“Try” is a powerful word. It represents the difference between success and failure.
Between glory and mediocrity.
Between pride and despair.
Work Media is doing well. I think the company has a very bright future, and I am proud of where we have come. But it has not, by any means, been easy.
I always wanted to be one of those guys who got really rich in business at a young age – one of the ones who made it look effortless. It just wasn’t that way for me. I made my first attempt at starting my own business when I was 23.
I crashed and burned.
Then for the next several years I had a number of jobs in the fields of website design, programming, and Internet marketing. After finishing one particular contract job, for which I admit with no pride that I gave little effort (there were extenuating circumstances, but I still mailed it in), I had much difficulty finding my next gig. So I made my second attempt at starting my own business.
I crashed and burned.
So came a couple more jobs. I eventually landed at Shop at Home TV, where after working with a good guy named Fred Bergman doing Endeca programming (a sophisticated shopping cart search platform), I eventually became their Manager of Search. That was a cool job.
Then the company got sold, and I was on the street again, small severance check in hand.
So what did I do? Well, of course, I started my own business. This time around, I did not crash and burn. Not that it was easy. There actually came a time when my business partner (and brother), Chris Work, and I decided to shut down. This was about three years ago. Only thing was…there weren’t any jobs to be had anyway! So we carried on.
And then things turned around. Work Media is now well-established. I don’t worry about going out of business. It took three times, and even then it was often like pulling teeth, but we pulled it off.
What is the underlying theme throughout all this?
We kept trying.
No matter what happens in your life, if you have a goal…a dream…a vision for what you want your life to be, it can happen as long as you keep trying.
One thing that is interesting is that you will find yourself stumbling into opportunities and good situations which were not at all part of your original plan, but these things often end up sending you in even better directions, and providing opportunities you never imagined.
But it never happens if you don’t try.