DeRoche advises students to plan their dreams

Make a list, check it twice

“Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right.” Henry Ford

Dow Corning Executive in Residence speaker Paul DeRoche, ’91, recited the quote to a finance class. Standing in front of a projector in the Grawn Hall classroom, he gave students advice that his father gave him before he graduated – read the 1930s book Think and Grow Rich.

“The author – Napoleon Hill – wanted to know what it took to be successful. So he interviewed the successful business people of the time, such as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Andrew Carnegie,” DeRoche said. “They all had something in common: They knew what they wanted to accomplish in advance and wrote it down.”

DeRoche, a Merrill Lynch vice president and financial analyst, said the men also would revisit the list throughout their careers to chart their success. And, even though they experienced it, they did not accept failure.

When DeRoche was a CMU college senior, he wrote a list. And he’s stuck to it, with some revisions.

“At 21, my goals were mainly materialist, like a boat and a nice house,” he said with a smile. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve added important things like volunteering to the list.”

He now teaches a financial and banking class to Detroit school children as a volunteer through Operation Hope.

But also on the list was to start and own a business; he’s since started and operated a residential cleaning company, a real estate company, and Web-based procurement company.

DeRoche said he realized his main career goal when he was in college, and he wrote it down. He wanted to work in the financial business world. So DeRoche, then without professional experience, called stockbrokers and volunteered his services.

“Following through on goals is what sets people apart,” DeRoche said to the students. “I worked during my time off from school for free. It was my way of getting into the financial business. When you have a goal, you need to do what it takes and just go for it.”

CMU’s top-notch program
celebrates two decades

For the past 20 years, the College of Business Administration at Central Michigan University has brought in top-level executives – many of whom, like DeRoche, are CMU graduates – to speak to students about their business success and experiences.

The Dow Corning Executive in Residence program was established in 1987 with a gift of $50,000 from the corporation.

CBA Dean D. Michael Fields said distinguished alumni and friends come to the program and share how they have charted successfulcareers.

“This event provides our students with an opportunity to speak on a personal level with business executives who possess outstanding experience and connections,” he said.

Past participants in the program include Domino’s Pizza CEO David Brandon and
The Learning Channel’s Little People, Big World actress Amy Roloff, ’85.

In addition to his keynote speech, DeRoche spoke in several business classes during his two-day visit to campus and gave a few secrets to his success.

“Make sure you write down what you want out of life and follow through,” DeRoche said to the finance students as the class period ended. “And remember that there is only one person who can either push you toward, or stop you from, achieving your life plan: you.”

Paul DeRoche, ’91, visited several classrooms in addition to his Dow Corning Executive in Residence keynote speech.
Here he talks to students in a finance class about planning out their professional – and personal – goals.

Students listened and wrote down goal-achieving tips that DeRoche offered.