Episode 2: Dealing with the Media

Mark Evans - still from Naked Entrepreneur episode

Episode 2 continues the Canadian theme by having Mark Evans, (@markevans) who is not only an entrepreneur but also an award winning journalist in the field of technology. Double Dipping!

Mark started off working for the Financial Post covering that weird thing called the internet during the mid 90s, through the boom and bust of the dot com era.

Then, at the height of his journalism career, while working for the Globe and Mail, Mark turned to the “dark side” like many technology writers at the time and became a part of a startup. While that endeavour didn’t succeed, it wasn’t the last startup Mark got involved in over the years, eventually starting his own business, a consulting company, ME Consulting, in 2008.

While being an entrepreneur is often times hectic and always time consuming, Mark doesn’t allow for that time to eat away at what he loves the most, his family.

“It’s a constant struggle. You gotta figure out what the right balance is. For me, one of the decisions about being an entrepreneur and not working in a cubical was that I wanted the work-life flexibility. I work really hard, a lot harder than when I was a reporter, a lot harder than I do for startups, but it’s on my terms.”

For many entrepreneurs the freedom to control their own lives by starting a business is key selling factor. Frankly, what could be better than setting your own work schedule and answering to yourself?

What’s great about this piece of advice from Mark is that it acknowledges that freedom and the benefits it has for his family, but leaves in just enough warning along with it. Even, at the level he has achieved the push and pull of the work-life balance doesn’t get easier.

Mark has plenty of other great things to say, especially about how to deal with the media, which makes sense considering he is the media.

If you’re interested in Canadian entrepreneurship, covering Technology is something Mark continues to do today in a number of capacities, including his own newsletter, as the internet continues to be weird place, maybe even weirder now actually.