Mark Lazarchic 52 years old
Husband of 1, dad of 4, lord and master of 2 dogs, aging punk rocker, entrepreneur, opinionated, all-around nice guy. CEO of 7 companies.
CEO of Serenity Venture Group
CEO of Renaissance Fireworks
CEO of Wedding Day Sparklers
CEO of Blue Sun Soda Shop
Educated at Autodidact University
Hobbies including gardening, sailing, world domination, travel, and starting businesses. I have performed comedy on 12 stages in the Minneapolis/St Paul area and worked at an entertainment venue as a comedy performer for 28 years. I also was a professional poker player for 4 years and ranked 3rd in the state of MN.
My name is Mark Lazarchic. I am the owner and CEO of 7 companies in Minnesota. I grew up in the country in rural Ohio. At 10 years old, my family uprooted and moved to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St Paul suburbs. Two years later, my parents divorced, and my world was completely in chaos compared to the serine country life I had grown up in.
I struggled through school despite having been a gifted student my whole life. I was no longer interested in education by high school as it is done, and I dropped out of high school. I worked pretty dull jobs to make a living and eventually moved to Virginia. In Virginia, I attempted several things, including even trying college. None of it stuck, and after 4 years, I returned home to Minnesota. After a few years, I started making sales. As someone who could talk and tell stories, it was a natural fit. Also, without a college diploma, it was the only option for a job that paid a decent or even above-average salary. I did several sales jobs for 10 years all-the-while starting up different business ideas. Some worked well, but I did not enjoy them. Others did not work so well.
My first job was a paper route when I was 13 years old. I delivered 20-30 papers on weekdays and over 100 on the weekends. It was a 7 day a week job, and the paperboys were responsible for collecting payments monthly for the papers. Many people would ignore your requests, and some would even not answer the door. It was very time-consuming, and then we would have to send in payment to the newspaper. Anything above the amount collected was our pay. With people not paying and the time spent, it was not a very profitable job, but also, as a 13-year-old, you do not need a lot of income.
In 2004 I started Renaissance Fireworks. Selling fireworks out of tents in parking lots. It took a couple of years but eventually, I made it work, and since then, I have used it as a launch for several other companies.
As for my opinion on University, I do not put any value in a degree when I am hiring someone in almost every position I hire for. A degree has never impressed me unless I need you to operate on me, represent me in a court of law, or deal with my finances and numbers. I find the best employees are always the ones that have worked and gained experience. People that have dealt with actual problems. I employ 15 Full-Time employees, several Part-Time employees, and a large number of seasonal employees. I will hire someone raised on a farm or in the military before I would hire based on a degree. People raised on a farm have served problem solvers and people who will work to get a job finished.
I became a business owner and CEO because I never had any other choice. I spent my entire life dreaming up business ideas and imagining myself owning them. When I was 11, I would dive in the golf course ponds to find lost golf balls and then sell them to the golfers on the course. In Middle School, I learned how to make rock candy. I took my paper route money and bought all the needed supplies. I would spend all afternoon making blocks of rock candy in cupcake tins: numerous flavors and all wrapped in tin foil. I would then bring them to school and sell them at a 5x mark up (80 margins, baby!). I did this so much and so often that eventually, I was brought into the office and told I could no longer sell sugar bombs in the school. I have always wanted to be my own boss, and I was never thrilled working for someone else. So like I said, I never had a choice.
In my working life, I worked for everything from Tyrants to bosses you never even saw. A few people that stand out. Richard was a manager I had when I first got into sales. I walked into his office on my birthday and asked him that since it was slow, I could go home because it was my birthday. Richard lowered his newspaper, looked me dead in the eyes, and said, “I have worked my birthday for the last 20 years. Welcome to being an adult”. It was a cold slap, but it was true. I was working a real job and expected to be a grown-up now.
I had another boss that I called one day. I was managing one of his five stores, so I rarely saw him face-to-face. I told him that one of the products we sold offered rebates and could get some free products for filling out some forms. He told me, “That stuff is a waste of time. I don’t have time for that.”. I decided to take it upon myself to do all of this as I had plenty of downtimes. I contacted our supplier and asked them to fax over every single order for all five stores for the last 12 months. To give you an idea, that was over 300 multi-page orders. I went through all of these for about a month. Highlighting everything and making copies of all the orders for record-keeping. I submitted it to the supplier, and the company was granted $100,000 in retail value of the product for free. I had just made the owner of the company $100,000 and felt pretty damn good about it. His response? He never once thanked me for it. Never mentioned it to me. He did, however, note to the company GM that he had made $100,000 more from rebates. As a matter of fact, he demoted me less than 6 months later when I threatened to fire his son for being the slowest service worker and doing drugs. Lesson learned from that? I said no matter how successful I become. I never want to be that asshole to my employees. That man inspired hate from his people, and in time we found out that his people had been stealing tens of thousands of dollars from him. Treat your people like shit, and they will justify stealing from you.
As for interviews, I only once in my life was not offered a job after an interview. I showed up early always. I dressed like I wanted a job, not like I was going to a movie. I shook hands with the interviewer and always made good eye contact. I also never used phrases like “I bring a lot to a team” or “I am a real team player.” Bullshit generic terms like this make me want to puke when I hear them, and I imagine other CEO’s feel the same way. I was always honest and up-front about what I could do and what I could not do.
If you are looking for a job, I will tell you what I look for and what I want to see. Be on time. If you make me wait for you, there is zero chance you will get the job. Be quick and precise with your answers. I do not want to have to dig for answers. Follow up with me a couple of days later if you do not hear from me. I like someone who wants to work for more than someone who wants to get a paycheck. Mention your background beyond work. I will hire anyone that grew up on a farm or served in the military. I have found people from either background excel at work ethic more often than not.
If you are looking for some good reads on work and what employers like here are a couple that are all over the map.
- Larry Winget “It’s Called Work For A Reason”
- Jim Collins “Good To Great” (It’s dated but still a wonderful read)
- Ken Blanchard “Raving Fans”
These are business books, BUT if you want to know what employers are thinking or desiring, these will help you get into the people’s minds making the decision.
In conclusion, I will say this. I will happily hire people who make mistakes over people who do nothing unless told to do it. I want people who do not need me to constantly tell them what to do and make lists for them to complete. People that can take the initiative are far more valuable than any college degree or Resume’ can ever be.
