Kristy: First of all, congratulations on the fabulous Being a Compliance Officer is Awesome! book. I think it’s the first children’s book about the role of a compliance officer. The story is so much fun.
Can you give us a synopsis of the book?
Tom: It’s the story of kids traveling across the universe to Planet Pawtastic Friends, the home planet for rescue dogs. They are going to build a new enrichment training center on the planet to help get the dogs adopted.
A corrupt contractor offers one of the kids a bribe to get the contract to build the enrichment center and the child rejects the bribe because it would not be the right way to do business.
Kristy: First of all, congratulations on the fabulous Being a Compliance Officer is Awesome! book. I think it’s the first children’s book about the role of a compliance officer. The story is so much fun.
Can you give us a synopsis of the book?
Tom: It’s the story of kids traveling across the universe to Planet Pawtastic Friends, the home planet for rescue dogs. They are going to build a new enrichment training center on the planet to help get the dogs adopted. A corrupt contractor offers one of the kids a bribe to get the contract to build the enrichment center and the child rejects the bribe because it would not be the right way to do business.
Kristy: I love that the story features kids saving rescue dogs as a centerpiece. Most people love dogs – especially kids. But I know that you and I both have a huge soft spot for rescue dogs as well.
You may not know this, but I’ve fostered 18 dogs in my life. I adopted one, fostered 17, and eventually had a “foster fail” with my beloved Mr. Fox. What made you set the story around dog rescue?
Tom: My wife and I have 3 rescue dogs. The featured charity for the Compliance Podcast Network is Pawtastic Friends, which provides dog enrichment training for rescue dogs in Las Vegas so they will become more adoptable. I wanted to honor our love of rescue dogs, honor my friends who founded Pawtastic Friends and raise awareness for them.
Kristy: The book distills what we do in such a profound way. It’s really all about fairness.
How did you conceive of the story to get to the core of what compliance officers do?
Tom: I worked with the creative team at my publisher, Dinosaur House to come up with the story. Being a compliance officer is communicated with various stakeholders about doing the right thing business-wise so I thought of kids and dogs as a way to make that point.
Kristy: What kind of feedback have you received from parents (or aunts, uncles, or grandparents) about how they used the book and what their children thought of it?
Tom: The response has been great. The first week, it became a No. 1 best-seller on Amazon in Children’s Books. I have written 25 books and it is already my best-selling book. I can’t count the number of compliance professionals who have told me that their kids now understand what Mom or Dad does in their job.
Kristy: Count me in as a huge fan! Where can people get the book?
Tom: It is available on Amazon.com
Kristy: Thank you so much Tom!
Check out Tom and my podcast, Two Gurus Talk Compliance, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Or listen HERE.
