Marty Leonard, owner and chief executive officer of Advent Packaging, is seen last week with some of the printing projects that his business produces in Vista. HAYNE PALMOUR IV Staff Photographer Order a copy of this photo Visit our Photo Gallery

VISTA ---- Marty Leonard, who went from college dropout to niche entrepreneur to "Sunglass King" ---- and then back to square one, and then back to the top again ---- can't accept that his life is a mere jumble of coincidences.

"I think I was being divinely led all the way through," Leonard said last week.

At 48, Leonard is president of Advent Packaging in Vista, a 12-person printing and packaging company that can plunk a logo or a message on just about any material ---- from paper to plastic to rainbow-colored underwear. Advent hit $1.5 million in sales last year, Leonard said.

In the last three months, Leonard has acquired another local printing company, invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in new equipment, and moved to a bigger building. He hopes to grow annual sales to $5 million over the next half-decade.

But 25 years ago, his future was unclear. Leonard had fallen away from his roots as a Baptist church boy ---- until an unexpected encounter renewed his faith.

"We had, living down on the end of the block, a Jesus freak," Leonard said. "He had bumper stickers all over his front window. They said: 'I love Jesus. How about you?' "

Not the kind of guy to rile up, he explained. But when Leonard put his car up for sale and the man offered to buy it, Leonard found himself in the conversation people tend to avoid.

"The guy asked if I was connected to Jesus," he explained. Leonard sat mesmerized while the man spoke for the next half-hour.

Not long after, the birth of his first daughter, April, pushed him back to the church.

"When she popped out of the womb with all fingers and toes working, I knew that was a miracle," he said. Little did he know then that April would be Advent's director of sales and marketing by the time she was his age.

Leonard's spirituality has woven a thread throughout his career, and it led him to create "The 10 Business Commandments," modeled after the biblical directives.

Every employee's business card has them printed on the back.

Although he is spiritual, he is not religiose, or even religious, he says. If Leonard were to flaunt a bumper sticker today, he might choose the one that reads, "God is too big to fit inside one religion."

Leonard's first commandment, "Submit to a higher authority," reminds employees to respect their bosses, salesmen to respect their vendors, and bosses to respect their customers.

The 10th commandment is "Be quietly confident."

"In middle-level management, you get a lot of people that might not be qualified to do the job that they're doing," Leonard said. "They rule with the iron thumb to hide their deficiencies."

No. 8: "Be a good steward." In other words, employees should be good caretakers of company assets. "Treat it as a personal possession. Don't treat it as, 'Oh, it's corporate,' " he said.

All of the commandments are Leonard's own lessons in 20 years of self-employment.

Barely 20, he had dropped out of college in San Francisco and was delivering sandwiches to 7-Elevens and taverns. A little bit of luck ---- "special circumstances," he calls it ---- landed him a sales job with Avery Dennison, the Pasadena company whose office products are familiar to consumers.

Four years in, he found himself in a niche market that no one was competing for: hang tags for sunglasses. He started his own business and produced tens of millions of them every year.

"I became known as the 'Sunglass King.' "

But by 1995, he was burned out: After enough 14-hour days, Leonard had lost control of his health and almost lost his marriage to his wife, Heidi. He sold the business, got Heidi back, and vowed never to go into manufacturing again.

No. 3: "Interact with integrity." That one forbids employers from overworking their workers.

Six months later, he decided to try once more. "I just needed time away from it. Then I found I had a new appreciation for it."

He reflected on his personal and professional mistakes and wrote "The 10."

In finding a name for the new company, he turned again to the Bible and settled on Advent. "Biblically, it means good things to come. I thought, 'Well, that's what I'm looking for.' "

It seems to have worked out. In the late '90s, his company secured its biggest account: eyewear behemoth Ray-Ban, a Luxottica Group brand. Advent's profits skyrocketed, and after 10 years in business, the "king" still wears his crown.

Contact freelance writer Andrew Phelps at ap@andrewphelps.com.