Thomas B Gau (June 11, 1961)

It probably doesn’t often happen, but there are two men named Thomas B Gau in the United States. This one has a Facebook account which lists his birth as June 11, 1961. However, the daughter of the other one asked (on Facebook): “Who is this person?” Her father’s birthday is July 24, 1957, but both are now located in Boyton Beach, Florida. Very confusing. Maybe he is her father, since she hails from Ashland, Oregon, too.

I believe the man featured in this photograph is the one I wanted look at, as he is discussed in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “The Tipping Point”.

Tom Gau is a financial planner in Torrance, California [in 2000], just south of Los Angeles. His firm — Kavesh and Gau — is the biggest in its field in south California and one of the top financial planning firms in the country. He makes millions of dollars a year. Donald Moine, a behavioral psychologist who has written widely on the subject of persuasion, told me to look up Gau because Gau was “mesmerizing.” And so he is. Tom Gau happens to sell financial planning services. But he could, if he wanted to, sell absolutely anything. If we want to understand the persuasive personality type, Gau seems a good place to start.

Gau is in his forties. He is good-looking, without being pretty at all. He is of medium height, lean, with slightly shaggy dark hair, a mustache, and a little bit of a hangdog expression. Give him a horse and a hat and he’s make an excellent cowboy. He looks like the actor Sam Elliot. When we met, Gau shook my hand. But as he told me later, usually when he meets someone he gives him a hug or — if it is a woman — a big kiss. As you would expect from a great salesman, he has a kind of natural exuberance.

“I love my clients, okay? I’ll bend over backwards for them,” Gau said. I call my clients my family. I tell my clients, I’ve got two families. I’ve got my wife and my kinds and I’ve got you.” Gau talks quickly, but in fits and starts. He’s always revving up and gearing down. Sometimes when he is making an aside he will rev up even further, as if to put in his own verbal parentheses. He asks lots of rhetorical questions. “I love my job. I love my job. I’m a workaholic. I get here at six and seven in the morning. I get out at nine at night. I manage a lot of money. I’m one of the top producers in the nation. But I don’t tell my clients that. I’m not here because of that. I’m here to help people. I love helping people. I don’t have to work anymore. I’m financially independent. So why am I here working these long hours? Because I love helping people. I love people. It’s called a relationship.”

The Tipping Point (pages 70-1)

Meet Tom Gau

EVERYTHING about this chart is speculative! I was even considering not erecting one at all, but, when I saw how this one turned out, I knew I had to go with it, as is.

I chose Ashland, Oregon as his birth place because it didn’t make sense his moving there with his wife, unless it’s his home town. The timing is randomized, and the date may not be the only thing I can rely upon.

There are only two inconjuncts, only one dependent on a correct timing. Jupiter is the pivotal planet.

Jupiter in the Fifth House

This is a sign of an optimistic and cheerful temperament. You like to play and have good times in ways that are good for others as well as for yourself. You feel that by giving of yourself you have more than you would otherwise. You are cheerful with people, and you like to be with others who are the same way.

Jupiter Inconjunct Pluto (definitely)

You have a great deal of creative power, and the major challenger of your life will be learning how to handle it. First of all, you must realize that you will get the most out of life if you direct your energies toward helping the people around you and those you love. You will want to change many conditions in the world, which is fine as long as your reasons are not purely selfish ones.

Jupiter Inconjunct Ascendant (perhaps)

With this aspect, you may discover that in order to grow and get ahead in life, you will have to put aside your own needs and do whatever the situation or other people require. At times you will go through tremendous and possibly painful creative changes in your life, in which everything that you are is replaced by a new order. Your environment may change radically, or you may lose all your old friends and fins a whole set of new ones. During these times you will arrive at new understandings and realizations that make it impossible for your life to continue as before. You must always be open to new ideas and be willing to change your outlook on life.

Conclusion

I know Tom Gau seems a salesman who is too good to be true, and that is usually a warning sign to me. And because ALL the images of him are this same one (in various sizes and places, including Facebook), I thought he might be a caricature. But then I found this gem:

Truly, one picture is worth a thousand words.