By Kim Jao
Matt Higgins went from selling flowers on a street corner to becoming the youngest mayoral press secretary in New York City, a Shark Tank investor, the co-founder and CEO of RSE Ventures, the executive vice president of the New York Jets, and an author.
His path wasn't easy.
In his commencement speech to the 2024 graduates of Molloy University on May 20, Higgins recounted some of the hardest moments of his life and how he dealt with self-doubt, grief, and the experience of being diagnosed with a rare medical condition. All of this, he said, taught him valuable lessons about growth.
Higgins told the audience that at 16, he dropped out of high school to get his GED and enrolled at Queens College while working full time. His mother was sick, and he helped take care of her by selling flowers on a street corner and scraping gum at his local McDonald's – but he believed there was more he could do to help pay the bills. When he decided to leave high school, he said that his science teacher mocked his decision, smugly telling the class that they'd all see Higgins at McDonald's one day. But Higgins didn't let this define him.
"Life is not dictated by where you begin, or even where you end up," Higgins said. "It's how much distance you cover in between. And the way to cover the most distance, more than you could ever imagine in this great life, is to repeatedly ask yourself one simple question."
The question he asked himself: Why not me?
Higgins found power in his ability to dream of a life he didn't initially see as possible. "At those times in life when you find yourself settling for less, a fleeting vision of a different life will appear," he said. Those moments, he said, offer a chance to listen to your inner voice and see it as a guide to a new direction in life.
"To the class of 2024, never let anyone convince you that your past puts a ceiling on your future. It only sets the floor," Higgins said. "And for all the blessings you pursue, and all the burdens you must carry, always ask yourself the one question that has the power to change your life: Why not me?"
Read the article on Inc.com