Patrick Gilligan
with his next interview guest waiting in the background
"I think I'm one of the best interviewers in the country."
Patrick Gilligan is a self-made man. A consummate salesman, he is his own promoter and public relations specialist. The Ferris alumnus earned a B.S. in Health Services Management in 1984 and used it to found Premier Benefits, a flourishing home-based consulting business that provides managed health care benefit plans to a variety of companies.
The business is successful enough that he could have retired at age 30. "I had a lot of time on my hands," said Gilligan. "I played a lot of tennis and was pretty laid back for a few years. It was about then that I realized I had a passion and a talent for broadcasting."
Successful Career Change
He turned that talent into "Entrepreneur Spotlight," a cable television and radio program to educate and empower people who share the dream of starting their own businesses. The program spotlights financially successful guests who started businesses backed with virtually no capital or resources. His guest lineup has included Charles Schwab, Les Brown, Dick DeVos, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg and authors Covert Bailey ("Fit or Fat?") and Jack Canfield ("Chicken Soup for the Soul" series).
Alma Mater Memories
Patrick Gilligan earned his bachelor's degree in less than three years. "I was just out of the service and wanted to maximize the benefits of my G.I. bill." His college days weren't all work, however.
"I remember drifting down the Muskegon River on those giant inner tubes. And I was introduced to tennis at Ferris. Now it's one of my great passions."
As for his career change from the health field to broadcasting, "Your education serves you well wherever you go."
When pressed to name his favorite guest star to date, he chooses Les Brown. "When I interviewed him over a year ago, he was battling prostate cancer. Here was a man fighting for his life against a deadly disease, and he was so engaging that, by the end of the interview, he made me feel good."
National TV Next
Like many of the success stories he brings to the public, Gilligan sets new goals as he achieves those on his list. He had the storybook ideal of a nice house, marriage and an M.B.A. at an age when most careers are just beginning to take off. Now single, he has his sights set on hosting a talk show on national television. If networking means anything, his second career should prove as successful as his first. A little chutzpah doesn't hurt either.
In pursuit of Larry King (Gilligan recruits his own guests), he sent King a fax proclaiming, "I think I'm one of the best interviewers in the country and would like to have you as a guest on my show."
King responded with a phone call. He'd seen "Entrepreneur Spotlight" and was impressed with Gilligan's style. "We laughed about the fact that neither of us had been to broadcasting school," said Gilligan. "Then Larry said to me, 'Hey, Patrick, if you're good, you're good.'"
Gilligan is good. You'd know it even if he didn't tell you himself.
