The Millionaire Zone

Marguerite Gavin brings a level of authenticity and sincerity to her narration of Openshaw's work about using networking and entrepreneurship to achieve personal wealth. Gavin's smooth tones and comfortable delivery make her style conversational in tone and easy for the listener to follow. One forgets that this is a professional reading of a text--Gavin sounds like a close friend or family member telling personal anecdotes, so warm and intimate is her tone. Her ability to imitate the rhythm of real speech with rounded vowels and slight pauses ensures that this recording is easy on the ears and mind. M.R. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

April 9, 2007
Though ABC radio host Openshaw avoids these specific terms, the "winning steps" she touts in her first book are simply networking and entrepreneurship; Openshaw prefers to call this "tapping your LifeNet." Using a number of anecdotes about relatively unknown entrepreneurs, as well as stories about Bill Gates, Nike's Phil Knight and Warren Buffett, Openshaw shows how tapping into your LifeNet-through such actions as "redefining your Comfort Zone" and using your "Home Zone" for advice and support-will allow you to get past your fears, figure out what you want to do and build wealth accordingly. She also uses the results of two original surveys canvassing more than 3,000 high net-worth Americans. Unfortunately, the results hold very few surprises, and don't do much to support Openshaw's points: nearly two thirds of the millionaires surveyed say that their wealth derived largely from stocks and other investments; over half say real estate investments are key; and 30 percent say they inherited a significant sum; these are means to wealth that Openshaw's book barely addresses. In a crowded field, Openshaw's approach and original research fail to reach any novel conclusions.