Catalyst for Thought is a local nonprofit organization with a goal to advance the community by educating and motivating individuals to create, develop and act on their entrepreneurial ideas. Through its MINDS series, Catalyst for Thought seeks to create a unique synergy between featured speakers and a small group of local entrepreneurs to empower each individual to help create solutions that affect society and inspire others.
Stephen Kronish, the Emmy Award-winning writer and producer for the Fox TV show 24, was the first speaker to launch Catalyst for Thought’s newest chapter, in Thousand Oaks.
Hailing from Long Beach on Long Island, N.Y., Kronish graduated from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., and earned a master’s degree in journalism from USC.
After graduating from USC, Kronish began to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He’s now best known for his illustrious career as a writer and producer for several shows — including The Kennedys, Hawaii Five-0, MacGyver, The Commish and Wiseguy — but his path to arrive at these successes was long and arduous.
Kronish spoke of his experience of more than 10 years of frustration and rejection before any breakthroughs, and his words of wisdom for the intimate group of attendees were simple and honest, yet powerful:
“The worst thing you could do is go through life with regret,” said Kronish. “If you have to ask yourself ‘maybe I could have …?’ No one can answer that for you.”
As Kronish discussed his life and career, it became clear that “regret” was not a word in his vocabulary. Before he got his start in the entertainment industry, Kronish sold insurance and worked at a country club as the golf manager. Eventually, his wife, who was working at UCLA and as an actress at the time, told him to quit the country club and write for a year. He did, and wrote a play that one of the country club members helped produce. As it turned out, another member’s son, who worked at Universal, saw the play and called Kronish to work on another script.
He spent the next several years working hard and gleaning as much information and on-the-job training as he could. Kronish attributes his success to many, many years of long hours and hard work.
“There were always plenty of people more talented than me,” he said. “I couldn’t control that. But I could control the fact that no one would work harder than me.”
This work ethic continues to serve him well in his roles as both producer and writer.
After answering a couple of questions from guests, Kronish ended his talk with these words:
“If you’re going to sit down to do anything, you must find the degree of passion that will see you through to the end,” he said. “If your passion is not burning within you, you will most likely encounter plenty of people who will try to extinguish that flame; but don’t let them.”
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— Carolyn Turner is a writer for Catalyst for Thought and works at Avalan Wealth Management as its client care director.