My name is Chris Coyle and I am the CEO of Mediasight, a software company that specializes in digital signage (cell phones to outdoor billboards), and the President of the NYC Chapter of the Loyola Alumni Association. I graduated from Loyola College in 1990 with a B.A. in Political Science and an MBA in Marketing in 1993.

During my undergraduate studies at Loyola, I worked for S.B. Woo, Lt. Governor of DE, Sam Beard, a US Senate Candidate from DE, and very briefly on the Vice President of the United States of America, Joe Biden’s, 1st^stPresidential Campaign. My career was focused on something I truly loved. In 1988, before many of you were even born, my life drastically changed course and I began to pursue a career in the music industry. Talk about two completely different industries!

From 1988 until 1993, I worked in concert promotion at Loyola, Hammerjack’s, the Baltimore Arena, the Capitol Centre and the Patriot Centre at James Madison University. What an amazing experience!

After graduating from my MBA program, I moved to New Jersey in 1994 to work at D.A. Music doing national sales and marketing. In 1997, I moved back to NYC and lived in Soho with my wife Elizabeth. I worked at two additional record labels before being recruited to work for one of the first online music companies. I helped take MCY public on Nasdaq in 1999. I eventually moved into music television, started my own consulting company-Emerald Isle Entertainment and was recruited again in early 2005 to go work in the wireless industry. I helped take Mobile Streams public on the AIM in London in early 2006. In 2007, I left Mobile Streams to take over business and corporate development at Muze. After Muze, I started a search engine company for prominent people called Kevo and was appointed CEO of Mediasight by Nova Capital, a Private Equity firm, in February 2011.

I mention the last 20 years of my life, because for many of you will be graduating in May and heading out on your own journey. My career has gone from politics to music to new media to venture capital/private equity, from sales and marketing to content acquisition to business and corporate development to running  companies. Along the way, my career has taken many interesting, unexpected and unplanned turns and I certainly hit my fair share of road blocks, disappointments and failures along the way. These challenges that we all face in life, became my biggest motivation to succeed and I was fortunate enough to convert them into my biggest opportunities. Being positive, patient and doggedly persistent have been my biggest assets.

Whether you are planning on moving to NYC after graduation or planning a career as a military or police officer, teacher or nurse, professor or priest, accountant or CEO, here are some my suggestions for your career before and after you graduate from Loyola University Maryland.

Before Graduation

• Preparing for your career starts on your 1st^stday at Loyola. Enjoy learning and absorb everything you can from friends and professors. What you think you want to do when you enter Loyola may change by graduation.
• Speak with your professors about your career interests and visit The  Career Center as soon as you get to the Evergreen Campus-and then visit it as often as you can!
• Network with your friends, classmates and professors. You never know where this might lead.
• Internships in your selected field of interest are mandatory-not optional. Real practical experience is invaluable and without it, your employability is at risk
• Network with your  friends, your neighbors, fellow parishioners, friends of parents, fellow alumni, Loyola Board of Advisors and Directors.
• When interviewing, research the company and the person who is going to be interviewing you. Be prepared for your interviews and be passionate!
• Find out where the company has a need or a weakness and solve that problem or create a position for yourself to solve that issue.
• Focus on finding a job that you will love and forget about the 99% of  companies who either don’t respond to your application or hire you.

After Graduation/Getting a Job

• Work harder than any of your colleagues. Arrive early and stay late.
• Pay your dues and learn everything you can about your job, company and industry. Finding a mentor, is extremely valuable for your career.
• You are going to face disappointments, failures and even an unstable boss in your career-everyone does. All that matters is how you handle it and how you get back up!
• Your experience at Loyola has prepared you well for the next chapter in your life. Your Jesuit education is comparable to Georgetown and Harvard.
• Success is about 10% of what you know and 90% of who you know and what you do with those opportunities. You need to be prepared to take advantage of those situations.  You never know when they are going to come again.
• The Loyola Alumni Association and its regional chapters (especially NYC) are here for every graduate of the University. Utilize this valuable asset.

Moving to NYC or the Surrounding Metropolitan Area

• Whether you want to work for Goldman Sachs, CBS Television or Universal Music, realize it is extremely competitive. You are competing against the best and the brightest from the US and around the world who are looking to leave their mark on Wall Street or Madison Avenue.
• Living and working in NYC is extremely expensive. If possible live at home until you can get established or consider moving to one of the boroughs with one of your friends or colleagues.
• Make it a priority to network with people who live in your building, belong to your gym or shop at the same neighborhood grocery store as you. In a city with 8 million residents, you never know who you will run into.
• And if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere!

Whether you graduate in May or not until May 2019, whether you studied education, philosophy or political science at Loyola, and whether you plan to be a teacher, stock broker or scientist, every one of you will be Selling! You will be selling yourself for your 1^st interview and job, your next promotion, your company’s product/services, your department’s value to another division, an outside client and your future wife or husband. Embrace selling and the ROI (Return on Investment) from your investment into your education at Loyola University Maryland will pay dividends. Good luck and God speed!

Cover photo courtesy of :http://www.winslowdg.com/commercial/digital-signage/