“(The advertisement) mentioned that sometimes you have to stand alone just to stand out,” McNeal said.

This past July, McNeal stood outside the New York City Condé Nast building, which houses the offices for GQ Magazine, for several hours during the course of three days.

Equipped with a cardboard sign proclaiming he wanted a job, McNeal said he was taking action to land an interview with his dream company.

“It was definitely rewarding,” he said. “What you don’t see is the impact it can have on other people who saw what happened. That response was totally rewarding, and looking back now, I think my success was getting inside — Condé Nast is not a building you just walk in to.”

McNeal said he has not been offered a position through the magazine yet, but the position he interviewed for remains open.

On the first day of standing outside the offices with his original sign, McNeal said he received useful advice from a passerby.

“A woman approached me and said, ‘If you want to work here at Condé Nast, you’re going to need a better sign,’” McNeal said. “She was like, ‘You’re going to need a career sign.’”

Later that evening, McNeal and his friends put together a sign designed similarly to a GQ Magazine front cover, except the cover’s teasers showcased McNeal’s personal characteristics that made him a good candidate for a position with the company.

Along with his newly designed sign, McNeal passed out résumés and distributed homemade DVDs, which focused on his drive to succeed in the publishing industry.

McNeal was approached by a writer from the magazine’s website for a question-and-answer session, which later was posted on GQ.com, about his strategy to be noticed. On the third day, after McNeal was approached by the online writer, McNeal handed his DVD to a GQ Magazine recruiter, who he said was impressed by his work. Soon after, McNeal received the coveted interview for a position in the magazine’s fashion department.

McNeal said the long hours of waiting were successful in part because they positively affected others.

McNeal’s mother, Barbara McNeal, said her son hasn’t always been bold enough to put himself out there and take a risk.

“He was more of an introvert (as a child) — he was more observant,” Barbara McNeal said. “He has changed tremendously from the little boy I once knew. He’s a people person more now — he was more quiet and shy, but now he’s more outgoing.”

William Hightower, an MSU alumnus and friend of McNeal, said he believes in McNeal because he has seen him overcome obstacles in the past and doesn’t let the obstacles slow him down.

“(McNeal has) had some troubles in his past, and he has pressed through those and made the people in his life proud,” Hightower said.

“A lot of people who have experienced the things that (McNeal) has experienced would just have given up and become a product of their environment, but (McNeal) hasn’t.”

McNeal, who has lived in New York City for about nine months, said he is making the most of opportunities the city has to offer. He currently is writing screenplays and is a frequent performer of slam poetry.

Most recently, McNeal has found success on Facebook, where one of his poems has made it into the top 10 of Rugby Ralph Lauren’s Hunt For the Next Great Poet contest.

Facebook users can vote for their favorite poems, and the winner receives a $1,000 Rugby Ralph Lauren wardrobe, with the four runners-up receiving $500 gift cards.

He said his passion for poetry and film is more than just writing.

“I’m a storyteller,” McNeal said. “As a storyteller, I can translate that into poetry, news pieces, documentaries, television shows, screenplays. Film is my end goal.”

Despite not yet receiving an offer from GQ, McNeal said he doesn’t plan on settling for anything less than his dreams.

“I came to New York to take over,” McNeal said. “I have a lot of plans. I didn’t move here to be another person to occupy the train. I came here to take over and be a great influence.”