[ot-caption title=”Mr. Zimmerman speaks to Upper School students and faculty on Thursday, January 8, 2015 (via Jack Steinberg, Sophmore)” url=”https://pcpawprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/jordanzimmerman-e1420831010977.jpg”]

On Thursday, January 8, students and teachers alike congregated in Stacy Auditorium to listen to Jordan Zimmerman speak about his career.  Mr. Zimmerman is the owner of Zimmerman Advertising, a company worth three billion dollars.  He recently wrote a book called Fearless Leadership to share his knowledge about how to succeed in life.  He came to speak at Pine Crest to motivate students and have them strive to be more successful in life.

He first spoke to Pine Crest students  about his early life and how he was ambitious at the ripe age of eight years old. Mr. Zimmerman explained that he came from a middle class family that lived in New Jersey, and that he wanted to make more for himself. Because of this, he decided to start a greeting card delivery service, going door to door trying to sell his service to anyone that would listen to him. By the time he was in junior high, Mr. Zimmerman had acquired a paper route that continued to grow until it was so long that he had to hire his friends to help him deliver all of his papers.

Mr. Zimmerman moved to Florida during his senior year of high school and attended University of South Florida for college. After college, Mr. Zimmerman told Pine Crest students that he got rejected from all ten New York advertising firms. Instead of deterring him, the rejection caused Mr. Zimmerman to work even harder. For six years, Mr. Zimmerman lived in his parents’ house and worked in a very small office, dedicating his life to his career.  He emphasized how much he sacrificed to be able to follow his passion.

Although the struggle was difficult at times, it provided him with the motivation to keep pushing to be able to get out of his small office with a view of a dumpster outside. Eventually, he did it.

After providing Pine Crest students with a background of his life, Mr. Zimmerman gave advice to Pine Crest students.  Some of his key points were that working hard is everything, no one owes you anything, and trying hard is nothing. He said that although you need to dream big, eventually you need to stop dreaming and start doing to be successful. Students were very engaged into his dynamic presentation.

Overall, Mr. Zimmerman captured the attention of all Pine Crest students and teachers throughout the entire assembly.  After the presentation, Pine Crest students and teachers could be heard discussing Mr. Zimmerman’s presentation all throughout the day.