The most powerful ideas that come to young children’s minds are often the subliminal ones. Imagine convincing a youngster that they may have to adjust to a life where they are always “under the bar” without saying anything. Society has a clear way of limiting the dreams of children with learning disabilities, especially ADHD. They should be in a safe zone of life, a “comfortable place” where they only take what is given without trying to get any further.
For the Canadian-born serial entrepreneur, journalist, software developer and radio host Michael Peres, his so-called disability could only be considered a strength for him. The 31-year-old runs and oversees the activities of five companies and startups while still traveling the world providing a range of services in technology, media, journalism and digital marketing. After spending most of his life overcoming obstacles and defying the limitations, it is only natural for this mental conditioning to creep into his work ethic.
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Mikey Peres was only 9 years old when he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other learning disorders. His earliest understanding of the condition was how textbook descriptions could only get so much right. You had to experience it to really understand it. The medication, isolation, come-and-go depression, anxiety, mood swings, and highly fluctuating energy modes often narrowed a young child’s horizon. Grateful for the caring support system he had, Peres learned throughout his high school and college days to teach himself, train his mind, control his energies, and push himself beyond expectations. It took him a day to be labeled “stupid” by kids in math class when he was actually right to change his mind forever.
Peres said of arming a condition that should be a constraint: “My ADHD certainly shaped my life, but I don’t like being defined or rated by it. The road to success is brutal and requires an immense combination of rudeness, stubbornness and perseverance. It is critical that we see this journey through a lens of strength with no room for weakness. I see challenges as opportunities to gain unique insights this manifests itself in extraordinary tools and discipline. Our battles are opportunities to act on a unique playing field that produces the kinds of skills one would otherwise never experience. ”
Breaking the rules – whatever they are
As a sheltered child who grew up in an Orthodox Jewish community in Montreal, Michael Peres wanted so much more out of his life that those around him couldn’t begin to offer it. There wasn’t anyone in his neighborhood caring for an aspiring teenager who developed an affinity for computers. One of his earliest signs of resilience was wiring the internet to his room to access information online. He read, learned, practiced, and eventually began building his first side business, fixing computer systems from his room.
Peres said: “I never felt connected or understood at school, and my room on the top floor of my house became my haven. I would spend days looking at computers and I quickly become great at building and repairing them. Before I knew it, my passion had turned to a side job and a means to pacify the inner fire that I knew existed deep within me, my first opportunity to offer unique value to those around me. “
After a year of spirituality and adventure with Yeshiva in Israel, Peres returned home and found himself academic a few light years behind his colleagues. Unsure of the future, he enrolled in the computer science program at Dawson College in Westmount, Canada with his aggressively angry ADHD. He took a calculus course, but was barely able to hold his own in high school due to a poor secular education in algebra. In a situation that was about to break his will, Peres was determined to see how far he could stretch.
Peres’ ADHD disrupted his academic work so much that attending classes became a waste of time. Fortunately, with the help of a friend he met in college, Simon Labute, a math prodigy, Peres learned to teach himself and developed a means of reading and understanding that worked only for him. Peres was 19 years old while Simon was 17 years old. The latter helped Peres see how far he was lagging behind those with outstanding secular education, and he was very inspired to quicken the pace. By his sophomore year in the program, he had regained so much of his confidence that he became his own teacher. After completing his computer program at Dawson, Peres began a life-changing internship at Chabad.org – a worldwide one Chabad-Lubavitch movement that promotes Judaism and offers daily Torah lectures and Jewish insight where he worked as an app developer. The work there ultimately provided the crucial revelation he needed.
Peres said: “Chabad.org showed me that while I loved computer science, admiration was only a subset of something really deeper, my love of science. I realized that for me, computer science is less about being a programmer than about being a powerful tool to express myself in science – a way of turning my ideas into reality. I should have been happy to finally get a chance at a career, but somehow I knew my academic journey had only just begun. ”
In elementary school, Peres had to leave his class to attend a special tutoring program whenever it was time for math. He needed a lot of private attention. Ironically, after joining Dawson, he returned to academia as a math student at Yeshiva University in New York City. Deep down, he had started loving math since joining Dawson and was determined to study something he had been told wasn’t good at. America’s New York had called too, and he was more than ready to answer. He spent countless nights at school, perfecting his learning system, and building his general discipline. Contrary to the label his teachers gave him in elementary school, and with proper self-direction, Peres discovered that he was an exceptional math student, getting better with each semester the more difficult the courses got. After graduating from YU at the age of 27 in New York, he went to California with practically zero funds to start his life. Based in Seattle, Washington, Peres operates five companies and is instrumental in technology, marketing and digital journalism. He said of his remarkable growth: “I was so far from the boy who was mocked for asking questions inspired by sheer curiosity. “
No limits allowed
Michael Peres’ early maintenance with building systems and repairing computers in Montreal gave him a foundation for business ventures. His experience as an app developer at Chabad.org was also a strong motivator. In 2017, he founded Hexa Tiger, a web development company that creates custom WordPress websites. Later that year it was followed by Hecto Fox, a cloud computing company that provides solutions for people who need to host websites and store data online.
Peres’ unorthodox and unique way of working inspired him to launch the Breaking 9 to 5 work model in 2019, a concept to promote a work-life balance without limits (such as time and place) for entrepreneurs and even 9-5 year olds. Part of his personal work model is 50% free work and 50% paid work. One example of his commitment to “free labor” is working with venture capitalists Ariana Thacker to Start a GMAT study guide To date, he has helped over 350,000 people pass their GMAT exams.
Peres is about to complete a treatise on his transition from a young Jewish child with ADHD to a serial entrepreneur and multi-niche founder. The memoirs also include a solid breakdown of the Breaking 9 through 5 working model. In 2020, he launched Israel Now News, a broadcast network for the latest updates from Israel, the Middle East, and the global Jewish community. The Facebook group of this website currently has 25,000 passionate and active users and has become one of the top eight Israeli groups on Facebook. That same year, Peres Daily was born, a news system that publishes original content on politics, business, entertainment, health, and entrepreneurship.
Peres also writes as a journalist for various prestigious publications and hosts the Michael Peres Podcast, a platform where he explores key issues related to entrepreneurship, technology and current events. His empire now includes an agency offering SEO and social media marketing to fully represent entrepreneurs, public figures, celebrities and artists.
At the age of 31 Michael Peres achieved more visions than he could ever have imagined as the exhausted 9 year old popped Ritalin pills every day. He runs and undertakes all of these endeavors while still traveling and touring to his heart’s content. In this day and age, all you need is a laptop and an internet connection and you can control an empire from anywhere in the world.
Most aspiring entrepreneurs have often been stopped from their dreams because of “fear of insecurity”. Especially for people who have been conditioned to accept certain limitations as they grow up, the stakes are often higher and even more terrifying.
Peres said in the council: “Get your priorities carefully aligned and focus your energies on today. Don’t let worries about your future surprise you. You want to build a beautiful castle and the best way to do it is to focus on putting the brick in your hand as perfectly as possible. Every now and then it’s okay to take a step back and see how it all comes together. I programmed in my basement three years ago. Today I represent the most amazing people. “
He added: “Remember, we all want great success, but most of us are unwilling to acknowledge how much work it really is and commit ourselves to deliver. So the sensible question should be: How much do you want from it? Do you want to party it more than just on the weekend? Or how about 8 hours of sleep?
Published on February 15, 2021
