Listen to the interview here!
Terry McKim
Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece. Welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I am with Terry McKim. Hi, Terry.
Terry McKim: Hi. How are you doing?
Toni: I’m great. Welcome to the Get Inspired! Project.
Terry: Thanks for having me.
Toni: Actually, you were part of the original project.
Terry: That is true, yes.
Toni: Oh my gosh – that was in 2009, I think it was?
Terry: Yes, 2009-2010.
Toni: Yes; this was the international Get Inspired! Project. It was a 365-day project, 365 interviews, and I think you were number 268 or something like that, right?
Terry: Yes, I was up there.
Toni: That’s great. Welcome to Berks County Living’s Project.
Terry: Thank you.
Toni: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Terry: I live in Berks County in Sinking Spring. I try to become heavily involved in the area. I actually coach Wilson High School wrestling. I have two young boys. I have been married since 2006. I am also the Director of Marketing for Lords and Ladies, and have my hands in some other things as well.
Toni: It’s good to have you here. Let’s go to the first question.
Terry: Sure.
Toni: What does inspiration mean to you?
Terry: Inspiration – that’s kind of a loaded word there, but I feel that inspiration to me is setting goals. Inspiration can be something as simple as what inspires you that day, or what have you taken from that day? The bigger inspirations are what can you look at and what can inspire you to hit a certain goal?
It’s something as simple as if I look at my son and he wants to go to the movies that weekend, what kind of inspiration can that set for me to give him that, to take him to the movies? Or, what kind of inspiration can I have to go out and start a venture that I could make a comfortable living?
It trickles down, too – even in the wrestling room when I’m coaching. I try to get the guys to get inspired. I ask them, “What are you goals?” It can be as simple as beating that one guy that they lost to the year before. Some of the guys have bigger goals of, “I want a medal around my neck at the end of the year.” It can be something simple, or it can be something big.
Toni: So you’re not inspired so much by the goal; you’re inspired by the journey to get to the goal.
Terry: Yes. I think the journey is the biggest part of it, because you’re going to take other things away from it other than that end result.
Toni: Right. I like that.
Terry: You’re going to walk away with five other things.
Toni: Yes; something as simple like you said as the wrestlers getting to that journey, getting to their goal, or your child getting to a movie goal, and that journey, the distance traveled to get to the goal is what inspires you.
Terry: Yes.
Toni: I see. How do you put that meaning of inspiration, that journey, into practice here in Berks County?
Terry: Berks County is a great example for inspiration. There’s so many organizations, and they all have the same goal or inspiration, and that’s to make the county the best it can be. You go into other counties and you might see one or two organizations that are shooting for that goal, or the inspiration to bring in new business or to bring in new visitors, or to bring a better quality of life, whereas when you look at Berks County, you could easily have eight or nine organizations working on the same goal.
I think that’s pretty neat, and it gives everybody in the county an opportunity to get involved, whether it’s something as simple as working for a nonprofit or to join in a committee to help out with the economic part of it. It’s pretty neat to see that every organization, even though it’s the same exact goal, everyone is kind of given a different outlet, and giving everyone an opportunity to get inspired and make it a great county.
Toni: Can you give me an example of a journey that you’ve been on to reach a particular goal that was inspiration for you?
Terry: I feel like I’m still on that journey.
Toni: That’s a good thing!
Terry: I constantly set different goals and inspirations for myself. Like I said, when you go for one, you end up venturing off on two or three more, but it’s something I think it stems back to seeing how hard my parents worked and still do work. I try to set inspirations for myself where I can provide for my family and make sure that whether the economy goes up or down, which I’m sure it will multiple times, that we live comfortably. I set those inspirations for myself to get to that point where as long as I can take care of my family and we can be happy, those are the things that are going to make me happy.
Toni: I like that. They can sound very simple, but yet they’re incredibly powerful, because they’re sustainable, right?
Terry: Yes, I agree.
Toni: So your goal seems to be you are inspired to get to the goal of … maybe sustainability for your family, for your lifestyle, for the legacy of your parents?
Terry: Yes. Right now, I think we’re all seeing the economy is unpredictable, and as I get older and my kids get older, if I can make sure that they’re comfortable and they have the opportunities that I had, that my parents gave me, that’s all I need. I feel like that’s going to get more challenging as each generation goes on. As long as I can set those opportunities up and give them the opportunity to set inspirations or goals, I’ll be all right.
Toni: Who in Berks County inspires you?
Terry: I knew you were going to ask that question, and I thought about that. I started thinking of multiple people.
One of the biggest ones that I can think of – and it’s funny, I’m a member of Greater Reading Young Professionals, and a few years ago we put a video together of Al Boscov. Not being from the area originally, originally being from Lancaster, and then after college moving to the Wilson School District with my wife, which is where she went – and she didn’t have to convince me very hard once I saw it and realized it was a good community – we put together this video of Al Boscov, and after you watch that video, you’re definitely inspired of everything he’s done. It’s a compliment. You’re inspired in a way that actually makes you feel lazy. You see everything he’s done from scratch and where he’s got it to, and the passion – the passion he still has today.
My wife is a buyer at Boscov’s. The stories you hear, the things most people don’t get to hear are truly inspirational. Here’s a guy who on a bus trip back from New York when everyone else is beat down and tired from walking all day and meeting and negotiating further items that they’re buying for, here’s a guy that sits in the back of the bus with the light on working at 7:00 at night to make sure everything is ready for the next day. I think that’s really inspirational.
On top of that, another person that inspires me is – and it might sound cliché – but it would be my wife. You see somebody … and I give her and any mom credit. She can do 10 things while doing the one, and she’s definitely someone who inspires me. At the end of the day, look at everything she does, and it’s truly inspirational.
Toni: Really, it seems as though it’s people that are really just getting it done.
Terry: Yes. People who know what they need to get done, and they get it done, and they get it done with a smile on their face.
Toni: Yes; that’s refreshing, isn’t it?
Terry: It is. There’s a lot of people out there that take things for granted and even though they’re getting things done, they’re in a position that is much more fortunate than other people. I could go on and on about how other people inspire me in the area, but again it comes back down to this county.
People are very close knit in this county. It’s neat. It’s neat to see. If you are a new business – and I learned this from experience, being from Lancaster County. My first job in this area, I had a sales territory which was in Lancaster, so I felt comfortable, and then when I started my own business I learned quickly that I had to network in Berks County, because I didn’t know anybody. The best part about it is it came easy. I joined a few committees, a few organizations. Everyone had open arms, and everyone was willing to let me pitch my product and services and listen to it and sign on board and refer me to other people. It came really easy.
Toni: I’ll tell you, you’re a great testimonial for the county.
Terry: Yes, and I constantly say that. I think testimonies for the county are great. When you hear stories of small businesses or businesses that the Greater Reading Economic Partnership brings into the area, they’ll bring in someone that creates 50 jobs. The reason why they do that is because the site selector comes to the area and sees what we have to offer, and not only do you have shops and restaurants and great people, but they can see their employees being part of that county, so that’s something to say.
Toni: I have to thank you for being so positive about this community, because quite often there are many of us that feel this way about the community, but we don’t get a chance to express that, so thank you for doing that so eloquently.
Terry: Thanks for letting me. I appreciate it.
Toni: What do you want your legacy to be?
Terry: I think it goes back to my original answer. Right now we have two boys – a 4-1/2-year-old and an 8-month-old. There are some points where they drive me crazy; I do definitely see them as being the legacy of carrying on the family name and hopefully a family business. It’s up to them if they stay in the area.
I found out quickly that people that say they want to leave the area always come back to this area. I think that’s a huge testimonial to Berks County; not only being centrally located around everything that you want to get to, but young kids that say, “Hey, you know what? I can't wait to leave here. I want to go to college.” After college they say, “You know what? I’m going to come back and live in Berks County and start a family.”
I think my legacy with our sons, if they come back to the area and live here it would be great, and carry on the family name, and hopefully the family business.
Toni: And be inspired by the journey their Dad is creating at the moment.
Terry: Yes, you hope so.
Toni: That’s fantastic. Terry, thank you so much for being part of the Get Inspired! Project.
Terry: Thanks. I appreciate it.
Toni: Take care.