George Mason and Me…

With all the excitement swirling around the NCAA “Cinderella” Team of the Decade, I too have gotten caught up in “George Mason Fever”.

In addition to (also) being excited about GMU’s meteor ride into the final four, and the attention it is bringing both to the Washington DC Region and the very competitive Colonial Athletic League (go Towson!), the recent national exposure of GMU Basketball has caused me to remember my 3 year association with GMU when I served on the faculty of the Business School.

Being on the faculty at George Mason was a critical part of my ability to successfully launch my first business in 1993.

It is this “stroll down memory lane” that has caused me to really remember what it was like to successfully make the transition from Employee to Entrepreneur, and if it is o.k. with you, I’d like to share some the “Lessons Learned”, or more importantly:

“If I Only Knew Then, What I Know Now, The Five Most Important Things Every Full Time Employee Must Know To Successfully Make The Jump From Employee To Entrepreneur… My George Mason Story:”

Yes, its true. It was during my time as an Adjunct (non-tenure) Faculty Member at George Mason that I laid the foundation for a successful $25+ million dollar a year business, with 85 employees and incredible cash flow. Yup, working out of an 8 foot by 10 foot office with florescent lights and linolium floors I started my vast “Empire”.

But before I get into the “Five Most Important Things”, let me share with you how I even came to become a faculty member at GMU. Prior to accepting a job at George Mason, I too was one of those people who subscribed to the saying: “Those who can do… and those who can’t teach…” and since I am an “Action Jackson” kinda guy, the thought of being a “TEACHER” was not of the slightest interest to me at that point in time. I’ll show you later in this post why that frame of thinking is DEAD WRONG!

But, back to the main point.

I had graduated with an MBA from one of the nation’s top business schools in 1986, and quickly took full advantage by getting married, buying a toney town-house in Old Town Alexandria, VA (on an adjustable 14% interest rate loan) and entering into leases for two super sweet, late model year automobiles. All the while also giving all the gold cards in my wallet an equally “robust” work out. In short, racking up over $100,000 in consumer debt and taking on a choking house payment less than one year out of school. Or as Robert Kiyosaki calls it: “REDLINING” Big time!

Living in Old Town Alexandria was great – It was like living in an outdoor shopping mall, complete with water amenity and 120 choices of restaraunts within a five minute walk – awesome. Or, a quick train ride to a financial train wreck. Allthough we claimed we “did not see it coming” (stupid is, as stupid does), within three years of “bulking up” my credit cards, the Ferris Wheel STOPPED!! Within three of my wife (at the time) quitting her job to enter her first year at George Mason Law School, my employer announced that our company was shutting down. Normally not a huge deal, except it was my second layoff within 8 months, and the industry I had entered right after grad school was suffering an implosion of “Epic Proportions”, and simply stated – there were ZERO jobs in what I had been trained to do. After several weeks of twisting arms with head hunters it became clear that my only options for maintaining (anything close) the salary I was making was to move clear across the country. An idea that was DOA with my wife (at the time) who was going through her own challenges as a first year, first semester law school student.

After weeks (more) of going to interviews (for jobs at a greatly reduced price tag) for jobs available in the DC area, I made a “last ditch effort” and sent my resume to all of the colleges and universities in the area that had schools of business, in the hope that my MBA from a fancy school would get me in the door. For what, I really was not sure because at the time I did not even have a clue as to what college professors made. I just knew that I had to stop the financial hemorrhaging.

To my great surprise and delight, the then Dean of George Mason called me in for an interview and three weeks later I became a part-time faculty member on a short term six month contract, and at the end of the semester I did well enough to be offered a two year contract.

It was during that crucial first six months that I began to see how important a job can be for a “budding business owner”, and not just because of the obvious “pay check” issue.

Since I had only “bought myself” six months (initially), I had to be very focused on getting my business concept up and running. George Mason (to me) was a life preserver, not a ship.

I have already gone on too long for this post.

Come back Monday, and I’ll share with you step-by-step the five things every employee must know to successfully make the transition to entrepreneur…

p.s. I don't "work" on Sundays, and neither should you <- another post for another day...