Roger Wasson is Co-Owner and VP of Sales and Marketing at Elite Promotions, a family-owned and operated company dedicated to providing effective, efficient, and quality promotional products to various industries and businesses. Follow him @rogerwasson.
Who is your hero? (In business, life, or both.) 
My hero is YouTube filmmaker Casey Neistat. I love the way Casey integrates his life passions into his work, doing what he wants to do 100 percent of the time. It encourages me to live like this in my own entrepreneurial pursuits.
What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why?
Live in the moment. Too often, we get stuck chasing a dream or something else in our day-to-day life that we don’t focus on the “this”: this too shall pass, you’re going to miss this. Be in the moment and try to appreciate it for what it is. Then, focus on the next “this.”
What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it that others can learn from too?
Hiring an assistant when I thought I was too busy. I did a lousy job of training her and then I was upset when she didn’t keep and do things the exact way I liked them. I went through three assistants in four years before I finally realized the issue was me. Now I’m trying to figure out a better way to train someone to gain more out of working with an assistant.
What do you do during the first hour of your business day and why?
I typically get to the office around 8:30 a.m. after dropping off my son at kindergarten. Then I plow through emails and follow up with the previous day’s projects. The time between 9:00 and 9:15 a.m. is set aside for push-ups and prayers: I close the door and have a little quiet time to get my mind set and focused — and do some push-ups to get the blood flowing. Then, it’s back to the computer.
What’s your best financial/cash-flow related tip for entrepreneurs just getting started?
Become friends with your vendors and your bankers. They control 95 percent of everything after you get an order in. So keep them happy and they will make your life so much easier.
Quick: What’s ONE thing you recommend ALL aspiring or current entrepreneurs do right now to take their biz to the next level?
Buck the trend. Just because something’s always been done one way doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.
What’s your definition of success? How will you know when you’ve finally “succeeded” in your business?
Success is being able to do what you want, when you want, where you want and with whom you want. I will know I’ve succeed in my business when I have two executive assistants working for me.
