Michael Armstrong's Path to Entrepreneurial Excellence

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Meet
Michael Sean Armstrong

NO GATEKEEPING! INTERVIEW

Before we dive into the specifics, could you introduce yourself and share a bit about your background and the experiences that have shaped your path in entrepreneurship?

My name is Michael Sean Armstrong. Background: I am a second generation Jamaican-American, and at least fifth or sixth generation African-American, born in The Bronx, NY. My family, like many other migrant and black families that make up our African diaspora, have always been hard working “blue collar workers” holding jobs in the public sector, private sector, and at times working multiple jobs at one time to make ends meet (i.e. pay bills), make investments into their retirement accounts, and achieve the “American dream” of buying a home. I attribute all of my work ethic to the examples provided by my family members - mainly my father. My father worked two jobs for as long as I could remember, up until I was at least 19 or 20 years old. I watched him work full time and overtime hours for the State of New York, come home and sleep, just to get ready and go do it again for an organization called Abbott House.

That experience showed me what work ethic and sacrificing for your family’s benefit looks like. At the same time, it taught me about the benefits of pursuing entrepreneurship because, although entrepreneurship may also require long hours and sacrifices, I believe business people are in a much better position to control their schedules, work hours, and the time they can spend with their families by creating passive income streams which don’t require you to be away from your family and miss out on little things like going bowling or just having a meal together on a week night. Experiences like that help my current path in entrepreneurship because as a husband and eventual father, I don’t want a W2 position being in the way of me completely enjoying time with my family and everything my wife and I are working so hard to create.

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Can you share a pivotal moment that defined your entrepreneurial journey?

Moving to Los Angeles, CA. I always envisioned that New York, maybe not necessarily The Bronx, would be my forever residence and where I lay my head, raise my family, etc. I’m not saying entrepreneurs or business people have to move from where they live to become successful, but there is a certain effect on person’s mindset and outlook on life when you leave your comfort zones. You’re no longer on your block. You’re no longer around the same group of friends. You no longer have your parents or whoever is generally in your life as that “crutch” and financial support system.

All of those things are great and awesome things, but for me, it kept me “capped” so to speak - afraid to branch out or take risks because I was secure and didn’t see the value in stepping out into new things, because I already had established comforts and protections in New York. Moving to LA was pivotal because the ease of access and proximity to all of my usual comforts - even though they still exist in a different way - were essentially gone and I had to start over/rebuild and rethink how I was going about the building wealth aspect of my life. Getting out of my comfort zone and having to reestablish myself in a new city was pivotal because it showed me that I had the capacity to tackle and navigate the unfamiliar, and also thrive in the unfamiliar, which is something I personally do not think I could have learned about myself had I not moved to Los Angeles.

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What practical tips or strategies have you found most effective in overcoming obstacles and achieving your goals?

Becoming stronger in my faith in God and learning how to combine spirituality with the pursuit of business and wealth have been most effective for me in overcoming obstacles and achieving my goals. I’m a lawyer and these days also consider myself a budding business person. In both areas of my life - law and business - I have been tested whether it be by having a difficult boss and finding resolutions to complex legal problems to satisfy c-level execs when I was in the food and beverage sector, to dealing with customers’ unpaid parking tickets in my rental car business.

Those tests and obstacles are going to come, and they are going to be frustrating, and try to throw you off your game or distract you from the real reason why you’re pursuing the ventures you’re pursuing. For me, growing in the disciplines of attending to church, prayer, meditation, and studying the Bible has revealed to me that God wants his people to be business people because doing business right will give us influence and the power to change society for better. Because of my faith and practices, I can take that deep breath and know not to take things personally in corporate life, and not to be anxious or nervous or so consumed about deliverables that I lose sight of my true purpose and identity. I believe that the obstacles are always going to be there, but entrepreneurs have to remain calm, focused, poised, and clear about their goals; and for me, leaning on God/increasing my faith has been the strategy most effectively keeping me on task and unshaken by corporate life and corporate pursuits.

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How do you balance risk-taking with calculated decision-making to navigate uncertainties in your industry?

Lawyers aren’t naturally business people. We’re taught to forecast problems based on liability and risk to clients, and not necessarily understand that in the context of the client’s desire to make money in their industry. When I started my rental car business, I spent so much time reading insurance policies, rental agreements, and other articles about the liabilities of renting cars to customers either directly or through third party apps, like Turo and HyreCar. Although that was valuable and I’m grateful to have the understanding of the legal ramifications, I realized I wasn’t making any business moves. Also, renting cars is a risky industry because of the potential for accidents, injury to people, damage and repairs to vehicles, and maintenance costs.

At some point I realized that there are hierarchies to renting cars - either economy cars or exotic and luxury rentals. So for me, the balance came when I realized that I could start in low end, economy car rentals because even though it is risky, the cost of entry and costs to fix and maintain the cars is lower. Also it leaves room for me to scale into luxury and exotic cars. I balance the risk taking against calculated decision making by understanding the industry, understanding where my scaleable opportunities are, and then at some point I have to stop analyzing and then go out there and enter the market.

How do you leverage your network to stay informed about industry trends and opportunities?

Social media is as valuable as you make it. I constantly challenge myself to see what/who am I following, is it benefiting me, and if there are better contacts and pages that I could be following. I leverage Instagram and Linkedin to stay informed of trends by following the right pages, and actually taking the time out to read articles and interviews from more experienced or more advanced entrepreneurs. Some of those have led to messaging back and forth, and the occasional coffee to discuss more about the industry and their personal business experiences.

Network With Michael Armstrong :

• Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-armstrong-esq-566735275/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecocktailcounsel

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