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Life Drives Success | Episode 7: Big Blue Swim School Co-Founder and President Chris DeJong
Nick Powills catches up with future-minded entrepreneurs to learn how they claimed their one inch of difference.
Life Drives Success is a podcast hosted by Nick Powills, author of "Sticks & Stones: Building Entrepreneurial Success from Life's Struggles."
The way Powills sees it? People are born entrepreneurial, it's not a trait. We all possess this internal drive, however, life works in such a way that not all of us get the chance to capitalize. For Powills, lemonade stands and baseball card sales were the early manifestations of that innate entrepreneurial spirit; it was the bullying he endured at an early age, however, that served as that first point of motivation to succeed.
As the CEO of content marketing agency No Limit Agency* and publisher of digital content hubs 1851 Franchise and ESTATENVY, Powills funnels his creative energy into telling the stories that move people. Life Drives Success is a vehicle to satiate curiosity, explore new ideas and connect with others in a way that generates motivation, getting to the heart of that entrepreneurial spirit that exists within us all.
On this week's episode of Life Drives Success, Nick interviews Chris DeJong, an entrepreneur who got his start in business after losing to Michael Phelps. A competitive swimmer at the University of Michigan and ranked fifth in the world in backstroke and fourth in the U.S., Chris DeJong trained under the same coach as Phelps. For the 2008 Olympics, DeJong finished behind Phelps and missed qualifying by just four-tenths of a second. Now, DeJong is using that experience to fuel the growth of Big Blue Swim School, which is now expanding through franchising.
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About the Author
Cassidy McAloon
FollowCassie has over five years of digital and traditional media experience. She joined NLA after working as a television news producer in both Milwaukee and Chicago, and now specializes in aligning strategies across the board for her clients, ultimately building buzz and telling compelling stories through content marketing, social media, digital campaigns and traditional PR.
Cassie has a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast and Electronic Communications from Marquette University. In her spare time, Cassie enjoys traveling and exploring what new cities have to offer in addition to spending time with her friends and family.
