When did you first realize what you wanted to do for a career?
Tim: When I was 19 and a freshman at Babson College I realized that I want to be an entrepreneur. That Spring the college had established an Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs. I stood in the back of the auditorium that April afternoon and listened to great entrepreneurs like Berry Gordy from Motown Records and Ray Kroc from McDonalds. Their stories amazed me. From that moment on I was inspired.
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What was your very first job experience and how did it affect you?
Tim: I grew up on Cape Cod. My father was an electrician. When I was 15 he gave me my first summer job digging trenches to put in underground electrical services. Over the course of that summer I decided I had better work harder in school to find a less labor intensive career. Also, over the following winter I took swimming lessons so I could spend my next five summers as a lifeguard.
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What is your favorite book and why?
Tim: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It is very interesting to think what the world would be like if the great innovators and leaders went out on strike.
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What is your favorite hobby or past time?
Tim: Sports. My brother was a year ahead of me in school and it seemed like we were always either at the rink, on a pond, in the driveway or on a field somewhere. In high school I played football, hockey and baseball. At college I played baseball and hockey. Then in my junior year I started the rugby club. Once I entered the "real world" I finally gave up rugby because showing up Monday mornings at work all bruised up just wasn't cutting it. Since then I've moved from cycling to triathlon.
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Can you name one accomplishment in your life most people might not know about?
Tim: In July of 2001 I was nearing the end of the Ironman triathlon, my first. After a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a marathon run of 26.2 miles I was headed to the finish. Unknown to me at the time was that just around the corner my friends had snuck my two kids on to the course. To the sound of blaring music, screaming onlookers and an announcer bellowing "Tim DeMello, YOU are an Ironman" the three of us broke the tape together. I have the finishing photo framed on my desk.
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