Who is Michael Neely?
Michael Neely Owns This Blog
My name is Michael Neely and I am an entrepreneur living in Atlanta, GA. Some of my ventures have been moderately successful and others have been complete disasters. Either way, I began learning new skills, new ways of doing things and new ways of getting better results. Some have been semi-entrepreneurial in the sense that I thought I was an entrepreneur, but I was actually being used by another business or businessperson (aka “independent sales rep”). I have worn many hats over my total adult lifetime. I’ll start in high school with some of the highlights of my life thus far:
- Championship high school soccer player (in Alabama)
- Former Navy Nuclear Mechanical Operator
- Self-proclaimed entrepreneur
- Corporate Employee
- Server/ bartender
- Former Commodities and currencies options and futures broker
- Former homeless veteran, but never a beggar
- Former currency spot market trader
- Unashamed and unabashed recovering alcoholic
- Serial “learning” entrepreneur
- Former smoker
- Small Business and Entrepreneurship Advocate
The one name that has been with me constantly over the years has been “entrepreneur.” From starting my first credit card distributorship in 1989 to my current projects including this one, I have always considered myself an entrepreneur. When I find myself working as a server or bartender, I consider myself an “entrepreneur-on-loan.” I have had a HUGE learning curve and something I have noticed is that an entrepreneur’s curriculum is always changing, especially with today’s frenetic pace of advances in technology. When I began in 1989, there were no schools of entrepreneurship. I wasn’t going back to college (mainly out of arrogance) and I knew I wanted to “be my own boss.” I missed a second opportunity to return to college and join the “corporate world.” It has been a long journey since then and this blog is a reflection of what I have learned as an entrepreneur and a businessman and what my future is based on.
I have adopted a lifestyle of constant self-improvement that guides my life today. I have begun to focus on the results of my work instead of doing the work as a learning experience. After all, results, not activities, are what matter.
You have come a long way from homeless veteran—-proud of ya
Thank you, Pam! I still have a lot of work to do.