The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

Grand Bahamian Mychal Connolly is an awarding winning entrepreneur in the US who has launched several successful businesses by “thinking outside the box”.

Connolly - who grew up in the ‘Back A Town’ low-income housing Subdivision in Freeport – now lives in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he is helping to build million-dollar American brands through his consultancy firm, The Launch and Stand Out Agency.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has earned six figures within three months.

Mr Connolly formed a baby diaper decorating company called Mr Stinky Cakes, and also Stand Out Truck, a mobile digital Billboard Advertising to promote brands. Both businesses are doing well.

“You have to create collaborations even when they don’t exist,” said Mychal. “Everyone thought I was crazy to have a digital truck and drive it around doing nothing. They were convinced I should have been using the truck for deliveries because of the size. I took my truck, uploaded the logo of a major national franchise, and parked in front of their company then reached out to them on social media. By the end of the week, I had a contract to be their official mobile digital billboard. You can’t limit yourself. You must always create a way even if the signs say that’s impossible.”

As a young boy at age nine in Grand Bahama, Mychal was always thinking of ways to earn money. His grandmother Nora Connolly told him to sell candy at the tuck shop she operated from her home.

Mychal took the candies to his school at Freeport Primary but realised kids did not like them and preferred other brands and flavors. He told his grandmother and begged her to buy the better flavoured candies.

“I tripled her sales in the space of three weeks simply because I realised what the customers wanted,” he recalled. “I was nine-years-old and I didn’t realize it but I had a successful marketing plan and executed it so well, she had enough to generate a steady income.”

Mychal received a commission from his grandmother and was able to purchase video games, which was “a big deal back then in the late ‘80s.”

He stated that his grandmother was able to continue the business until she passed away in 2005. To this day, he said he continues to execute that strategy for his businesses and his clients.

As a successful entrepreneur, Mr Connolly has also written a book, ‘Launch and Stand Out,’ about how persons can launch their ideas into profitable businesses, and how to stand out with marketing and branding to put their product and services above the rest.

“His tough big brother style is one that gets people to see their inner potential in a big way. His clients have included the creators of million-dollar brands and he thrives on connecting people to the right networks so that they can build together,” according to a press release.

Additionally, Mr Connolly has helped hurricane victims, mentor single parents, and has helped a dozen foster children who have lived with his family.

“I have two sons who are my world,” says Mychal. “They’ve inspired me to be a better man in more ways than they can imagine and they are the reason I understand the importance of legacy building, teaching children the proper tools when it comes to generational wealth and so much more.”

“My sons are a big part of my business even though they are teenagers and when the pandemic hit and they were home with us, they got to see a whole lot more than usual. My foster children as well have taught me so many lessons and when they leave our home, I hope that they leave with the tools we have given to them so that when they age out of the system or find forever homes, they have a life skill to set them up.”

His sons Mychal, Jr., and Aiden also participates in his newest venture, Stand Out Truck, in nearly every aspect from getting clients to switching out the signs.

Mr Connelly said: “It gives us time to be together to communicate and communication is so key in business.”

He believes that sharing information with others is important. “Whether it’s as simple as offering something through a social media post or video, or selling that information in a book or workshop,” he explained.

Mr Connolly thinks it is very important for young black boys to see black men in attainable roles, other than athletes or entertainers.

“2020 has shown us so many things as it relates to black men in the USA, and growing up in the Caribbean, I realize me and my children are living two different experiences,” he said. “As black men, we have to be there. At the same time, we have to be able to understand that we have to create products and services so great, that people won’t see it because of the owner but rather because it’s an amazing product,” he said.

Finally, Mr Connolly - who also mentors Grand Bahamian online - is encouraging Bahamians to “hang in through the tough times.”

He said they must surround themselves with people that will help develop a growth mindset.