In this brief, high‑energy video, Evan Carmichael introduces himself and shares his personal journey from a childhood of small‑scale sales ventures to a teenage expectation of a corporate career, and ultimately to becoming an entrepreneur. He recounts how, while in university, he joined two friends’ struggling software startup, took on the role of owner and chief operating officer, and experienced the excitement and passion of building something of his own. Carmichael reflects on the gap between the simplistic, recipe‑like advice found in business books and the harsh realities of starting a company, emphasizing that success is not a quick formula. Over the past decade he has dedicated himself to helping other entrepreneurs believe in themselves and create great organizations. He concludes with a core piece of advice: listen to your heart and pursue what you are passionate about.
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Take 1.
The young, super successful entrepreneur Evan Carmichael is here. Evan Carmichael.
Evan Carmichael Believe. This guy is a force of nature.
Evan Carmichael is an entrepreneurial expert.
My name is Evan Carmichael. I believe in entrepreneurs. When I was young, I had a whole bunch of different business ideas. My first venture was when I was 5 years old and I convinced my 3-year-old little sister to selling art and doing garage sales and selling baseball cards, small ventures.
When I was growing up in high school, I never thought I was going to be an entrepreneur. I thought I was going to be a VP at a bank.
When I was in university, I met up with 2 friends and they had a business that they were trying to get off the ground, a software company, and they put so much into this company, but it wasn't taking off. But I joined it, I became an owner and the chief operating officer. And in my final year, I got job opportunities which only a few years prior would have been a dream scenario. I couldn't imagine working for a better company. But something just didn't feel right about it. Up until that point, I always thought I'd have a corporate job. The way I was living was just terrible, but I didn't really mind because I was doing something that I love doing, that I hadn't experienced this kind of excitement and passion before. My friends thought I was crazy. Starting a business is hard, and I wish somebody told me that when I was starting my company, because the books make it seem so easy. Do this, do this, do this, follow the simple recipe, and boom, you're a success. It doesn't happen that way. For the past 10 years plus, I built a business helping entrepreneurs believe in themselves and build great organizations.
So you have to listen to your heart. That's my view. You have to listen to your heart. You have to be passionate about it.
Here's what you have to know about success as an entrepreneur. Success doesn't look like this. Okay, success is not just a straight line of success. It's a bunch of failures. I wish somebody prepared me for it. The idea that you start with is not the idea that you end with. Starting a business is hard, but it's still entirely possible. You can do it. People often start for the wrong reasons. They start just trying to make money. Whenever you're faced with a major decision in your business or your life, the most important thing that you can do, the best decision to make, is to follow your heart. The biggest question comes down to how badly do you really want this? So yeah, starting a business is hard, but it's totally possible. Believe.
