In Chapter 1 of 19 in his 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, social media ad agency CEO Mike Germano answers "What is Getting Easier and What is Getting Harder in Your Life?" Germano shares why it is getting easier to deal with the hard things. He finds it progressively challenging managing past and present relationships as your career and company grow, in particular those early relationships that helped get the business off the ground.
Mike Germano is co-founder and CEO of DUMBO, Brooklyn based social media advertising agency Carrot Creative. Previously, Germano ran for and was elected to public office in Connecticut. He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University.
Transcription:
Erik Michielsen: What’s getting easier and what’s getting harder in your life?
Mike Germano: What's getting easier and what's getting harder after 7 years in business, I would say that it's getting much easier to deal with the hard things. And knowing that they’re always gonna constantly come up and no matter how much you plan, insanity is always gonna happen, and you can take a deep breath, and you're gonna get through this, and there's gonna be 8 more in the future, so... I always think that that's at least reassuring and something I try share with every fellow entrepreneur. What's getting harder is now making sure I manage relationships correctly and these are -- you know, I'm a very -- I get very connected with people in terms of, one, to see them succeed or having conversations with them and people who’ve helped you succeed, it's now getting harder managing those relationships, and as you grow, and as you -- you know, your company grows, or as your career grows, making sure you're making enough time for the people who helped you get there, but also not spending too much time working on things that might not be beneficial to you and your business, and so it's getting harder managing your time with all the past relationships you've built up.
Erik Michielsen: Yeah, what's an example of that?
Mike Germano: An example of that is, you know, one of the first people that you build -- you know, we did our first project for 7 years ago, you know, you -- we learned a lot and they were there, and, you know, our company has grown in 7 years, and now you're getting phone calls from that person, saying, "Hey, you know, I believed in you, and I now want you to build this huge project. We have no money, you know, and I want you to do all this stuff." And you gotta sit back, and you gotta -- you know, you tip your hat 'cause you pay respect 'cause the person, you know, believes in you, first, or when no one else but yet, you don't want to -- you know, you're on a path where your company is going and it -- if it doesn't fit with it, you know, if it was any other client, you would've never even picked up the phone, or said, "Thank you but, no thank you." But, you know, making sure you manage that to be respectful for people who've gotten you there, but also know how that might impact where you're currently going.