In 1913, he was appointed first secretary of the Texas Industrial Accident Board, which had been founded as a result of legislation sponsored by his father in the
Texas Senate. He then had a long career in insurance. He founded the
Fidelity Union Life Insurance Company in 1928 in partnership with William Morriss. In 1958, the newly constructed Fidelity Union high rise was the tallest skyscraper west of the
Mississippi River. The company's rapid growth resulted from a novel
employee stock option plan partially devised by Collins. The company was sold to Alliance of Germany for $360,000,000 in 1980. In the 1930s, he launched a coast-to-coast radio selling campaign for a product called Crazy Crystals, dehydrated minerals from the springs at
Mineral Wells, Texas. They were advertised both as being a
laxative and as having other healing powers when dissolved in water. His radio station XEAW was the most powerful station in the country at that time, which he used to market Crazy Crystals. He also owned the Crazy Water Hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas to accommodate movie stars and celebrities seeking therapeutic treatment. Sales reputedly reached $3 million a year, although the
Food and Drug Administration later declared the product (and numerous similar products) fraudulent. Other early accomplishments include the startup of Ventahood, still owned and operated by the Woodall side of the family. In 1968, he received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement. In the later decades of his life, he was involved in a number of manufacturing and homebuilding ventures which included Mayflower Estates in Dallas north of
Preston Hollow. ==Politics==