Why I Decided To Build My Own Business
I am Andrew Exler. I am a 28-year-old born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, where I still live full-time. My life has provided me with some amazing experiences that could not have been accomplished had I not learned at a young age to surround myself with good people. I pride myself on the network I have and hope to highlight those who have strongly impacted me as I continue this blog over time. I have experienced plenty of wins in my life, with just as many losses. I graduated from the College of Business at Ohio University in 2013 and have been fortunate to already have experienced careers in various job industries, seeking opportunities to learn and grow each step of the way. If you don’t make an effort with every experience you face to learn & grow, you’re wasting your own time.
I sold tickets for the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League from 2013-2014. I (hopefully) inspired teenagers while working for BBYO in Nashville, Tennessee, and Pittsburgh, PA from 2014-2018. I further developed my business acumen by enrolling in the Accounting program at the University of Pittsburgh and graduating in 2018 by taking night classes while working full-time as a Tax & Accounting Specialist at Exler & Company, Inc. from 2017-2019.
You might have read that and wondered how someone could experience 3 VERY different industries in less than 7 years. How does someone go from working in sports, to a Jewish non-profit, to an accounting firm? I get it. This is a topic that has driven me NUTS for many years when it comes to the “norms” of the working industry, especially for young professionals. There is this pressure out there that says “you must stay in this job for ‘x’ amount of time before moving to ‘x’. Oh, and don’t you dare think about making a change to ‘x’ too soon. IT WILL KILL YOUR RESUME!”
Now, I am not starting this blog to encourage you to quit your day job. The point I am making is that I wasn’t happy where I was and I couldn’t see myself sustaining happiness for the next 40 years of my life in my past roles. Every person has their own reason for their decisions, many of which are kept internal. None should ever be judged. You never know the type of battle someone is fighting.
Today, I am officially launching “Andrew Exler Consulting”. This is a process that has been in the works for MONTHS. Let me tell you why.
I have always had a “side-hustle” for philanthropy and volunteering. I am involved in some amazing organizations and attempt to volunteer my time to help others when I have the opportunity. I have always been fascinated by the world of social media and how much of an impact it makes on our world, which led me to seek voluntary experience managing the social media accounts of various non-profit organizations & small businesses. I love planning events of any size and my passion for fundraising cannot be put into words. After having coffee with a mentor of mine earlier in 2019, he asked me why I’m not trying to just do this full-time. A few months later, here we are. I have pulled bits and pieces from my past roles of what I really enjoyed and realized that I have an opportunity to take what I normally do as a hobby, and make it my career.
Simply, Andrew Exler Consulting is launching to make the lives of individuals and business owners easier, wherever they need it most. I will provide my expertise to fulfill the needs of your business’s social media platforms, event planning opportunities and development. While my niche is focused on working with non-profit organizations, small businesses and start-ups, I would never turn down an opportunity to work with someone. The opportunity to work DIRECTLY with me is what sets me apart. You are going to get the passionate & personal work ethic that I will provide for you where I will take the time to get to know you & your business.
I will not touch on the topic much in this post, but I would be remiss not to mention a big part of what led me here today. If you know me personally or have followed me on social media over the past year, you would know my involvement with the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and how much of an impact the tragedy here has made on me. After October 27th, 2018, I knew that my current job status as an accountant was not going to last. I felt like I was missing a big piece of me for a long time and the way the world came together after that terrible day fully confirmed to me that I needed to find a role where I can go out and actively impact others. I have been in the process of building this business since January 2019 and am excited to finally share it.
While I am thrilled about this next step in my life, I would be lying if I said this was an easy decision to make. Over the last 2 years, I have had the opportunity to work with my hero every single day, my father, Mark Exler. I got to walk into the office every day and spend time with him (whether I was driving him crazy or not, I’ll let him answer that). I enrolled in the accounting program at PITT in 2016 and officially entered the accounting industry in my family business in 2017, fully with the intent of being the successor to my father at Exler & Company, Inc. Clearly, that is not the route I decided to take for my life. Early in 2019, my dad could sense something was not right with me. For a while, I denied, denied, denied, and said I was fine. I knew I was lying and so did he. Many may think there is a bad ending to these types of stories: “son leaves the family business and everyone wonders, ‘what happened?’”. What happened was that my father was the most supportive, gracious, generous, caring, and loving human you could possibly imagine when learning his son was leaving the family business. I can’t thank my dad enough for his support throughout this difficult decision and I am happily working with Exler & Company, Inc. as one of my first clients. Yes, it’s still possible for tough stories to have a good ending.
“The Ground Floor”, as I decided to name my blog will be my chance to share my journey with you as I build and grow my business. My goal is to highlight my experiences, clients, success stories, absolute failures, and everything in between. I invite you to join me on the ground floor as I literally start from the bottom and work my way up.
— Andrew
