Meet Thomas Dear III

We were lucky to catch up with Thomas Dear III recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Thomas , great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
Throughout my life, I have failed far more times than I have succeeded. I was always told, “no risk, no reward.” Every loss I experienced was a lesson which allowed me to develop my ability to take risks. When I decided to go the independent route and create my own publishing company, ‘Dream Big Publishing.’ I was inexperienced but chose to follow my dream of publishing my first ever children’s book titled, ‘Teddy Makes Cents.’ A book that teaches children the importance of financial responsibility and how to set money-saving goals.

Dawn Staley, Hall of Fame Player and Coach, once said, “a lot of people notice when you succeed, but they don’t see what it takes to get there.” It took me four years to publish my children’s book. Why? Well, there were a number of reasons: writer’s block, procrastination, self-doubt, etc. I overcame my writer’s block by exercising regularly, whether it be walks around the neighborhood or jogging at the park. To avoid procrastination, I minimized distractions, kept a to-do list, and prioritized that to-do list. As for self-doubt, I stopped comparing myself to others and focused on making my dreams a reality.

Everything I learned about creating a publishing company and publishing a book had come from trial and error. Again, I was inexperienced and had unrealistic expectations. Aside from my personal issues causing the book to be delayed, expenses were a factor as well. I was taking a huge risk by investing my own funds but was willing to bet it all on my dream. The reward was far greater than anything I could have imagined. The book has me afforded opportunities to travel all throughout the United States and has been a life-changing experience. As I always say, “no dream is ever too small…DREAM BIG!”

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I began my career with Entegral, as a business analyst. Entegral is an integrated software platform that streamlines the claims process for service providers working to get a customer on their way and back into a vehicle. Entegral enables communication and collaboration between tens of thousands of collision repair shops, insurance providers and other industry professionals around the world. Today, I am a Scrum Master for Entegral, whose responsibilities are leading high-performing teams, removing obstacles that impede their progress, and delivering exceptional results.

Outside of my career, I am the founder of Dream Big Publishing and the author of the children’s book, ‘Teddy Makes Cents.’ I am a huge advocate for financial literacy with a focus on educating the youth. My life experiences are what inspired the book which eventually led to me being on ‘Michael Colyar’s Morning Show,’ ‘FOX News: The Pulse of St. Louis,’ and featured in the ‘2023 Waymaker Journal Winter Issue.’

I am excited about two upcoming events happening May 18th and June 15th. The event in May will be held at the Mathews-Dickey Boys & Girls Club in St. Louis, MO. The event in June will be held at the Bartlett Center in St. Joseph, MO. Both of these events promote community engagement through various hands-on activities with the youth and free book giveaways.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
As an IT Professional and Author, I believe being an effective communicator, critical thinker, and organizer are the most important qualities to develop in order to succeed. If you are early in your journey, my advice to you would be to focus on developing these three areas. Firstly, if you aspire to become either of the two or any other profession, make sure you are dedicated to acquiring the necessary education and skills for the job. Secondly, you should learn how to approach and solve problems in a systematic and effective way. This could involve developing critical thinking skills, researching and analyzing information, and exploring various solutions. Lastly, cultivate a strong will and resilience to face challenges and persist in the face of adversity. This can be achieved by setting goals, prioritizing self-care, and surrounding yourself with supportive people.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
The book, ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad,’ written by author Robert T. Kiyosaki, has played an important role in my development and a few nuggets of wisdom that were most impactful were: (1) “Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.” (2) “You’re only poor if you give up. The most important thing is that you did something.” These two quotes resonated with me the most because throughout life you are going to experience failure but how you respond to it is what is important. I have failed far more times than I have succeeded however I refuse to give up on my goals and aspirations. Even if these things don’t necessarily go as planned, you at least tried and that’s all that matters.

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Image Credits
Photographer(s): Fam Establishment Media, 4MACS Photography

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