Peter Elvidge: The Godfather of Perseverance

January 3, 2018 94

Peter Elvidge is the youngest Godfather to walk among us. He is the radio show host of Seeing Beneath The Surface, one of the newest shows we’ve brought onto the Helium Radio Network. Neil Haley, host of the Total Education Network (namely Total Tutor Network, Total Celebrity Show, and The Neil Haley Show) brought Peter Elvidge to us through collaboration efforts. When we caught up with Peter, we learned some fascinating stories of his life and his Minnesota roots. Grab some popcorn and kick back for another radio show host blog.

How Peter Met Neil (And How We Met Peter)

Because Peter’s name traces itself back to conversations around Neil and the Miami Book Fair, we had to hear the story firsthand. “That’s quite an interesting story,” Elvidge shared with laughter in our interview.

Jump back to February 2015. Neil’s assistant, Dede Faltot Rittman, found Peter on Twitter when he was posting his art and video blogs for exposure. At the time, Neil wanted to make a leap into YouTube and was searching for someone with experience. Dede reached out and brought an opportunity to Peter. Through several exchanges, Neil and Peter set up a meet-and-greet phone call. But because of a time zone difference, Peter had to suddenly take the call when grocery shopping at Target. He took over video editing and video marketing for Neil, while Neil focused on the audio aspect of his brand.

Naturally, Neil Haley was always the main interviewer of authors at the Miami Book Fair. When Helium Radio, formerly Life Improvement Radio, produced the Miami Book Fair interviews, Peter joined Neil in interviewing as a co-host. At that point, Peter was officially part of the Helium Radio team.

Losing Sight ≠ Losing Vision

Cone-rod dystrophy, as well as borderline glaucoma, have presented Peter with challenges to his sight for the past few years. Cone-rod dystrophy occurs through the “loss of cone photoreceptors, followed by loss of rods.” — Source: Blindness. (For reference, cones allow us to see color and spatial acuity. Rods allow us to see in low-light situations).

At first, he suffered major clarity issues and color perception. In 2017, he lost his major clarity perception. This put a damper on his work with Neil, but only for what seemed like a split second. Peter was freaking out, unsure of what he’d do for a job. The next day he explained what happened to Neil to which Neil replied, “Do not worry about having a job. Do not worry about having an opportunity. Take the time that you need, get back on your feet. I’m going to make sure there’s something here for you. We will accommodate you in any shape or form.” In our opinion, Mr. Peter Elvidge deserves a tremendous amount of credit for overcoming his struggles, because he very much did.

Peter’s Perseverance Network | The WHY

While perfectly named, Peter’s Perseverance Network was formed out of his own perseverance. The mission is to inspire, motivate, and educate its viewers through video, audio, and written content. The desire to help people overcome obstacles stems from his overcoming his own struggles. “If I’m putting out some sort of inspirational piece, it has to have inspired me first to make the cut,” Peter explained.

Clearly, the inspiration is running wild. In 18 months, Peter’s Network has grown to partner with 98 other networks around the world. With a community of over 100,000 people, he reaches 135 countries on a daily basis. Perseverance Network is the over-arching entity housing four separate parts: entertainment, promotion, the news network, and general information. Perseverance Entertainment Network is where the internet radio station is housed. Peter’s show, Seeing Beneath The Surface, has been in existence since March 2017. Since inception, he has shared his voice with his co-host Toni Quest. As it turned out, YouTube gave them both common ground where they decided to collaborate.

Looking Forward

Peter is looking forward to a brighter and clearer future, literally and figuratively. As of right now, he plans to have his own internet radio station live by the middle of February. He’s always looking for future collaboration and is very open to growth.

Only seven years ago, doctors told him his sight would be unable to be fully restored. Now, he can prove them wrong with an innovative device known as eSight—electronic glasses for the legally blind. Even with a price tag of $10,000, he has received donations from fans of the Perseverance Network. We really want to see donations from our listeners as well; every little bit counts towards the end goal.

eSight is an interesting concept wherein donations are not given directly to Peter. They are, essentially, held in escrow for him and used on a pair of glasses once his goal has been met. Let’s get him there so he can in his own words, “see the world as it sees me.” We feel he more than deserves some extravagant adventures and witnessing special events.