On a clear spring morning April 28, North Greenville University held its commencement ceremony in Melvin and Dollie Younts Stadium.
More than 4,000 spectators watched approximately 300 undergraduates and graduates receive their diplomas. WCM Global Wealth principal and managing member Erik C. Weir was the keynote speaker.
Weir developed a stutter after his involvement in an automobile accident at the age of 5. His parents pushed him to sell lemonade in their neighborhood, which pressed him to talk to people. He worked through the adversity to become a thriving entrepreneur. At 18, he earned his real estate license and invested his commissions in stocks. As a result, he became involved in the investment arena, where he works today.
He says he was “building a ladder on the wrong wall.” “My ladder was built on success, and goals, and accomplishing things, and finance; it wasn’t built on the foundation of Jesus Christ.” Even though he was a Christian, his motivation was about business and success.
He graduated from Georgia Southern University and took a job as a stockbroker with Merrill Lynch in Atlanta.
Because of his stutter, it was hard for him to get started in business. But God blessed him, he said. In a period of five years, he opened 600 accounts at Merrill Lynch. He was in the top 2 percent of 10,000 people for opening accounts.
He went on to San Francisco and learned investment banking, selling companies, and taking companies public.
“I didn’t know what God was doing. It became apparent later in life. He was preparing me to understand finance and preparing me [to] understand you can’t have happiness in financial success; it doesn’t bring joy,” he said.
Weir presented the analogy of greyhounds chasing a metal rabbit around a track. No matter how fast they run, they can never quite get there. When they let the dogs catch the rabbit, they would try to chew it. They found that the dogs would never run the track again, because what they were chasing didn’t taste good.
“And that’s how chasing wealth is,” he said. “When you chase success for success’ sake, wealth for wealth’s sake, everything else in your life becomes unhinged.”
He shared five things — the “Five F’s — that falter when achieving success.
“Your faith is the underpinning of everything in your life. It is the lens in which you see the world through. And it will be tried,” he said.
NGU graduates
Second: Family. “I chased success for a season in my life so hard that it hurt my family. It’s not worth it. Because at the end, it’s like the metal rabbit. It has no taste.”
Third is fitness. “So many people I work with let their health go, because they were pursuing wealth.”
Fourth: Finances. “When you’re getting started, don’t mortgage your future. Don’t go into vast amounts of debt. Have room to breathe. It makes it a lot easier on other areas of your life.”
Lastly: Friends. “Iron sharpens iron. Who you associate with will have a significant impact in your life.”
While not one of the “Five F’s,” a sixth point he stressed to the graduates was gratitude.
Weir said he keeps a prayer journal with him at all times. He writes things in it that he asks God for. “And when you’re up against a wall and when things aren’t going your way, you can look back and see hundreds of prayers that God has answered. Your faith soars, your gratitude soars, and your hope soars,” he said. “Choose today whom you will serve.”
Weir is co-manager with the WTA Group, a leader in the marketing, financing and production of faith-based films. WTA Group has marketed, produced and developed films with a total of $400 million in sales over the past three years and includes well-known titles such as “Courageous,” “War Room,” “Woodlawn,” “God’s Not Dead,” and the forthcoming “Unbroken: Path to Redemption.”
In addition, he is also involved in the sourcing and development of numerous real estate properties throughout South Carolina and across the U.S., including public storage, retail, commercial and residential properties. Most recently, WCM Global Wealth collaborated to redevelop the Greenville News site in downtown Greenville. The multimillion dollar redevelopment, titled Camperdown Square, will encompass an entire city block and will include an upscale hotel, luxury residential condominiums, 225 apartments, two office buildings, retail spaces, and a public plaza.
Weir resides in Greenville with his wife, Robin, and their five sons.
NGU president Gene Fant told graduates that out of the 7 billion people on the planet, they were now part of the 1 percent who have had the opportunity to complete a degree at a university.
“At North Greenville, we talk a lot about helping our students become graduates who will be transformational leaders for church and society,” he said. “I adjure each and every one of you to find a local church as you leave that you can plug into. Bring your talents, your gifts and your abilities, and plug into that fellowship.”
He also asked graduates to find local community organizations they can plug into in the communities in which they are going to live.
— LaVerne Howell is director of communications at North Greenville University.