How To Succeed In Business By Really Trying: Grit, Mentors and 5 Point Plan

Joshua’s journey, both in Part 1 of my interview with him here and in his many speeches and interviews with media, has already inspired many.  One comment sums up well how people respond upon learning about his story: “I love this, Parke. Thank you for posting. I feel privileged to serve many students with a similar story.”  If the opening of Joshua’s story outlined challenges followed by opportunities, Part 2 will educate anyone interested in creating a path to success though entrepreneurial passion.

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After your time at Northern Virginia Community College you transferred into one of the top business schools in the US. What was the transition like? What was it like to move from a commuter school to a residential campus?

Due to the fact that I had been independent for 3 years prior to transferring from a commuter school to a residential campus, I cannot say I struggled much in terms of the living situation. Prior to coming to my current university I knew how to cook and clean along with other everyday tasks.  In terms of living, the only notable change was less travel time and the fact the buses in Charlottesville are free and run more often. It was a 45-minute commute to school and back when I went to NVCC.  

Friends help Josua move in

Transition in terms of school culture was quite difficult. I did not know many people at my current university and I felt like a small fish in a giant ocean. At some points it was difficult because at times my peers and I did not see eye to eye. However, rather than worrying about trying to get certain people to like me, I made a very conscious effort to go out more and just meet new people that I could identify with and talk to. I talked to an average of 2-4 new people a day and eventually I made some amazing friends (a lot of them being 1^st years and transfers) that are now my support group and advisors today. Finally, if it were not for my transfer friends in my third year who were already fourth years at the time, and thus served as my mentors, (and notably my friends Monica, Roxanne, Roya, Khalida, Laura, Maria and Paola) I would not be where I am today. Personally, I am extremely grateful for the transfer community at my school.

Many transfer students often feel it is more difficult to get involved with activities or be a part of the social scene. This has not been true of you. How did you approach your education and your activities?

I think the key has been prioritizations and tradeoffs. My entrepreneurial life is the most important part because this is what I transferred to my university to do and the career path I plan to pursue afterwards. Many of my extracurricular activities were strategic in aligning with this goal, whether it was learning a new marketing strategy, building a useful/new technology or meeting some amazing people; they all fell in line with my plan of personal growth and education.

I did trade a 3.96 grade point average at NVCC for a grade point average that's less than perfect, but I still gained new skills and experiences. I am a firm believer that you go to school not to memorize a whole bunch of facts, but to know what questions to ask. Grades are only a real time and static metric to measure how well you are doing at one particular point in time. I learn through application, not through memorization. This is more so because I have a close to photographic memory when it comes to learning.

As for the social scene and sleep/health I am a firm believer that a healthy body leads to a healthy mind and in turn a healthy life and career. I actually slept more on average now than at NVCC. I ‘ve slept an average of 6-7 hours a day for the last 18 months. Also, I went out 2-3 times a week, whether it would be dinner or socializing. I made a New Year’s resolution 2 years ago to have more fun and I hold true to this resolution to this day. Finally, I walk an average of 2.5 miles a day and work out 3-4 times a week to relieve the stress that my career and school work causes.  As many say, ‘it’s a struggle’ but definitely manageable.

You are not the typical student at your business school. The emphasis there tends to be on preparing people for consulting and for Wall Street. You, on the other hand, have known you want to be a part of the startup culture for some time. When did you know this was the route you wanted to pursue and how have you done this both in and out of the classroom?

It has been a long journey to arriving to the conclusion that I want to be an entrepreneur and pursue it as a career. I do mark August 10, 2011 as my first day on the job as an entrepreneur. That was the day that we decided to start Awesome Ideas and A.I. Textbooks, my first two entrepreneurial projects, and it was the first time I said, “I’m going to start a business.” I had no idea at that time, but those words would lead to many places. Throughout my journey over the next 20 months, I came to 5 fundamental realizations on my road to entrepreneurship.

I graduated NVCC on May 12, 2012 and I had to write a speech for NVCC’s Pathways to the Baccalaureate Program on what I derived from my NVCC experience and what my next steps were. During this speech was the first time I said in public the following words, “Before the age of 29, I would like to cofound a multimillion and multibillion dollar company showing that a special education student, a kid that was on the verge of homelessness, and who looked like a demented looking Harry Potter kid can still be on the same level as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.” This is when I mark the first time I had a vision of where I wanted to be in less than 8 years. I literally could envision the stages where I would make that statement and believe that I could do it. This first realization was Vision.

After transferring to McIntire, I had quite a few issues because for the first time in my life, I could not prioritize certain tasks and I was forced to make a trade off. This was the first time, I would echo the words, “I’m in McIntire to learn as much as I can and to know as many people as I can.” This was the time where I realized that I would not be following the traditional ‘McIntire Route’ of doing an Internship and then a job. If I wanted to pursue entrepreneurship after college then I would need to choose my own path; in this case, the one less travelled. This second realization was about accepting that entrepreneurship is about taking the road less travelled.

McIntire School students

During the winter break of my third year while on the McIntire marketing trip I made the declaration to myself that I would not pursue an internship; instead I focused on how and prepare myself to do entrepreneurship after college. I pursued entrepreneurship projects in terms of learning. This is where I truly began to hack my education. I realized that many of the skills I needed to be a successful entrepreneur could not be found in the classes that I was taking. With this said, it was the first time I internalized the value of my degree from McIntire.  It was about knowing how to develop and market any business or technology. If I could achieve learning these skills, then I would be happy. This third realization was about the importance of defining a ‘Personalized Education.’

Richard Ellinger

Following this realization, I asked an individual named Richard Ellinger, the CTO of Webs.com (before its acquisition by Vista Print) and also the co-founder of SABA, to mentor me. He had experience creating an IPO and working through M&A--two things I want to achieve before I am 29. He became my mentor and has streamlined my education in terms of real experiential learning on how to market anything and what is possible with technology. He gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to work on a product called WealthMinder that uses big data to ensure you can reach your life’s financial goals. The fourth realization for me was the value of ‘Mentorship’

Fast forward a few months later, and I was back to having doubts. I questioned one last time, whether I should just get a job after college or pursue entrepreneurship. I realized that I needed some sort of income after college; as without this it would be very difficult to do entrepreneurship. A few weeks later I took the simplest idea possible that had the most margins attached to it, which was social media consulting. I realized it had synergies with my entrepreneurial goals because by owning a digital marketing firm I could cut my business development costs almost out of the equation. I can now say as I finish this blog post that this dream has been achieved and that yOptimize is generating enough cash flow for me to live comfortably after college thus allowing me to grow my other ideas too. If I had not prepared early, I would not be in a place to do entrepreneurship given my family and financial situation. This fifth realization was the value of ‘Responsible Entrepreneurship.’

Now with less than 8 week before graduation, life is definitely full of possibility and plans. In October of 2012, I set in motion the plan to do my dream career and a year and a half later, I can say it is finally within my grasp. In the last 20 months since choosing entrepreneurship as my lifestyle and career, I hacked my education not only to receive an amazing degree from McIntire but to learn an exceptionally long list of skills:  mobile development, book publishing, web development, social media growth hacking, content architecting, global marketing, outsourcing, dealing with wholesalers and distributors, working through government procurement, launching a motivational speaking firm, and solidifying content aggregators. All in all think my approach to my education was well served and I am ready for the next journey ahead.

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Education, as anyone knows, means more than what one learns in a classroom. While professors and teachers often best instill certain skills, many of the necessities one needs to compete in the world of start-ups and entrepreneurial endeavors are often learned by other means.

 The skills and activities Joshua outlines in this last paragraph comprise a vital list. Virtually of them came through individual effort rather than through classes. On the other hand, Joshua knew one of the secrets to success today: finding the right mentor. I have written about the need for mentoring before but I don’t think I have seen such a concise demonstration of how a mentor has changed the life of a mentee as the one Joshua talks about here.

Finally, Joshua knows how to put into perspective and a useful order the keys he needed to move forward to achieve his lofty goals. The 5 steps he gives could serve as a template for many young people looking for a way to structure their education and their career goals.

 In Part 3 of his interview, Joshua will add even more advice and provide more examples of how being open to ideas at any time and place will lead to great things: a successful App, and a successful on-line start up, just to name 2.

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Joshua has been busy since his interview. He continues to be an successful entrepreneur. But rather than me talk about his story, he is his TEDx talk that should inspire you: