Sure, the path is much harder, but the financial and lifestyle returns of self-ownership stupendously outweigh the struggle.
At least that's the consensus of two of LA's most successful self-made entrepreneurs- Forbes Columnist and Digital Marketing Leader Thomas Herd and Celebrity Rapper/Record Label Owner OG Maco.
Thomas- CEO of T1 Advertising- has launched today's fastest growing digital marketing agency with over 1200 clients (including industry leaders such as Ritz Carlton, L'Oreal, LVMH, and countries like the Dominican Republic) and offices worldwide in Monaco, New York, Miami, and Beverly Hills.
Meanwhile, OG Maco has catapulted off the success of his smash hit You Guessed It (which has garnered a whopping 67 million views on Instagram) to launch his own label Desperado Records and distribution partnership with Empire Records and develop the careers of new rising stars such as Atlanta artist Lil Kartel and MattyJTX from Texas.
To understand what it's like to run your own company and give insight into the mechanics of how they did it, we sat down with these two self made moguls and asked for their tips for our audience.
Angeleno Magazine: When did you first realize that the normal, corporate path wasn't for you
OG Maco: From the moment I watched my father shoulder the work of an entire department at his job and get next to no credit for it, I knew I had to carve a path that led to glory.
Angeleno Magazine: What are the intangible qualities a successful entrepreneur needs to develop?
Thomas Herd: A burning desire for a definite goal, the ability to look fear dead into the eye and lean into it, and the resolve to let no discouraging, negative, or fear born impulse stray you from your path.
Angeleno Magazine: What are some of the perks for being independent?
OG Maco: The only perk of independence is freedom. We eschew the big budgets of corporate overlords in an attempt to maintain our identity. That also makes each victory that much more grand and fulfilling because we know there wasn’t any outside help.
Angeleno Magazine: What is the hardest part of being independent? How do you overcome that?
Thomas Herd: Knowing that you have nothing to fall back on and that the buck stops with you. I have only been able to overcome that difficulty by developing the self-confidence and self-assurance that I had the intellectual capabilities to turn continuously invent value out of thin air and then create systems- such as the growth plans I sell in digital marketing- to materialize that value in real life to clients and without risk.
Photography by: Tommy Herd
