The Good Ground Project

Partner Profiles

Name:	Depelsha McGruder
Title:	Senior Vice-President
Company:	BET Networks
Location:	New York, NY
What I do:	Oversee Business Operations for BET's Centric channel
Web Site:	http://www.centrictv.com/

Nature of Business: Entertainment & Media - Multi-platform entertainment destination including cable TV channel, Website/broadband channel, wireless channel and more. Full job title: SVP, Business Operations - Centric

To me, entrepreneurship means taking control of your own destiny. Becoming an entrepreneur takes courage, and there is nothing like the feeling of creating something from scratch and seeing it come to life piece by piece. A successful entrepreneur is able to identify a market need, then organize and marshall resources to meet that need in a cost-effective and profitable way. Many new businesses fail because they are driven more by personal passion than market need. Although it's essential to be passionate about your business, I think it's equally if not more important to offer a product or service that people really want (and ideally need) and are willing to pay for consistently. I recommend that you study and if possible, meet with people who have started successful businesses and analyze what they did to get there. These people can serve as great roles models and you can gain insight and inspiration from them, but remember that you are an original, so don't try to be anyone else.

The most important lesson that I've learned is that so much of your future success or failure comes down to the personal CHOICES that you make everyday. It is so very important to make smart personal choices, especially during your youth, because your life depends on it. Regardless of your background, you can choose whether to have a positive attitude, work hard and be a leader rather than a follower. I've also learned that if you are truly doing all that you can to help yourself, other people will be more than happy to help you fill in the gaps and provide access to opportunities that make your dreams come true. It's an old cliche, but it really is true that "success is when preparation meets opportunity." But you have to do YOUR part to the fullest.

I want to encourage you to create a vision for your life that is based on your personal strengths and passions and pursue it with all your heart. It's great to have big dreams, but dreams without a plan are just fruitless fantasies. Set goals for yourself. What do you want to accomplish this year? Within 3 years? Within 5-10 years? HOW will you do it? Every year, I create a list of goals with action plans for the year and check them off one by one. Some are big "stretch" goals such as buying an investment property, while others are more about daily personal discipline such as reading the Bible and exercising regularly. No matter how big or small, it provides a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment to check them off. I encourage you to think BIG, and remember that winners say it may be difficult, but it's possible while others say it may be possible, but it's too difficult. Be a winner!

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