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Playing Monoploy...With Real Money

  When Brian Brady (B’81) arrived on the Ferris campus in the late 1970s, he imagined that someday he would own a chain of pharmacies. But after a year into the program his interests switched to advertising - a career move that only accelerated his dream of being a successful business owner. As the president and chief executive officer of both Northwest and Eagle Creek Broadcasting, Brady owns and operates eight network affiliated television stations in Washington, Oregon, New York and Texas. It all began selling radio advertising at a radio station in St. Johns, Mich. From that small station in the cornfields, he has realized his dream - owning and operating television stations. From his office in Okemos, Mich., Brady talked to Crimson & Gold about the evolution of his career and its challenges, his family and his alma mater.

Crimson & Gold: Could you talk a little bit about how you got to where you are today?

Brian Brady: I was home on break right before graduation helping my father with his carpet cleaning business and happened to strike up a conversation while cleaning for a customer who happened to own radio stations. We discussed what I was going to do after graduating from Ferris. I told him I was interested in working at an advertising agency. He encouraged me to pursue radio sales and put me in touch with a young entrepreneur who had just purchased WQTK AM and FM in St. Johns. I interviewed for a job, was hired on the spot, and started in January 1982, after graduation.
  The other salespeople had the accounts in St. Johns covered, so I called on Lansing businesses to advertise. It didn’t go so well. I heard every reason known to man why they wouldn’t advertise on a St. Johns station. Believing that selling starts only after someone says NO, I persisted until I finally convinced them that this little station could sell their products. Eventually I was selling more than the little cash-starved station had money to pay me for, so I negotiated a deal to trade my commissions for a piece of the station. We sold the station shortly after that and I went on to help build a television station in Flint for another underfunded entrepreneur.
   I made an offer to buy the station and just when I thought the deal was going to happen the owner sold it to a station owner from Cincinnati. I was crushed. I used the disappointment to strengthen my resolve to own a station. Not wanting to take the traditional route I joined a software company that sold sales and research software to TV stations. My plan was to learn the business from the outside in. Using the contacts made in that business, I began raising money to buy a station of my own. I put a deal together with a couple of investors and an experienced operator, and bought seven television stations. We sold the stations a year later. I then formed a new company and purchased an ABC station and three radio stations in Alabama. The company was merged with a public company and then I left that to form Northwest Broadcasting, which is the company I own today.

C&G: What’s a typical day like for you?

BB: I don’t think there is anything such as a typical day - that’s what keeps it interesting. I deal with pretty much everything on the operations side of the business. I also spend time looking for and working on deals to buy additional stations.

C&G: From consolidation to censorship, the media has been in the news a lot lately. What are the biggest challenges the television industry is facing today?

BB: The business has changed dramatically in the last five years. There’s a lot of competition for eyeballs: satellite and cable TV companies; the Internet; satellite radio; TiVo; and video games. It’s not the big four networks any more, it’s any one of 150-plus channels. As an industry, we’re trying to figure out how to ensure we will have a viable business 10 years from now. What we have witnessed over the last five years is a great business morphing to a good business.

C&G: How do you define success?

BB: It’s simple; success is all about being happy. In my world that happiness all starts with having a great family life. Too many people confuse success with money, when it has nothing to do with that. If you enjoy what you’re doing, work hard and lead a balanced life, the money will find its way to you.

C&G: A lot of people dream of being their own boss. What are the perks to your job?

BB: The ability to control my own time, not that I always do such a good job at it. I learned early on in military school that life is really better on the top of the food chain than at the bottom, so the quicker you can get there, the more fun it is. Even though I have a lot of flexibility in my job, I’m available 24/7. I’ve found that by surrounding yourself with great people you can improve the odds that your business will be successful.

C&G: What’s next for you?

BB: I’m working on buying another television station and have started a new company, Sunrise Production, which will be marketing videos for pets. I’m most content when I’m trying to hustle up a deal rather than handling day-to-day operations. I like figuring out the puzzle – it’s like playing monopoly with real money.

C&G: What do you like doing outside of work?

BB: I enjoy hanging out with the family. Our youngest daughter, Meghan, is a high school freshman who is a competitive Irish step dancer and plays travel soccer. Erin, our oldest, is beginning her first year at St. Mary’s College. Between the two of them we do a fair amount of traveling. In my spare time I play “gentleman farmer,” on my farm in Mt. Morris. I call it my Prozac – if I can get outside once a week for four or five hours, it helps me center myself.

C&G: What are your fondest memories of Ferris?

BB: I met my wife, Diane, there in a bio-medical ethics class. I like to tease her because that’s the only class she got an A in. She, in turn, likes to remind me that the real fact is it’s the only class I got an A in…because of her! I have some very close friends who went to Ferris and we had a lot of fun. I’m a classic example of what Ferris can do for someone. It’s a very hands-on environment where you can get close to the professors, and that’s a big plus.

C&G: What advice do you have for Ferris students and fellow alumni?

BB: For students - don’t think it’s enough to learn from the books alone. You need to research the field you want to be in and spend time getting to know it. It’s also important to get involved and start networking early. The best time to start working on getting a job after college is from the first day you arrive on campus. For my fellow alums, I would tell them if Ferris was important to you and if it helped propel you forward in life, then you should take a minute to reflect on it and try to give back to the school.