Day 298: Terry McKim
“… my parents are out-of-the-box thinkers, and knowing that they want me to do so well in life, I think that’s where I said ‘You know what? I do want to do well in life.’ And if I can have more of a grasp on it and do a lot of things myself, then I’m in charge of my own destiny.”
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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Terry, for agreeing to be part of the Project today, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?
Terry McKim: I sure can. My name is Terry McKim. I am a Reading resident, and I own a company called Digitizing, which is a digital signage company, and we’re a full service ad agency, and a development rep. Also, I own another company called Roll-It Storage, which is a storage service for college students.
Toni: Well thank you for being here. You’ve got a lot going on!
Terry: I do. I think it’s a good thing to stay busy.
Toni: Well when you think about inspiration, Terry, who do you inspire, and how do you think that happens?
Terry: It’s funny you ask that, when you mentioned about who I inspire. Hopefully, I inspire our son who is 18 months old, even though he’s a little too young, but I know I look up … I’m a big family-oriented person, and I look up to my parents, especially my dad. So I guess if I inspire anybody, hopefully I inspire him when he gets older. I also feel like I inspire my father back as well. You know, I try to get him to think outside the box and try to think the way I do, and hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to work together in the future.
Toni: So really it’s being a family person. Your immediate answer to who do you inspire comes to family.
Terry: Exactly. I think family is important. If you’re not well grounded and support yourself with a good family around you, it’s hard to grow personally.
Toni: Tell me how you might have inspired your dad.
Terry: I think it’s funny because I think every generation is a little bit different on the way they think. And I know with his generation it seems that, you know, him and my mom, it seems like their generation, you know, they kind of … you get in this comfortable state, and it’s a little bit harder to take a risk. I know they were a young family when they had us and had to sacrifice a lot, so hopefully me helping them generate some ideas he might have or even with my mom, you know, hopefully they get the chance to take a risk and do something they’ve always wanted to do.
Toni: So it’s really almost a dialog. It’s you learning from them, and hopefully they will learn from you. And being such an entrepreneur that you stated that you are, I would imagine that you would also inspire other young adults to go after whatever it is they want to go after, based on how you introduced yourself.
Terry: Yeah, hopefully I do. I think that, you know, if you think things through and really get all your ducks lined up, you can do well in any business, as long as you don’t jump in headfirst and you do your homework. You know, really any professional out there can kind of do what they want to do, and hopefully succeed.
Toni: Have you found that there are your friends, peers, colleagues that look at you and say “Terry, how are you doing that?”
Terry: Yeah, it’s funny; a lot of my friends from college, you know, the majority of them are teachers. They seem to always ask me that, of how I’m doing that, and I tell them exactly the same thing. I just kind of did my homework and found a need for something and, you know, decided it was a good time to pull the trigger and then pray for the best.
Toni: So having that kind of mindset and thought, right, how do you then think you might help other people to explore their own potential?
Terry: I think if someone sees another successful person and if they can do it, you know, the cliché saying, if they can do it, I can do it. And you know, if a young professional sees another young professional succeeding in business and kind of doing their own thing or working for a company and doing very well, you feed off that energy, and they kind of say “You know what? I can do the same thing.”
Toni: Do you share that with others?
Terry: Not necessarily. You know, if I’m ever asked a question or ever asked for my opinion or input, I’m always glad to give it, but I don’t reach out and, you know, necessarily say it to anybody.
Toni: I bet a lot of people could learn from you, though.
Terry: Yeah, maybe.
Toni: So what inspires you, Terry?
Terry: Like I said before, I’m a very big family person, so that’s what inspires me, knowing that my family, my parents wanted things. They always said every generation should do better than the next, so I know that they want the best for me and they want me to do very well, and succeed, and that’s the same thing that drives me. You know, knowing the fact that as we start to grow our family, providing for them and letting my wife have the option to kind of do what she wants to do, you know, those are the things that drive me. At some point I’ll get there and be able to provide anything my family needs.
Toni: And when you’re looking for inspiration, Terry, when you are going about your day-to-day life and maybe there’s a day where you’re not feeling as inspired as others, what do you tend to reach for? What are your go-to resources or tools that kind of lift you up?
Terry: You know, it’s easier said than done, and I know it’s hard to do, but sometimes in those situations it’s really good to take a step back and kind of look at what you have and appreciate it, you know, the things you appreciate in life. You know, like I said, it’s easier said than done, but once you do do that and then see what you have and then you see maybe something that has you down that day, and then you start to think really it’s not that bad and it’s just something minor, that it’s a little hump in the road and you get over it, and move on, and if you can divert yourself.
You know, being in business development for any of my businesses and even for the company I work for, you get negative feedback some days and you get the people that maybe don’t want to talk to you. And I think a good way to stay positive is kind of go talk to more people, go talk to someone else, you know, because chances are you’re going to talk to someone that’s going to make your day. Or maybe you talk to the right client who wants to work with you. I think if you can stay busy and do that and kind of sit yourself … you know, take a step back and realize things aren’t so bad all the time, you’ll be fine.
Toni: Where did you get your entrepreneurial spirit from? What inspired that?
Terry: Again, I think it comes down to family. I think my parents are out-of-the-box thinkers, and knowing that they want me to do so well in life, I think that’s where I said “You know what? I do want to do well in life.” And if I can have more of a grasp on it and do a lot of things myself, then I’m in charge of my own destiny.
Toni: And so you’ve always been like this?
Terry: Apparently; that’s what they say. My dad sometimes jokes that if Donald Trump has a lost son, I might be it.
Toni: So really it was the mentoring from your family and then really it sounds as though, you know, you just were given free reign – go for it.
Terry: Yeah. That’s with anything. We are a very sports-related family, and I could play and do any sport I wanted, but once I got started, I had to finish it, that was only thing, but I was never pushed in any certain direction. One thing that really got me on the right path to be more driven was definitely wrestling. We were a soccer family, Aussie, big soccer fans now that the World Cup was just around. But when I started wrestling in high school and went to college to wrestle, that’s one sport that you had to be driven and have a focus, or you’re going to get wiped up on the mat.
Toni: That seems to be the common theme with you here, that you know, you’ve achieved a lot, you are a true entrepreneur. You’ve spoken to three different endeavors that you’re working on right now, and that must take a drive, a focus, but the foundation you’ve come from to be able then to pay that forward to the next generation, that’s pretty awesome.
Terry: Oh yeah, it’s great. I’m very fortunate. And then to have a great wife who supports me. That’s very key. If you don’t have someone to come home to and kind of throw those million ideas a day at, then you’re kind of just sitting there not sleeping, which is the case sometimes, where, you know, I keep a piece of paper next to the bed so when I wake up in the middle of the night I can write it down and then talk to my wife, Joie, in the morning about it.
Toni: Well let’s talk about that, those million ideas. The final question of the Project is, how do you explore your own potential? So what are you doing now?
Terry: Right now it’s just a matter of focusing on the certain things that I’m in right now, making sure that I’m doing well for the agency I work for, which is a great company. That’s a great reward, to go out and talk with clients who need marketing and advertising efforts and to help them grow their business, so they come to you and say, you know, “What are your suggestions?” It could be a month later them thanking you because they just grew their business a certain percentage, and that’s rewarding. And you know, just making sure that, you know … I have my hands in a lot right now. I make sure I do put time aside to spend with my family and make sure I don’t lose focus on those things.
Toni: So it really is kind of keeping all those balls up in the air, isn’t it?
Terry: Yeah, you figure … you can keep a lot … I guess there’s some personalities out there that don’t like a lot going on, but I’m totally opposite. If I have a lot going on, then I’m pretty content.
Toni: Right, right. What a great interview that you’ve given as far as the example of someone with drive and focus, and a deep sense of family which has come through in this interview as well, that you can do anything you want. And I think this is a very positive interview, and I think that there’s some great takeaways for people who are listening to this all over the world.
Terry: Thanks. You know, it’s funny because one of the … it’s a Chinese proverb that I think is funny is that “The journey is the reward.” If you think of it, everything you do is a journey and if it’s business-wise, opening businesses, you’re going to run into a few bumps in the road. But if you do, just remember that it’s part of the journey and you learn from it, and you don’t make the same mistake again, and you just keep growing from it.
Toni: Absolutely, and I see … I would hope that someday the journey that you’re on and the drive and focus that you will be teaching others that are up and coming, including your child, but other young people that are starting out, that sense of focus and wonderment, I would think. There has to be a sense of wonderment in the journey.
Terry: I agree.
Toni: Fantastic, and congratulations. It’s been a pleasure to talk to you, Terry.
Terry: Thank you so much. I appreciate it, and I hope the best for you.
Toni: Thank you, same to you. Take care of yourself.
Terry: Thanks.
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For more information about Terry McKim: www.getdigitizing.com, www.rollitstorage.com, www.reeseadv.com
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