Not everyone feels the itch to strike out on their own. But for those that do, engineer and entrepreneur JT Malasri is committed to leading by example.
As a kid, Malasri was always taking his toys apart, trying to figure out how things worked. Over a decade later, he turned that into a profession by becoming an engineer. And now, after spending his entire career working for others, Malasri has stepped out on his own, starting his own company, Malasri Engineering.
“I’ve always been very blessed to have great jobs,” JT says. “My last job was excellent and I wouldn’t go work for anybody else. But it was still a job. And for a part of me, the job was no longer satisfying. It was almost like an itch I couldn’t scratch anymore. At that point I came to realize that no matter what job I’m working in, that’s not who I am.”
Although Malasri knew that starting his own company was something he had to do, he learned there are a lot of challenges that come from being the one and only man in charge.
“[The first few weeks] were like a hard punch in the face. But it was a good punch,” JT laughs. “One challenge I need to be conscious of is to pace myself because now I’m the only factor holding myself back. Knowing that, you just you want to run, but you have to remember it’s a marathon. You need to be consistent, focused, disciplined, and that’s how you ultimately achieve long-term success. There was definitely a lot of uncertainty which I’m still trying to get used to.”
Malasri doesn’t exactly know where this venture will lead, but right now his company is focused on water-related industries. And as time goes on, Malasri thinks that water may be the one thing that could bring tremendous growth to Memphis.
“In our lifetime we are going to see a lot of water shortages and a lot of water issues all over America, from water quality, quantity and the flood mitigation,” JT recognizes. “You’re already starting to see cities with major drought shortages now. I think water might be the one thing that man cannot mitigate. Once you run out of water you cannot exceed anymore. I think we will see that in our lifetime with places like New York and Los Angeles and I think we are in a position to capture a lot of that growth. That’s what connects Memphis to me in my lifetime, in your lifetime.”
This growth is something Malasri is committed to seeing in Memphis and wants to help the city achieve by encouraging people to work in what they are passionate about. JT thinks that by people doing what they love, in whatever sector that is, that the city will be able to thrive.
“Life shouldn’t be where you are going to work because you have to and you’re counting down the days until the weekend. I don’t think that’s really living or hitting your full potential.”
“If I can create a success story from the ground up in Memphis, I hope that other people that may have that itch that may not have jumped because of some uncertainty may be inspired to try to go out and try to create something. I think that’s where people do their best work, is when they are excited about something and they love what they’re doing. That’s how we are going to change Memphis. If we can create a city of that, we’re destined to be great.”
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