Motivation guru Lowe says workers tried to ruin him

His motivational seminars have brought such luminaries as Rudy Giuliani and Colin Powell to town and created traffic chaos in downtown Tampa.

Now self-improvement guru Peter Lowe faces some failings in his own life: He is divorcing his wife, Tamara, and accuses her company of stealing trade secrets.

Reached for comment Monday, Tamara Lowe, who also is a motivational speaker, said the lawsuit is being dismissed. As of Monday, there was no indication of that on file in Hillsborough circuit court.

Lowe operates his nationwide speaking businesses, Life Win Inc. and Get Motivated Seminars, from an office near Tampa International Airport. He's known for attracting big names from politics, business and sports to all-day motivational powwows.

Lowe, though, now claims in court documents that one of his senior employees, Brian Forte, has sabotaged his companies and kept them from conducting business.

In a suit filed last month, Lowe claims Forte and an unnamed third person tried to buy Life Win Inc. and Get Motivated Seminars in the fall. The deal fell through when the parties couldn't agree on terms.

Shortly after, Lowe claims Forte convinced "substantially all" of Lowe's employees to leave his companies and to refuse to even communicate with him.

Forte also took boxes and computer equipment from Lowe's companies and is using the misappropriated intellectual property to benefit a competing motivational company, Take Action Media of Palm Beach County, the lawsuit says.

Lowe is suing Forte and Take Action Media for breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets and other wrongdoing.

In a brief interview, Tamara Lowe confirmed she controls Take Action Media and that the couple is divorcing. She said the lawsuit will be dismissed imminently.

"It's a civil matter," she said. The Tribune was unable to reach Forte on Monday, and an attorney for Lowe declined comment.