1-540-823-6787Above all, Tom Pfeifer likes to have fun! Born with Santa Claus dimples, he really can’t do life any other way. Whether he is working or playing, Pfeifer laughs, giggles, and guffaws his way through it. But that doesn’t mean he’s not serious about his work. He just enjoys what he does.
Pfeifer has known since he was 7 years old that he wanted to be a writer. And he has been carrying a writing utensil and pad of paper in his pocket for more than 60 years. There was only one problem: he grew up in a hopelessly blue-collar family. He doesn’t deny his blue-collar roots; rather, he celebrates them. Without blue-collars, we wouldn't have any roads, nor homes, nor electricity. We would have no computers, nor printers, nor paper. Without blue-collars there would be no civilization.
It just wasn’t Pfeifer’s calling to be a blue-collar worker. Unfortunately, he had no role models and—making a living as a writer? Well, that was laughable in his family. So, he went to work in the landscape construction industry.
Then, on Oct 4, 1978, an event unfolded that changed the direction of his life. He was working a job in the Hamptons on New York’s Long Island, when the foreman backed up the small bulldozer into the dump truck, with Pfeifer’s head in between. Cut him from the top of his head to the base of his neck, right down to his skull. Pfeifer enjoyed his first—and to this day—only—out-of-body experience as he watched his coworkers rush to his aid. They loaded him into the dump truck and took him to the nearest fire station, where the paramedics took over. As the paramedics wheeled him into the emergency room, Pfeifer heard one woman say, “Oh, he’s not going to make it." But make it he did. The doctor told him if the bulldozer had hit him just one degree tighter it would have crushed his skull. But he didn’t even have a concussion! Still, Pfeifer realized at the ripe old age of 24 years old that he was mortal. The first item on his bucket list was to see California, so he took the settlement money and headed west.
When he arrived in California, he found community college was within his price range: $50 a semester for unlimited credits! So he enrolled in the journalism program because it was the only hands-on writing program offered. He didn’t want to learn ABOUT writing; he wanted TO write. For the next 15 years, he honed his skills as a journalist, gaining a reputation for being fair and unbiased when covering the news, and an unabashed liberal when writing columns and editorials. It was his unabashed liberal tendencies that surprised his peers when the conservative congressman hired Pfeifer to be his spokesperson. It also surprised the congressman, who came to Pfeifer after Pfeifer wrote his first column for him. “This is a really good column, Tom. I just surprised you wrote it,” he said.“ Just because I wrote it doesn’t mean I believe a word of it,” Pfeifer replied, a twinkle in his blue eyes.
Thus began a 15-year stint on Capitol Hill, where Pfeifer witnessed firsthand 9/11 and the terrorism aftermath, the rise of partisanship, and the decision by many old-timers who had spent their careers reaching across the aisle heading for the exits. While in California, Pfeifer also met his wife while dressed as a leprechaun and bar-hopping on St. Paddy’s Day. Cathy bore him twin daughters and, even though he was out of town the weekend they were conceived, they look uncannily like him. Pfeifer’s mom insisted the twins be baptized in the Catholic church, but because neither Pfeifer nor Cathy were particularly religious, they refused. “When they’re old enough to decide, if they decide to be baptized, they will have our blessing,” they told his mom. Theresa decided in her early 20s to be baptized into the Methodist church, and her husband became a pastor of the church. Thankfully, Clare is still a pagan. Theresa and Clare are musicians and have beautiful singing voices, which gives credence to the milkman theory because neither their mother nor Pfeifer can carry a tune with a pickup truck. Theresa also plays electric bass, while Clare has taken on a supporting role running the sound board at the church and local community theater.
Though they are now in their mid-30s, they all enjoy going to concerts together—everything from jazz, to rock, to bluegrass, to music not easily categorized. Well Cathy doesn’t anymore because she passed on to the other side in 2019. Pfeifer founded Consistent Voice Communications in 2013 to continue to have an income after leaving Congress when the congressman retired. Among his clients were many mom & pop operations and several large associations, for which he wrote everything from articles and brochure and website copy to scripts for conventions. During this time, he also helped a client write and publish her first book. He expanded that side of his business during the pandemic. Then, in 2022, ten years after joining Toastmasters and eight years after publishing his book on speechwriting, he earned his World Class Speaking Coach certification. As a speaking and writing coach, he now speaks about storytelling and writing books and speeches, and coaches people and groups on book- and speechwriting. As a coach, he will help you to determine the right niche for your book or keynote, your audience, and help you to outline it and structure your chapters. He will then guide you through the writing process. Contact him at ConnectWithTom.com for a free thirty-minute consult to determine if he is the right fit for you or your organization!