Meet Michael Silva | Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael Silva and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Work life balance is extremely important to me. As a child growing up, my father worked a ton of hours, anywhere from 80 – 100 hours a week. He was more of the blue collar type than the white collar professional and he wanted to provide a lifestyle for his family that was on par to the families that lived in our neighborhood and the only way to achieve that was to work a ton of hours. As a kid growing up, I didn’t fully understand why Dad wasn’t at my little league game or why he wasn’t home for dinner. I know he loved us a tremendous amount but I didn’t understand why he wasn’t around as much as he and I wanted him to be. As I got older and became a father myself, I completely understood his motivation and drive, but I told myself that I wouldn’t sacrifice time with the family to the extent that my father did. I would do whatever it takes to make every game, track meet, play and piano recital.

When starting my business, I always wrestled with the question, Can I put the time and energy into this venture without sacrificing time with my family? My solution was to get my kids and wife involved with the business! In order to get the product out there, I needed to travel the country going to tailgate to tailgate at NFL and NCAA games from NJ, to Buffalo, to Cleveland, to West Virginia, etc. and I brought my son and daughter on every one of these trips! Spending time in the car sometimes 9 hours at a time, singing songs out of tune and talking about real life issues was absolutely priceless. My son and daughter would pick places to eat on the road based on our favorite show Diners, Drive ins and Dives and it was absolutely delicious everytime. As a father, these times were absolutely invaluable not only from a spending time perspective but as a teaching moment. My kids learned how to step out of their comfort zone, pitch absolute strangers, hustle day in and day out and fully understand what it takes to run a business and more importantly understand what they are capable of doing. Getting my family involved allows me to even out the Work Life balance at least in my eyes.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I started a business with my brother Frank based on a game that we invented as kids and its called QB54. This game was a significant part of our childhood and provided a ton of great memories. I am extremely proud that we took the risk of bringing this product to the market and being successful with it. When we started this business, we wanted to bring people closer together rather than driving a wedge between people which is happening way too often. We didn’t think we would be able to sell one game because we didn’t have any business education or experience. All we knew was when you work hard at something good things happen and we learned that from our father. After 5 years in business we sold over 25,000 units and grossed over $3 million dollars, that is a huge success for 2 brothers selling out of their garages.

What I would tell people is this, you can accomplish anything that you want to, as long as you believe in yourself and put the blood, sweat and tears behind. The question shouldn’t be Why Me? but Why Not Me!?!

Believe in your brand, and support your customers and provide the best customer service possible and great things will happen. We stand behind our product and customers 100%

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Mike Luzio is an extremely successful entrepreneur and investor. Mike met me at a Rutgers University tailgate early on in my business and he observed me hustling in the parking lot and selling my product. Apparently, I caught his eye and he needed to know who I was and what I was doing, and thats how the relationship started. Mike has been a very important mentor to me and my business since we met. He put me in touch with a good friend of his, Sergei, who is now my head of marketing and as completely transformed our business and grew it 10X. Luzio has been there every step of the way and has provided me with priceless advice and insight, one of them being ” Never get too High and Never Get Too Low, Always stay in the Middle”. I use that simple bit of advice everyday and it has been extremely valuable. I am very thankful for my relationship with Mike as it has become instrumental in growing my business.

Website: www.playqb54.com

Instagram: @playqb54

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-silva-7030318/

Twitter: @playqb54

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayQB54

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVTkYlaHhzgBxoJaJlOzPBg

Other: tiktok = @qb54