EP812: Terry Donnelly - Always Be Hustling!

"The thing about being a musician is once you finish your gig, you're unemployed. So you have to be hustling nonstop to get your next gig." — Terry Donnelly Terry Donnelly does not look like a man who has reinvented himself six times. He looks like a man who has been doing the same thing in six different industries — which, it turns out, is exactly right. From touring musician to HR consultant to venture capital partner to tech founder to CMO of a $1.3 billion agency portfolio, Terry has built, exited, and rebuilt businesses across digital advertising, cannabis beverages, and now hotel media technology. The connective tissue is a single skill: seeing how fragmented pieces of a market can be pulled into a unified platform that nobody else has built yet. He did it with digital out-of-home advertising. He did it with alcohol-free craft beer and cannabis-infused drinks. And he's doing it now with Hotel Communication Network — which jumped from 8,000 hotel rooms to 50,000 by giving the tablet away for free and generating revenue from the media on the screen instead. Nicky and Terry go deep on what it actually means to know your own strengths, the musician's hustle mentality that has driven Terry's entire career, and the urgent vs. important distinction that separates growing businesses from busy ones. Nicky brings in John Wooden's Pyramid of Success — and the famous lesson about socks — to make the case that attention to detail is not perfectionism, it's competitive advantage. Learn more & connect: Terence Donnelly on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/terencedonnelly Hotel Communication Network — https://www.hcn.com Resources mentioned: Hotel Communication Network — https://www.hcn.com Adcentricity — digital out-of-home media exchange co-founded by Terry Donnelly Hill Street Beverage Company — world's most award-winning alcohol-free craft beer and Canada's best-selling alcohol-free wine The Pyramid of Success — John Wooden's coaching framework, referenced by Nicky in discussion of detail, work ethic, and enthusiasm Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (widely available) Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.