As a college motivational speaker, people often ask how and why I chose this path, so here is a teaser. Before even entering college, my parents had saved up enough money to fully pay for me to go to college. Because I was born in 1982, the stock market treated me well. Basically, if we took any kid in the 80's and invested $10,000 in the market starting when he was born and just let it grow in some solid tech stocks, by the year 2000, that kid would have A LOT of money. That's what happened to me. Yay, lucky me...
In my first year at Harvard, things seemed fine but the reality of it was that I was completely unsure of what I wanted to be doing. I was depressed, and generally had very little direction. Then a strange blessing came along in my freshman year of 2000, the stock market crashed. I was still heavily invested in the market at the time, so with that crash went most of my savings.
I went from having enough money easily to put me through college to not enough money to pay for one year of college! In that moment, I realized I had to figure out something in order to be able to put myself through school, or at least to be able to contribute in a meaningful way so I wouldn't come out with too much debt. I was scared.
My younger brother, who was also in a similar situation, and I came across some equipment for grand opening promotions. It seemed ridiculous at the time, and still does. We would put on grand opening promotions for gas stations, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants. We had giant inflatable characters, search lights; moon bounces for little kids, and large concession trailers. We would create a fun atmosphere at these new establishments to generate a buzz around their grand opening.
That first summer we did three grand openings, within three years, we were doing 75 promotions in a summer. Our growth was explosive. It had grown into actually a pretty decent business. Of course, we made an infinite number of mistakes along the way but that business was the first time for me that I had a real passion, a real sense of focus. I had always been an entrepreneurial person but I never had an outlet for it. Coming across that business really stimulated something that I didn't know existed in me.
Suddenly all of the problems in other parts of my life seemed smaller thanks to my new passion and focus.
I think that's an important thing for many of us. So many people just go through life without finding what they're really passionate about. Or maybe they know what they're passionate about, but they're not doing it for a living. I have found this to be one of the most critical components to a fulfilling life, being able to do what you love to do, and actually get paid for it.
That's what I was doing with this company. That's what ultimately led to me becoming a college motivational speaker and expert on personal development.
In my first year at Harvard, things seemed fine but the reality of it was that I was completely unsure of what I wanted to be doing. I was depressed, and generally had very little direction. Then a strange blessing came along in my freshman year of 2000, the stock market crashed. I was still heavily invested in the market at the time, so with that crash went most of my savings.
I went from having enough money easily to put me through college to not enough money to pay for one year of college! In that moment, I realized I had to figure out something in order to be able to put myself through school, or at least to be able to contribute in a meaningful way so I wouldn't come out with too much debt. I was scared.
My younger brother, who was also in a similar situation, and I came across some equipment for grand opening promotions. It seemed ridiculous at the time, and still does. We would put on grand opening promotions for gas stations, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants. We had giant inflatable characters, search lights; moon bounces for little kids, and large concession trailers. We would create a fun atmosphere at these new establishments to generate a buzz around their grand opening.
That first summer we did three grand openings, within three years, we were doing 75 promotions in a summer. Our growth was explosive. It had grown into actually a pretty decent business. Of course, we made an infinite number of mistakes along the way but that business was the first time for me that I had a real passion, a real sense of focus. I had always been an entrepreneurial person but I never had an outlet for it. Coming across that business really stimulated something that I didn't know existed in me.
Suddenly all of the problems in other parts of my life seemed smaller thanks to my new passion and focus.
I think that's an important thing for many of us. So many people just go through life without finding what they're really passionate about. Or maybe they know what they're passionate about, but they're not doing it for a living. I have found this to be one of the most critical components to a fulfilling life, being able to do what you love to do, and actually get paid for it.
That's what I was doing with this company. That's what ultimately led to me becoming a college motivational speaker and expert on personal development.
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