Everyone’s career starts somewhere, and for Mike Costa, it was in the world of industrial machinery.
After graduating from the University of Tennessee, having majored in journalism and public relations, Costa went home to the Memphis area to work his first adult job at his family’s business, he says. That business was selling industrial and materials-handling equipment. While he doesn’t remember it as a bad job, Costa says he did leave in just under two years from the time he started.
“I couldn’t wake up when I was 40 and say, ‘What have I done?'” Costa says. “‘I haven’t been happy. Why didn’t I go do something I was passionate about?'”
So Costa moved into broadcasting, first in radio and then in television, spending the bulk of his career running television stations. Eventually, he was able to open his own marketing and communications business, Costa Media Advisors.
“I was more comfortable with an intangible product than a tangible product,” Costa says of the switch from forklifts to broadcasting.
But that first job did impart lessons like discipline, organization, prioritization and customer service that he has carried with him throughout his career.
“Regardless of what I was selling, I learned how to structure things, the steps you need to take,” Costa says. “You just can’t sit and wait on the phone to ring. You’ve got to prospect.”
He also learned the importance of bringing passion to work, even when that passion doesn’t come naturally.
“You’ve got to always bring your A-game, your best effort, or otherwise you won’t be successful because someone’s going to be out there out-working you,” he says. “And, you learn that even though you’re taking these steps that don’t seem critical or important, those are building steps. It’s really a great training ground for later in your career.”
For more on Costa’s work, visit costamediaadvisors.com.