WELCOME 2: TWENTITY.COM ~ The Home for Twentysomethings

Stepping Up The Game - 6-6-07

“Whether you say you can or you say you can’t you will be right." -Michael Dugbartey

Name: Michael Dugbartey

Age: 24

Occupation: Business owner, Youth Premier Soccer Coach, Business Development Associate

Where do you work?

My Shaklee business, I have clients locally here in CT and NY. My greeting cards business through SENDOUT CARDS is throughout the Northeast and expanding rapidly along the east coast. Academica Soccer Club, where I coach, is based in Cheshire, CT and my office with Glenair is in Wallingford, CT

Where are you from? Born and raised in Naugatuck, CT

Did you go to college?

I went to college at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, CT for 2 years from 2000-2002, and then transferred to St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY where I graduated in 2005.

What did you study? I majored in Business Management with a concentration in Marketing

Why did you pick this career?

I picked this career to be able to control my income and lifestyle; just working for someone else does not allow me the freedom to own my life. I like the idea of setting my own hours and working with the people who I like to be around. I have strong work ethic and it’s satisfying to know that my efforts will directly affect my life. Most importantly I love helping people. With my Shaklee business I help get to keep people in good health; With SENDOUT CARDS I can help businesses. Soccer is my passion, I’ve grown up playing it and now that I have a chance to give back to the sport by teaching the youth, it’s a blessing.

What are your future plans for your career?

To expand my businesses nationally, I truly believe that there are people all over the country who are looking for alternate ways to stay healthy and improve their quality of life. For my SENDOUT CARDS business there is no doubt that we will expand across the country within the next few months. As far as coaching I’m entertaining the idea of starting my own soccer camp this year (around the end of summer) in addition to coaching my team. I have a lot more things in store.

How did you get involved in this career?

I’ve always been one to seek out successful people and follow what they are doing, learn from them, and customize their ways to how I want my life to be. Plus I just don’t see how I’m going to achieve all the things I want to achieve in life, not only for myself but my family, by having one source of income. If you look at the wealthy people in the world they have multiple streams of income. I like helping people and these were just natural things to start where I can do that on a regular basis.

How did you prepare yourself for this career?

I prepared and continue to prepare by staying focused; if you are going to achieve any type of success you must be focused and not let obstacles or people get in the way of how you envision everything working out. You also need to be able to network and meet new people from salesman to small business owners to regular people in the supermarket; increasing your contacts gets you in the door to other places.

And if you just happened to land in this career what made you stay?

The ability to control how my time is spent is priceless; I love the idea of finishing my sleep when my eyes open and not by the sound of an alarm clock. And being able to spend time with family whenever I want to is going to be great; I don’t have any kids but when I do have my family I want to spend all my time with them and not be restricted because I “have to go to work”. I can schedule my work around my life not my life around my work.

What are the downsides to this profession?

As I mentioned, there will be the tempt to go with something less risky and a guaranteed paycheck rather than creating your own paycheck. So the great thing is you have no one to tell you what to do; however the downside is you have no one to tell you what to do.

People will see the hard work and certain obstacles and run away; but I like accepting that challenge and then when the success comes you can look back at the accomplishment and it’s that much more fulfilling.

What is a typical workday for you?

A typical workday is speaking on the phone and walking clientele through the various services and implementing a plan to help them remain in contact with their customers. Meeting with potential clients either at their office or on lunch or over a cup of coffee. This goes on during the course of the late morning to about 3 or 4pm depending on when clients have some time. Then I usually go to the gym and coach my team in the evenings to end the day.

How might this job be a stepping stone to other professions?

Well I know that the more I network and interact with existing and new clientele I will come across people who share the same passion for business and lifestyle as I do and we can help each other achieve this buy putting together a business plan using our respective resources. I’ve come to find out through my short experiences that the size of your rolodex is a good indication of how successful you can be.

What is the single-most important piece of advice you can offer a person pursuing this career?

Follow your passion and don’t let anything steer you away from the vision that you have of how your life is supposed to be; to sum that up listen to and follow the people that are where you want to be not the people who are where you don’t want to be.

What steps do you recommend to someone who is planning to pursue this career?

Meet and interact with people who are successful in your eyes and ask them questions about how they got there. Make sure you have a business model that is in demand and can help people. Look at the competition and profit margin that the industry has to better understand how you are going to strategize and find that niche in a given market. Do not be afraid to fail!- the most successful people in the world have failed more than most people have tried, just get your plan in motion and take action the results will surprise you.

What professional or community volunteer organizations are you currently a member of?

I am an executive board member of the Urban Professionals Network (UPN), a member of the mission team with the Congregational Church of Naugatuck.

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