A Tribute to Tom Wanne, by Rulon Brown

With heavy hearts the Key Leaves family mourns the passing of Tom Wanne. On paper Tom was our Business Development Officer - an industry vet with successes including co-founding Theo Wanne mouthpiece company, work for Fiberreed, Forestone, and Nadir Saxwind, and Tom’s own distribution company, The Wedge. 

In person Tom Wanne was so much more.

Tom joined the Key Leaves team a month after we first launched in 2018. He brought extraordinary business savvy and industry connections, and helped me craft a wholesale strategy, build up the dealer network, refine the marketing plan, and pace out the product development schedule.

I created Key Leaves and crafted our products, but Tom Wanne shaped our business more than any other person.

If it were not for Tom Wanne helping Key Leaves grow during our early startup phase, this company would be less vibrant and profitable. His help made Key Leaves more than my garage-based passion project. 

I leaped into the adventure of product design and manufacturing with limited industry experience and no experience running a music products company. Tom filled gaps in talent and knowledge and became my most trusted mentor.

Tom was well connected in the music industry yet working with him never felt transactional or flashy. His kind light-hearted personality and soft-spoken nature made every meeting feel easy, like a first meeting of mutual friends who had so much in common we surely should all work together.

As any small business owner knows, there are days, weeks and sometimes months that feel never-ending, excruciating, just far too much to bear - especially during a pandemic and Trump trade war. I felt that heavy weight on my shoulders but Tom was there to help lift and cheer us all on in the struggle. He was quick to comfort with a joke or a wise anecdote about the industry, or simply share his zen acceptance of things beyond our control. Tom was sincere. His friendly care and wisdom was priceless!

We laughed a lot. During one of our video calls together, we got laughing about how our tiny green leaf-shape saxophone products were growing fast and crushing the business estimates we had set so cautiously. Tom joked, “You're crushing it man! Just gotta keep hulk smashing it out there!”

The next week Tom sent me a box with several hot new products he was selling through his distribution company, The Wedge. To my surprise the box also contained a giant green hulk fist glove. I called Tom to thank him for the gifts and see if he meant to send only one glove. He laughed and said, “Yeah man! You've got one and I've got the other. We’ll just keep hulk smashing together!” That silly hulk glove has sat on my desk ever since and served as a reminder to be strong, have fun, and work with good people as you go.

During the worst parts of the pandemic, the industry and supply chain collapse that followed, and Chinese criminal gangs stealing Key Leaves’ patented designs and technology, I started to struggle with anxiety and depression. I was working every waking moment to grow the biz and find a new path across a fractured landscape made suddenly more treacherous. I was exhausted, frustrated, and totally burnt out. Through all that, Tom helped me to keep the wide view on what was most valuable, most strategic and most urgent. His business advice was exceptional and as a friend he comforted me with tales of how he and his twin brother Theo had sacrificed so much and worked so hard to establish Theo Wanne mouthpieces. Tom assured me that endurance with a good idea and a smart plan is often rewarded and rarely regretted for having been tried.

At my lowest point, I asked Tom to help me pull together our vital biz data and create exit plans to sell Key Leaves. I was just too exhausted to go on. Patiently and kindly, Tom gathered critical info and crafted several smart options. He took time to help me understand the pros and cons of the various options. Then he waited. He didn't push. He just answered follow up questions and waited for several days while I and my wife Kristen deliberated. We chose to press on. Tom was relieved and cheered us on saying, “I am so happy about this. I was hoping you would come to that on your own. Key Leaves is so unique and it's still early in the process. I think your endurance will pay off in ways you’ll feel really good about.” So we all pressed on and I knew I had a dear friend in Tom who believed the exhausting forward press was worthy.

Tom lived an active life. He played and coached soccer, biked often, skied gracefully, and hosted wicked games of extreme croquet. When my family visited Tom at his Bellingham home, we had the silly joy of playing a match in Tom’s back yard where he had curated cleverly shaped stump traps, water traps, and ferocious bushes ready to eat your well aimed croquet ball.

Tom loved Bellingham. He was involved with the tourism efforts there, and he always talked up the big qualities of his small town. He made his home there among his dear friends, family, and business associates, and he thrilled to his community with others. Once, he took us on one of his favorite walks along the waterfalls near his home. We jumped in the water and sun dried on the water carved boulders. But Tom took the first jump to and show all us how it's done.

We miss Tom and will greatly miss his kindness, empathy, and creativity.

As I reflect back on my time with Tom, one comment he made stands out to me more now at his passing and as I approach the age he was when he first said it.

I once asked Tom how he stayed so optimistic and steady during struggle. He paused for a moment and with a gentle thoughtful smile easing onto his face, he said, "Well, I'm over 50 now. If I haven't found a way to enjoy my life by now, I've been doing it wrong and I’d better figure it out fast. I guess I just try to do the things I really love and surround myself with people I want to spend time with. That seems to be enough for me.”

Tom - Thank you for your love, kindness, mentorship, and your Hulk-sized example of living life fully.

- Rulon Brown and the Key Leaves family

 

Memorial service for Tom Wanne will be announced on the social media sites of Theo Wanne. (FB and IG)

Remembrances or thoughts you wish to share on this post will also be shared with Tom’s family.