlotte and in a foreign land, we walk beside McIntyre as he gathers support—people and relationships, again—to make change in the world.
There Are No Answers Here, Only Questions is the story of McIntyre’s journeys, and it is a true pleasure to ride along with him. And I believe that’s entirely his point: none of us travel alone. Whether in business, or family, or cancer treatment, or volunteering, we are each only as strong as the community of people that ride with us. I was reminded throughout McIntyre’s skillful and engaging memoir just how many people make up a life, and how much better off we are for that gift.