Former head of Mid-Ohio Pipeline overcomes life's struggles, writes inspirational memoir
Brent Yates was in a bad place.
Even though he was running Mid-Ohio Pipeline Services, a very successful company just south of Lexington, his life was falling apart around 2007.
"My marriage wasn't stable," Yates told the News Journal in a phone interview. "I kind of had an attitude and ego that overwhelmed me. Everything around me was controlled.
"It just wasn't healthy."
Yates developed a mysterious ailment that doctors could not identify, causing him to lose 50 pounds.
"I didn't think I'd live to see 50," he said. "I became quite ill and was on crutches. I had to make up my mind if I wanted to live or die."
He chose to live.
The 1979 Lexington graduate bounced back in a big way and wants to inspire others to do the same.
Yates pens inspirational memoir to help others
Yates has written a memoir called "The Gravity of Up," published by Simon & Schuster.
Now 61, he grew up around the family business, which was run by his father, the late Gene Yates. Mid-Ohio Pipeline is an industry leader in utility construction, specializing in natural gas, telecommunications and electric. It has been around for 50 years.
Following high school graduation, Yates attended Ohio Northern University for two years. He majored in business and played basketball but left after two years to return to the family business as a welder.
"I met a woman from Lexington," Yates said. "We decided we were going to get married."
Yates eventually bought the family business from his dad in 1996.
Fast forward to 2007, when the tough times were at their worst. Yates and his wife were getting a divorce, and he was involved in a real estate lawsuit.
He embarked on a trip to Phoenix, Arizona. Yates had been there in 2002 to watch the Ohio State football team play in the national championship game.
He felt a different vibe in the Southwest while watching the Buckeyes and thought if he ever started over, he wanted to do it there.
Fifteen years after his first visit to Arizona, Yates was ready to start over.
"I opened my mind up to change and the hope of getting better, but I frankly didn't know how to go about it."
In what Yates calls "grace," God put a number of people in his life.
One of them was Don Wilson, founder and now retired pastor of Christ's Church of the Valley in Peoria, Arizona.
"He spoke to me every Sunday," Yates said of Wilson's sermons. "He just connected to me."
Yates' life changed forever during round of golf
Wilson provided Yates with one of the turning points of his life while they were on the golf course.
Yates described the pastor as an "average golfer." Still, Wilson called a 50-foot putt, something he had never done in the times they played together.
"When I make this putt, Brent is going to dedicate his life to Jesus Christ," Yates recalled Wilson saying.
The pastor sank the putt.
"Needless to say, I was shook," Yates said.
He took that as a sign from God. Wilson soon baptized Yates and his current wife, Christina.
Yates went back and forth between Phoenix and Ohio, for business. He was also involved in building condominiums in the South.
Life was good again.
"People around me that got to see the transformation encouraged me to write a book," Yates said.
In 2020, he decided to do just that in the hopes of inspiring others.
Chapter 11 is devoted to Christina, whom he calls his personal inspiration. He chose Chapter 11 because 11 is the couple's lucky number.
For the last two years, they have lived in Nashville, another place Yates has grown to love. He has three adult children from his first marriage and six grandchildren.
He has formed a partnership with country singer Steven Cade and is involved in the Giving Guitars Tour. Cade leaves behind one guitar at each show, along with a CD on how to learn to play.
More inspiration.
"Change can be had if you work hard," Yates said.
mcaudill@gannett.com
419-521-7219
Twitter: @MNJCaudill
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Former head of Mid-Ohio Pipeline writes inspirational memoir
