would expect them to be which was hard to adjust to. The visible part of the business is tied to, but not directly tied to, the financial success and during our first year we were probably making only a dollar per hour.
Were there any doubters during the process and how did you overcome them? Who supported you?
Mike: People don’t see it as large scale event management or marketing. The way we treat it will be different from how everyone else treats it, which is the reason why we decided to bring in a single direction or a unifying theme for all our events. I think there are two types of thinking when it comes to planning large scale events. There are those who see the event as just going to a party and then we have those who see the event as an experience that they want to pull off in a certain way and have a unique marketing touch. The way we approach it is different and so it doesn’t make sense for other people who doesn’t see the bigger picture.
Are you still keeping your day job?
Jon: Yeah, typically we’re working from 9 to 5 and we just get in the car and drive down to Hamilton and start over there. The first years we were doing it, we would work until early morning around 3 to 4 in the morning then we would start again the next day and keep on doing it.
What is your favourite personal mantra or words to live by? Jon: I’ve always gone by: “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough.”
Mike: I would say it’s the challenges and obstacles that make every day challenging, different, and keep you learning.
If you could offer one piece of advice to the commerce students at McMaster, what would it be?
Jon: A lot of people at school treat it as a race. Then you turn 25 and you realize, “I could care less what my buddies think of me. I don’t like my job. I don’t like my career.” People should realize that the race should only matter to them and what everybody else is thinking shouldn’t matter at all! This is the perfect time to take risks; you’ll never have a better time! Mike: No matter what you do, continually challenge yourself to exceed your own expectations. Set you own expectations for yourself about anything you do. Continually raise your own bar. Continually push your envelope.
And if you failed?
Mike: It means you learned.
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