Alumnus Turns Passion Into Business Program

Leaders Inspire Leaders consists of a weekly podcast featuring interviews with successful forerunners in entrepreneurship, McDermott said. The podcast can be found on iTunes and will soon be available on SoundCloud.

 

“The premise of the show is to speak with intellectual entrepreneurial leaders all across the globe to help get tips, tools, techniques and insights for individuals who either already own their business or are aspiring entrepreneurs,” McDermott said.

 

The program offers motivational one-on-one coaching sessions directed toward aspiring entrepreneurs’ goals, he said.

 

“I think the interesting thing about all of us is that we all know what we should be doing, and we just don’t do it, and that is where the coaching comes in to play,” McDermott said. “The coaching adds that push that we need to say, ‘Hey, go ahead and take that next step.’”

McDermott said he climbed the corporate ladder at Apple to become channel account executive after graduating in 2009. He was making six figures a year and had expenses paid along with a company car. However, McDermott said he was still not satisfied.

 

 “I was just not fulfilled,” McDermott said. “It was something that was still nagging at me on the inside.”

 

McDermott discovered his friends shared his dissatisfaction with their employment.

“I wanted to show my peers that you can do what you love and make money out of it,” McDermott said. “There is an alternative to just going out and working for somebody else and going after the goals that they deem are important.”

 

McDermott said being an entrepreneur is a challenging task at times, but the benefits make it worth the effort.

 

“The difference between working for yourself and working for someone else is that you’re still putting in long hours and you’re still investing,”

McDermott said. “But the difference is that I’m investing in my dreams and my company and the things that are important to me as opposed to the things that have been placed on me.”

 

McDermott had the opportunity to network with several people while designing his website. An old co-worker helped take the photographs, and two fraternity brothers helped McDermott edit and design the site.

 

“Relationships really matter,” McDermott said. “It’s really about developing a network of true relationships.”

McDermott had reservations about leaving Apple.

 

McDermott had no income for some time after deciding to start his own business, and he made mistakes. However, he didn’t let these challenges hinder him. Instead, he looked at them as opportunities to learn what was working and what needed to be changed.  

 

“There were so many times when I thought to myself, ‘Did I make the right decision? Did I make the right move? Should I go back?’” McDermott said. “And I couldn’t see myself going back and working for anyone else. I thought to myself, ‘Hey, investing in myself is one of the safest bets, period,’ because I know that I’m not going to stop.” 

 Denise Cervantes is a lifestyle reporter for the University Star where this story originally published. It is reprinted here through a news partnership between the University Star and Corridor News.